#cool rocks
i thought it would be important to post something on tuumblr at least once a year so here’s some cool rocks in thin section from petrology class. komatiites at 50x magnification, which are rare because they only formed when the earth’s mantle was hot enough near it’s formation 4b years ago oy oy
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Don’t mind me, I’m just having a nice time imagining Stede sending little letters to his kids from various interesting locales and relating tales of his adventures and all of his cool friends (probably exaggerated for literary effect) and sometimes little gifts as well. Like, they’ll just get a letter from Dad about how his first mate’s new bird familiar is fitting in with the crew and his boyfriend’s taught him a lot about swordfighting (his name’s Ed and he’s very nice, Stede hopes he’ll get to introduce them to him one day) and also here’s a cool rock he found.
Don’t mind me, I’m just having a nice time imagining Stede sending little letters to his kids from various interesting locales and relating tales of his adventures and all of his cool friends (probably exaggerated for literary effect) and sometimes little gifts as well. Like, they’ll just get a letter from Dad about how his first mate’s new bird familiar is fitting in with the crew and his boyfriend’s taught him a lot about swordfighting (his name’s Ed and he’s very nice, Stede hopes he’ll get to introduce them to him one day) and also here’s a cool rock he found.
Mixed fluorescent minerals from the Beltana Mine (Puttapa Zinc Mine), Leigh Creek, North Flinders Ranges, Flinders Ranges, South Australia, Australia. Pictured under short wave ultraviolet and white light.
Benitoite from the Benitoite Gem Mine, San Benito County, CA, under white light and short wave ultraviolet. Benitoite is California’s State Gemstone. It crystalizes in the rare ditrigonal dipyramidal crystal class.
Terlingua Calcite from the Little 38 Mine in Terlingua, Texas. All of the fluorescent minerals in this rock are calcite. Shown under long wave ultraviolet, mid-wave ultraviolet, short wave ultraviolet and white light. This one weighs over 8 pounds.
Here’s wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and Feliz Navidad with an aragonite/cave calcite from “Santa” Eulalia, Chihuahua, Mexico. Shown under short wave ultraviolet and white light.
Fluorescent mineral display at the 64th Annual Dallas Gem & Mineral Society Show, November 20-21, 2021. The case is illuminated with long wave ultraviolet light on the left side, and short wave ultraviolet on the right. Note that many of the minerals in the center of the display exhibit different color responses under long wave vs. short wave.
Calcite from the Buckwheat Dump at the Franklin Mineral Museum, Franklin, NJ. Pictured under long wave, mid-wave, and short wave ultraviolet, and white light.
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Black/gray/brown scheelite crystal from the Tae Hwa Mine, North Chungcheong Province, South Korea. Scheelite is an ore of tungsten. Shown exhibiting the classic blue fluorescence under short wave ultraviolet light, under white light, and showing the red fluorescence that is sometimes seen under mid-wave ultraviolet light. The nearly equilateral triangle edges measure approximately 1 ¾ inches or 4.4 cm.
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Fluorite on hyalite reportedly from the La Lupita Mine in Durango, Chihuahua, Mexico. Pictured under short wave + long wave ultraviolet, white light, short wave only, and long wave only. The hyalite is best under short wave uv and the fluorite is best under long wave uv.
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Fluorite from the Ojuela Mine, Mapimi, Durango, Mexico. Pictured under Long wave ultraviolet and white light. The widest face of the biggest crystal is 2.9 cm.
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End members of the scheelite-powellite series. Scheelite from Mt. Xuebaoding, China, and powellite with stilbite from Nasik, Maharashtra, India. Pictured under short wave ultraviolet and white light.
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The tag says “Botryoidal Seam Agate” with no location listed. If anyone recognizes it, please let me know! It measures 4″ x 2″ x 2″. Shown under white light and short wave ultraviolet.
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Terlingua Calcite from the Little 38 Mine, Terlingua, Texas. Pictured under long wave, mid-wave, and short wave ultraviolet and white light.
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Benitoite from the Benitoite Gem Mine in San Benito County, California, the type locality. Benitoite is a rare blue barium titanium silicate mineral and is considered to be one of the rarest minerals/gemstones in the world. It was discovered in 1907 and is the State Gemstone of California. According to www.minerals.net, “The crystal structure of Benitoite is unique, and is the only significant mineral in its crystal class. It crystallizes in a rare hexagonal sub-class called ditrigonal-dipyramidal.” Pictured under short wave ultraviolet, white light, and long wave ultraviolet.
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Massive fluorite from near Rodeo, Durango, Mexico under white light and long wave ultraviolet (black light).
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Fluorite from the Ojuela Mine, Mapimi, Mexico shown under long wave ultraviolet (black light) and white light. The main crystal is 2.2 cm along the long edge.
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Mystery rock from a mystery location picked up at a garage sale. Shown under long wave ultraviolet and white light. Some little bruises on the golden cauliflower side, but with luck I think they might buff out.
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