#minerology

[toothwalker]

Rock formation on the beach in County Wexford, Ireland, 17 May 2023

(if you know more about what these rocks are, please tell me!)

[snom-in-space]

cc  •̯́ )___\ Guys I have terrible news...

cc ◕ )___\ I...I...

cc ⚈̥̥̥̥̥́ )___\ Lost my favorite lucky rock!

[mineraldiary]

Magic in Nature: Rainbow Lattice Sunstone

RM Mineral Diary - First ever entry!

Rainbow Lattice Sunstone is a beautiful occurrence... that isn't actually a type of sunstone.

When Orthoclase mixes with Hematite and Magnetite, this beautiful pattern is created:

Rainbow Lattice Sunstone, that I will be abbreviating to RLS for my own sake, is a type of Orthoclase Feldspar with specific inclusions of Hematite and Magnetite.

Feldspar is a mineral group that classifies any mineral containing aluminum tectosilicate, plus a cation such as calcium, potassium, or sodium. In the case of orthoclase, it's potassium.

Orthoclase has the chemical formula KAlSi3O8. It is a specific feldspar mineral that makes up most of igneous rocks.

Sunstone is a real mineral and also a type of feldspar, but has a slightly different formula to orthoclase that differentiates the two. The reason RLS is called Sunstone is not because of its chemical properties, but because of its sunray-like appearance.

Orthoclase feldspar makes up the base of RLS. The namesake, rainbow lattice, comes from its two inclusions. What is an inclusion anyways..? This is a smaller piece of another mineral, or sometimes organic matter, that is trapped inside a larger sample of a mineral. This picture of RLS is a great visual for that concept.

Hematite is those little orange inclusions that sort of look like bubbles. If you have seen larger hematite samples before, this may surprise you, because it usually looks black, pictured below.

Hematite actually has a red-orange streak, meaning when scratched on a metal or porcelain plate, it leaves behind that orange color residue. It forms in hexagonal shapes, so those little inclusions are actually very messy six-sided face.

On the other hand, Magnetite is the perfect, black triangles. Magnetite is a great mineral that deserves its own entry, but it often forms in these triangular shapes that don't even look real.

These two inclusions together form a lattice that, at certain angles, results in the iridescent rainbow patterns. It's truly a magnificent sight!!

Ethically...

RLS is found in Australia, in Eastern Arrernte, which is Aboriginal land. Asterism Gems is the company that mines and sells these minerals claim they work in harmony with the Easter Arrernte people and are determined to learning about and respecting their culture. As far as I can research, Asterism Gems is the only company using RLS commercially.

RLS is the banner for this blog. It was one of the first mineral samples that I researched in full and really fell in love with it. It has such amazing properties and I especially love the close up image of its inclusions.

Thank you!

[candyjika]

fluorite pebble with some visual effects

[hasellia]

The author's barely disguised ADHD coping mechanisms. 著者のほとんど隠しきれないADHD対処メカニズム。

[limpidose]

I'm actually so interested in the natural vs artificial diamond debate. A few months ago, I saw a documentary on Netflix about the immense controversy and speculation surrounding artificial diamonds and it really had me thinking. To be frank, I think it's a very nice philosophical discussion to keep in the back of our minds. Personally if I ever bought any diamonds, I'd want them to be natural. But that's just my own preference. I think there's so much beauty in even just the formation of diamonds itself. When you carry a natural diamond with you, it's like you're having a piece of the earth and a piece of time by your side.

Then again, the only difference between natural and artificial diamonds is the time and conditions in which they were formed. But I think that for me personally, that is what makes me love and appreciate natural diamonds even more. However, I wouldn't question someone with a preference for artificial ones. At their core, they are all pretty much the same anyway.

Thoughts?

(Also if I am wrong about anything scientific related, I am open to constructive criticism and corrections.) ^-^

[mindblowingscience]

Lightning Bolt Deposits a Strange Mineral Never Seen on Earth Before

A lightning bolt that struck a tree on Florida's west coast has produced a fascinating type of phosphorus material we haven't seen on Earth before: one that could represent a whole new mineral group, bridging the gap between space minerals and minerals found on Earth.

The material, which is a close match for calcium phosphite (CaHPO3), was found trapped inside a fulgurite – a "metal glob" formed by the reaction of the ultra-hot lightning bolt with the sand around the roots of its target.

These 'fossilized lightning' fulgurites often occur when lightning strikes certain types of sand, silica, and rock. What's much less common is to find something so unique hidden inside one of these structures.

"We have never seen this material occur naturally on Earth – minerals similar to it can be found in meteorites and space, but we've never seen this exact material anywhere," says geoscientist Matthew Pasek, from the University of South Florida.

Continue Reading

[batsinurbelfrey]

I went to the LA Natural History Museum today as a treat to myself, my fiancée @swiss-army-fangirl [a geologist] could not go with me due to being long distance. So I took 147 photos for them of the mineral and gemstone exhibit (small sample of what fits on the screen in one swipe below for the visual LOL, its about six swipes total of photos)

When I got home we got on call and have been going through them and chatting about them by one by one for the last 2+ hours

Love is the little [or maybe big if you ask my phones storage capacity LOL] things