Ice Is a Mineral (and Water Is Molten Rock)
The formal definition of a mineral has five parts. A mineral is naturally occurring, inorganic, a solid, has a definite
The formal definition of a mineral has five parts. A mineral is naturally occurring, inorganic, a solid, has a definite
Walk a mineral show and you will hear dealers sorting their stock by words rather than measurements: thumbnails in this
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The Moon is made of the same material as Earth, formed at the same time, from the same collision. It
Mineral Evolution: Why Earth Has 6,000 Minerals and the Moon Has About 350 Read Post »
Minerals are among the harder subjects in photography. They are highly reflective, strongly three-dimensional, frequently translucent, and often small enough
Most of what is sold in a rock shop is inert and safe to handle. Quartz, feldspar, calcite, mica, garnet,
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Two cavities in the same rock, filled by the same fluid, at the same time. One produces a single quartz
Two minerals sitting on the same specimen is ordinary. Two minerals sitting on the same specimen where every crystal of
Epitaxy: Crystals That Grow on Other Crystals in Perfect Alignment Read Post »
Ask what the most abundant mineral on Earth is and the reasonable answer is feldspar, which makes up around 60
Bridgmanite: The Most Abundant Mineral on Earth That Nobody Has Ever Collected Read Post »
Sulfide ore bodies do not sit quietly at the surface. When groundwater carrying dissolved oxygen reaches them, sulfides oxidise, metals
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Experienced field collectors do something that looks vandalistic to beginners. They pick up a promising rock and immediately hit it
Desert Varnish and Weathering Rinds: Why a Rock’s Outside Lies About Its Inside Read Post »