A geological paper published in the professional academic journal "Nature Earth Science" under Springer Nature suggests that earthquakes may cause the formation of electric fields in quartz, leading to the deposition of gold nuggets. This research based on laboratory experiments may help to understand how certain gold deposits are formed. The paper introduces that quartz is a piezoelectric mineral, which means it generates an electric field when subjected to geostress (such as earthquakes). Natural gold nuggets mainly appear in quartz veins, but the mechanism that leads to the formation of such nuggets was not clear before and has also received considerable attention. The first author and corresponding author of the paper, Christopher R. Voisey from Monash University in Australia, along with colleagues and collaborators, simulated the piezoelectric voltage that may be generated by quartz during earthquake events. Using this data, they conducted laboratory experiments using quartz crystals in a liquid containing dissolved gold, and replicated seismic waves to induce strain in the crystal and generate piezoelectric voltage. This study found that the voltage generated by quartz is sufficient to cause gold to deposit from the liquid and accumulate gold nanoparticles on its surface area. The author of the paper assumes that this process can occur naturally. They proposed that liquids containing dissolved gold can seep into the cracks of quartz veins, and when earthquakes generate an electric field in quartz, gold nuggets can be formed. The author of the paper believes that as gold begins to deposit, more piezoelectric events can allow new gold to form on top of already deposited gold, which may help explain the formation of larger gold nuggets. (New Society)