Multiple mineral samples, taken from more than 10,000 feet below the ocean surface spontaneously ignited without an external heat source upon being processed on the surface. But, why did this happen? Why did this sulfide mineralization from an underwater sulfide deposit ignite? Today's video will discuss this fascinating phenomenon. Thumbnail Photo Credit: Peter Pearsall, U.S. Geological Survey, Public Domain, https://www.usgs.gov/media/images/pyrrhotite-rich-massive-sulfide If you would like to support this channel, consider using one of the following links: (Patreon: http://patreon.com/geologyhub) (YouTube membership: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYeGh5VML5XPr5jYnzh3J6g/join) (Gemstone & Mineral Etsy store: http://prospectingarizona.etsy.com) (GeologyHub Merch Etsy store: http://geologyhub.etsy.com) Google Earth imagery used in this video: ©Google & Data Providers This video is protected under "fair use". If you see an image and/or video which is your own in this video, and/or think my discussion of a scientific paper (and/or discussion/mentioning of the data/information within a scientific paper) does not fall under the fair use doctrine, and wish for it to be censored or removed, contact me by email at [email protected] and I will make the necessary changes. Various licenses used in sections of this video (not the entire video, this video as a whole does not completely fall under one of these licenses) and/or in this video's thumbnail image (and this list does not include every license used in this video and/or thumbnail image): Public Domain: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/ CC BY 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode Sources/Citations: [1] Gartman, A., Favela, J., Adamczyk, K. et al. Spontaneous combustion of metal sulfide minerals and implications for seafloor massive sulfide mining. Sci Rep (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-70438-0, CC BY 4.0. [2] U.S. Geological Survey [3] Mindat, https://www.mindat.org/ [4] Mindat, "Goethite", https://www.mindat.org/min-1719.html [5] Mindat, "Pyrrhotite", https://www.mindat.org/min-3328.html [6] Mindat, "Jarosite", https://www.mindat.org/min-2078.html 0:00 Spontaneous Combustion 0:46 Mid Ocean Ridge 1:25 Crystal Needles 2:54 Chemical Reaction 3:41 Escanaba Trough Details