The Research Diaries #1

While researching dolomite, I read this delightful bit in the journal AAPG Bulletin:

"Furthermore, the feasibility of this, or a similar system was recently demonstrated (unintentionally) by a male dalmatian who produced uroliths [essentially kidney stones of the bladder] of ordered dolomite in his urinary bladder."

That is a sentence that I never thought I would read in a highly respected geologic research journal. Previously, I would have thought that a dalmatian would exclusively be a subject in either a medical or biological study, not a geological study. I stand corrected.

This also raises a series of questions: (1) Was this the author's dalmatian? If not, who's dog was this? (2) What provoked a geologist to look at the uroliths, especially if it was from someone else's dog? (3) How did someone find the stones? Did someone wait for the uroliths to pass, did someone dig around outside (or inside!) in a puddle of pee, or were they retrieved via surgery? (4) Could I produce dolomite in kidney stones? (5) How prevalent is biogenic dolomite? (6) Was the dalmatian okay afterwards?

Despite the questions I have, here are some nice gifs of dalmatian puppies for no reason whatsoever:




Source:
Mansfield, C., 1979, Possible biogenic origin for some sedimentary dolomite [abstract]: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, v. 63, n. 3, p. 490.

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