#k2 granite

[unearthedgemstones]

Some of the new addition to Unearthed Gemstones:

AAA aquamarine Banded purple fluorite AAA K2 granite Silver flash obsidian

See them here

[fox-su]

Fusión de peridoto y bismuto

K2 granite

[earthstory]

The “K2 Granite”

I’ve been writing here for years and honestly, this might be the first time I’ve known so little about a rock I’m showing you. I don’t know how old this rock is or exactly where it comes from, but this is an amazing rock. I just wrote a thousand words on it. Just look at it – the rock has freaking blue dots on it!

This rock, especially in polished cabochon forms, has been appearing at mineral and rock shows for sale for several years. It gets sold under the names “K2 Granite” or “K2 Jasper”, but it’s definitely not Jasper (a type of quartz/chalcedony). Fascinatingly, no one has ever found the actual outcrop that it comes from. The best descriptions suggest that it has been hand quarried, literally picked up and carried out of the area of northern Pakistan near the mountain known as K2 or Mount Godwin-Austen, the 2nd highest peak above sea level on the planet Earth. Since no one has reported an official outcrop where these stones come from, it is possible that the stones are found in a moraine along the edge of one of the glaciers in this area. These glaciers carry ice and rock tens of kilometers through the range; the actual outcrop could be anywhere along that stretch and might even be buried beneath the ice.

When I saw a picture of this stone, I started googling for published papers on it and found…none. I searched for other things and found articles that repeated the basic description of it – found near K2, gemstone, the blue color looks like the mineral azurite and the greenish specks around it look like the mineral malachite, polishes readily, acts like a rock, and it seems like the blue color is inherent to the stone rather than a dye, but what the heck is it?

Finally, I tracked down a discussion forum at Mindat.org, cited below, where some geoscientists had (in their spare time and at their own expense) pulled apart a few of these stones and analyzed the mineralogy and texture. Here’s what they were able to get.

The rocks appear to be metamorphic, with a weak foliation. The bulk mineralogy looks a lot like an igneous rock, something between a granite and a tonalite, dominated by the mineral plagioclase but with a fair amount of potassic feldspar in the rock, in addition to mica minerals such as biotite. The blue material is a real mineral, not a chemical dye added later, and it really is the copper carbonate azurite, which produces brilliant blue crystals when it is present – the presence of that mineral was confirmed by X-ray analyses, the best way to confirm mineral ID. However, the blue color isn’t centimeter-sized grains of the azurite, the azurite is found as tiny inclusions in the plagioclase feldspar. The azurite creates centimeter-sized blue spots by existing as tiny grains in that volume of feldspar. Furthermore, the azurite is associated with tiny flakes of metallic copper, suggesting how this rock formed.

Plagioclase sometimes has copper inside it; the copper dissolves at high temperatures then separates as the plagioclase cools down, occasionally forming a gemstone called a sunstone (https://tmblr.co/Zyv2Js1r-65Bl). Since plagioclase doesn’t have a strong color, when the copper carbonate mineral azurite is present, it dominates the color of the grains and turns everything that brilliant blue color. The azurite is also associated with a bit of sulfur, which suggests that the sequence forming the blue color in this rock was: 1. Plagioclase formed with copper dissolved inside it at high temperatures 2. As the plagioclase slowly cooled, the copper exsolved into a separate, metal phase 3. Carbonate rich fluids worked their way through the rock along grain boundaries and fractures. These fluids carried other elements, probably including water and sulfur. 4. The carbonate chemically reacted with some of the copper, producing azurite within the plagioclase or on grain boundaries. This reaction left behind a trace of the sulfur.

One scientist who looked at this rock under thin section described it as being weakly foliated; a weak foliation but a metamorphic rock. The area around K2 contains a number of rocks this could possibly be related to, both igneous and metamorphic.

120 million years ago, some of the rocks near K2 were forming as part of a volcanic arc. The oceanic plate India was riding on was moving north, subducting beneath Asia and forming volcanoes. This subduction formed batholiths; huge bodies of igneous rock, and it lasted tens of millions of years. Some of these batholiths would have produced things resembling pegmatites – rich in volatile elements and sometimes metal elements. Some of the copper could have been residing here.

Sometime between 40 and 60 million years ago, India ran into Asia. When these continents collided, many of the igneous plutons that are today near K2 were thrust deep into the crust. At this point, they were heated again and metamorphosed, altering and foliating the rocks. This could be one of the places where these rocks formed; start off with one of those pegmatites that formed earlier, send those deep into the crust, metamorphose them, and we might have a place where copper-bearing plagioclase grains could form.

However, it’s not the only place this could have formed. When these rocks were pushed downwards into the crust, some of them started melting and formed new igneous rocks. Some of these igneous rocks are as young as 20 million years old, and some of them never rose up all the way to the surface, which means they formed at high enough pressures to develop weak foliations. Igneous rocks that form in continental collisions can be really, really weird – they have chemistries rich in elements like sodium, potassium, and rare earth elements. Copper might also get enriched there, along with a few other metallic elements.

However these rocks formed, finally, they moved up to the surface, during which time the copper exsolved and was altered into azurite.

Without an age date on a rock like this, we can’t know if it formed before or after the Himalayan orogeny started. In either case, it probably was foliated while it was tens of kilometers deep in the Himalayan crust. It was then thrust up to the surface along the huge thrust faults that helped form K2.

Somewhere near K2, there is a rock out there with little blue measles of azurite. I would really like to know where this rock came from. Honestly, with enough money to pay for it, someone could probably put a chunk of this stuff into an isotope analyzer, get an age for it, and that might actually help us figure out where it came from. I’m wondering if anyone has put together a funding proposal to do an age date on this stuff.

-JBB

Image credit: James St. John. https://flic.kr/p/LWtEyh

References: http://jgs.lyellcollection.org/content/jgs/167/1/183.full.pdf http://jgs.lyellcollection.org/content/jgs/147/4/603.full.pdf https://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read%2C6%2C304299 https://geology.com/gemstones/k2/

[the-ghost-of-nepheline-universe]

Ivory+Nepheline= K2 Granite

Cute, charismatic, childish, sweetie. Hates to fight and only defend himself. Her weapon is like a spiked brass umbrella and just possess nephelokinesis.

Peach Aventurine+Nepheline= Fulgurite

Cool, big sweetie, strong and very curious. Her weapon is a spiked mace and possess pyrokinesis, nephelokinesis and telekinesis.

Sulfur+Nepheline= Weloganite

Innocent, lovely, the best dancer. I imagine Sulfur and Nepheline skating so Nepheline falls, when the Sulfur tries to save it, they accidentally fuse. She does not have a weapon, but she has nephelokinesis and electrokinesis.

*Thanks @p3p0t0 by the weapons and name help.

*This was the last (fourth) part of gemsona fusion set event.

* @ahhween @perimarine @besty-sky 

*Hope you liked!

[gemsonahelp]

Im making a K2 Rock (or Jasper) Gemsona and don´t know anything! what kind of personality and weapon would they have??? and could i have a palett? and abilities? role in homewolrd??? i know this is a lot but pls this means so much for me.. thanks!

Let’s see; apparently K2 Stone/Jasper/Rock/Granite is a stone of insight and higher awareness. Perhaps they are a wise, stoic gem who you can always get insight and advice from. It also balances strength with gentle wisdom, so they could be strong personality-wise as well as physically.

As a stone that comes from the mountain range that contains the K2 Summit, which is the second highest mountain in the world, I feel powers/abilities relating to mountains in some way would be the most fitting. Here’s some abilities I would suggest considering:

Superhuman Durability, to be as durable as a mountain.

Superstrength, to be as strong as a mountain.

Density manipulation, making K2 capable of making themselves or their targets heavy- potentially even to the weight of a mountain.

Size manipulation, so that K2 could potentially make themselves much bigger and tower over others like a mountain.

Earth manipulation, for the obvious fact that mountains are made out of rock.

Cold/Ice Manipulation, due to large mountains being heavily associated with their snowy and cold environments

Ice Breath, for the same reasons as above.

Ice/Earth Constructs, also for the same reasons for the above powers for Ice and Earth.

Keeping the above powers and personality in mind, maybe K2s are responsible for the construction of Kindergartens. Their wisdom could benefit them in the way it would help an architect, helping them plan out the perfect layout and depths to dig the kindergarten. While their strength and durability can help them with the heavy lifting when needed. Such as carrying equipment, clearing rubble, or bringing in the injectors for creating gems.

Depending on if you pick one of the earth or ice-based powers, they could potentially be a great help in digging out the kindergartens. The earth based powers could easily remove much earth in a short period of time. While the ice could be used to erode away at the ground rock much like a glacier- but quicker. Ice can also be used to penetrate the ground, letting it melt into water, and refreezing in a similar way to erosion caused by thawing.

If that job doesn’t appeal to you, perhaps an architect for designing and planning out buildings and structure could work. Their abilities could mean they could aid Bismuths in building things to plan.

Now, for the weapons. Going off of what I’ve suggested already, I feel like the following would make good potential weapons:

Sledgehammer

Drill

Ice Axe/Technical Axe

Pickaxe/Mattock

Spade/Shovel

Polaski

Splitting Maul

And finally, the color palette:

I hope this helps you!

- Mod Sapphire❤

[chromarrays]

@nepheline-universe said to post Pyro/Peridot/Ruby/Sapphire. That's K2 Granite! It's the only sketch I have of her so... it is kind of old, but the last image is an update I just made. More cute 🌟👌

[gemsonaresources]

could I maybe get a suggestion for a job on homeworld for a K2 Granite? Thank you if you do!

You’re welcome!K2 Granite/Jasper:Homeworld Ranking:Mohs: 6http://www.traonyx.eu/index.php/articles/31-natural-stone-catergory/igneous-rocks-category/granite-category/77-k2-granite-articleRead: http://gemsonaresources.tumblr.com/post/139863728935/mohs-scale-and-gemsonas

[the-ghost-of-nepheline-universe]

Nepheline+Lapis Lazuli+Aquamarine= K2 Granite

Requested by @luizinknightmare