Quartz and Proof of Existence
from a Geological Perspective

*This essay is a geological reflection, not a specialized research paper.

1. Earth's History and Mineral Formation

Earth was born approximately 4.6 billion years ago. Its history is also the history of rocks and minerals.

Early Earth was covered in high-temperature magma. Cooling progressed, and the first solid crust formed about 4.4 billion years ago. The oldest known mineral, a zircon crystal found in Australia, dates to about 4.4 billion years ago.

Quartz has also existed since the very early stages of Earth's history. Silicon (Si) is the 8th most abundant element in the universe, and oxygen (O) is the 3rd. That silicon dioxide (SiO₂)—quartz—exists universally is inevitable given the elemental composition of the universe.

Quartz Formation Processes

Quartz forms through various processes:

• Igneous origin — Crystallizes during magma cooling. Quartz in granite is an example.
• Metamorphic origin — Existing rocks recrystallize under high temperature and pressure. Quartz schist, for example.
• Sedimentary origin — Weathered quartz particles deposit. Reconsolidates as sandstone.
• Hydrothermal origin — Precipitates from geothermally heated solutions. Forms crystal veins.

What all these processes share is that quartz remains as a "stable final form." While other minerals weather, decompose, and alter, quartz remains unchanged.

2. Why Quartz "Survives"

Earth's surface undergoes constant destruction and regeneration. Weathering, erosion, volcanic activity, plate tectonics—these forces crush rocks and decompose minerals.

Why does quartz survive among them?

Chemical Stability

The silicon-oxygen bond in quartz (SiO₂) is one of the strongest bonds in nature.

It barely dissolves in water, resists acids, and has relatively high alkali resistance. Under normal surface conditions, it rarely decomposes chemically.

Physical Durability

A Mohs hardness of 7 means extremely high resistance to everyday wear. Beach sand is primarily composed of quartz because after other minerals weathered and wore away, only quartz remained.

As it flows down rivers, feldspar decomposes to clay, mica separates, pyroxene and amphibole weather. But quartz survives the journey.

Thermal Stability

Quartz's melting point is about 1,700°C. Natural environments on Earth's surface rarely reach this temperature. Even volcanic lava is typically around 1,200°C.

Fused quartz (quartz glass) has even higher temperature resistance and withstands rapid temperature changes. This property supports its suitability as a medium for TokiStorage.

3. Geological Timescale

Human time sense and geological time sense are fundamentally different.

Human civilization is but a blink in Earth's history. Writing is 5,000 years old; digital data only decades.

Meanwhile, quartz has existed for hundreds of millions of years. "1,000 years" is like a blink for quartz.

What Sedimentary Rocks Tell Us

The Grand Canyon's layers record about 2 billion years of history. Many of these layers contain quartz, still exposed after resisting weathering.

Japanese sandstone layers also contain quartz particles deposited hundreds of millions of years ago. These were washed by ocean waves, carried by rivers, deposited, compressed, and re-exposed through uplift. Quartz survived the entire process.

4. Humanity's Relationship with Quartz

Humanity has had a long relationship with quartz.

The Stone Age

Due to its hardness and fracture properties (conchoidal fracture), quartz was valued as a material for stone tools. Chert and flint—aggregates of microscopic quartz crystals—could form sharp edges.

Many of humanity's first "tools" were made from rocks containing quartz.

Crystals and Spirituality

Transparent quartz crystals have been considered to possess mystical powers in many cultures.

Ancient Greeks thought crystal was "eternal ice" (krystallos means "ice"). In Japan, it was seen as "solidified water spirit" and held sacred. Crystal balls for divination, prayer beads—quartz has been connected to the spiritual world.

After the Industrial Revolution

From the 19th century, as quartz's scientific properties were understood, industrial use began:

• Glass manufacturing — Quartz sand is the purest glass raw material
• Semiconductors — Silicon wafers are silicon crystals
• Optical fiber — High-purity quartz glass transmits light
• Crystal oscillators — The heart of watches using piezoelectric effect

Modern digital civilization cannot exist without quartz (silicon).

5. Quartz Glass and Information Preservation

TokiStorage chose not natural quartz but artificially refined quartz glass as its medium.

Natural Quartz vs. Quartz Glass

Natural quartz contains impurities and internal defects. These can be problematic for long-term storage.

Quartz glass (fused silica) is made by melting high-purity SiO₂. It has extremely few impurities and a homogeneous structure.

Properties of Quartz Glass

Quartz glass maintains natural quartz's advantages while having superior properties:

• Chemical inertness — Resistant to almost all chemicals
• Thermal shock resistance — Withstands rapid temperature changes
• UV transparency — Used in UV cameras and analytical instruments
• Low thermal expansion — Minimal deformation from temperature changes

Why Quartz Glass?

To preserve information for 1,000 years, the medium must have over 1,000 years of physical stability.

Paper burns, rots, and is eaten by insects. Magnetic tape degrades in decades. Optical discs deteriorate under UV. Hard drives fail mechanically.

Quartz glass solves all these problems. It resists fire, water, and chemicals, has no mechanical moving parts, and transmits UV (doesn't absorb it, so doesn't degrade).

The properties that made quartz a geological "survivor" translate directly to its suitability as an information storage medium.

6. Geological Meaning of Proof of Existence

Geology is "the study of reading records of the past." Rocks are Earth's diary, and minerals are its letters.

Fossils as Proof of Existence

Fossils are "proof of existence" of ancient organisms. Even if soft tissues decay, hard shells and bones can become silicified (silica-replaced) and remain.

Trilobites, ammonites, dinosaurs—we know these "once existed" because of the physical evidence of fossils.

Mineral Inclusions as Records

Quartz crystals sometimes contain fluids and gases trapped during formation (fluid inclusions). These are "time capsules" allowing direct observation of Earth's environment hundreds of millions of years ago.

Scientists analyze these to estimate ancient seawater composition, atmospheric components, and temperature-pressure conditions. Quartz has been preserving information—not intentionally by humans, but naturally.

Intentional Recording by Humans

TokiStorage intentionally performs this natural process.

Engraving QR codes on quartz glass is an artificial reproduction of the fossil formation process. But with intention, not chance. By design, not decay.

Information that "this person was here" is engraved on a permanent medium called quartz. Like trilobites remaining as fossils, it conveys human existence to the future.

Conclusion — The Numbers Speak

Let's organize by numbers.

4.6 billion years — Age of Earth.

4.4 billion years — Age of the oldest zircon crystals. Evidence that silicon dioxide minerals like quartz existed right after Earth's formation.

2.5 billion years — When quartz began depositing on ocean floors as chert.

1 million years — Estimated time quartz crystals can resist weathering.

1,000 years — The preservation period Toki Storage aims for.

80 years — Average human lifespan.

Entrusting 1,000-year records to a mineral that has survived hundreds of millions of years.

On a geological scale, 1,000 years is but a moment. But for humans, it's over 30 generations.

Quartz can reliably preserve that "moment." That is why we chose this mineral.