Discussion Topic |
|
This thread has been locked |
thebravecowboy
climber
The Good Places
|
|
superb first ammonite Fritz
Rocks from the hike today
Local basement
Ingleside? Fmn camcareous ss and limestone conglomerate
Anyone hazard a genetic interpretation on the overturned ripped up bedding? Algal mats?
|
|
Ksolem
Trad climber
Monrovia, California
|
|
|
|
thebravecowboy
climber
The Good Places
|
|
|
Nov 16, 2015 - 09:51pm PT
|
Constine, I dig it!
And yeah, Cpt. Fritz, that first ammonite does trigger an obsession. My first was paired, out of the Moenkopi Fmn on a rare and calcite-veined summit outcrop at center of a very prominent doubly plunging asymmetric anticline.
|
|
jeff constine
Trad climber
Ao Namao
|
|
|
Nov 17, 2015 - 07:54am PT
|
Somewhere!
|
|
ydpl8s
Trad climber
Santa Monica, California
|
|
|
Nov 17, 2015 - 09:31am PT
|
A couple of rocks from the top of my desk.
A garnet schist, an iron ore "wad" with some radiating crystals of (?), a rhyolite porphory, and a fossil from Libya that is possibly a partial head of (?)
|
|
skcreidc
Social climber
SD, CA
|
|
|
Nov 17, 2015 - 09:51am PT
|
I WAS going to post a picture of Cambrian algae balls, but the site would not let me post the picture. Too explicit?
|
|
Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
|
|
|
Nov 17, 2015 - 10:20am PT
|
Not far from Cerro Torre...
A gud 30 cm!
|
|
Fritz
Trad climber
Choss Creek, ID
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - Nov 17, 2015 - 03:50pm PT
|
Gneiss rocks folks & great Noids BC & Reilly. Thanks for posting up.
I was looking at the big garnet of the summer today & decided to compare it to my previously largest garnet, one I had bought for $1.00 in Montana when I was a 4th grader.
The dark, dark red almandine Montana garnet is a perfect dodecahedral crystal. (In geometry, a dodecahedron is any polyhedron with twelve flat faces.) It came from the Ruby River, near Virginia City Montana.
The one I found this summer is probably a grossular garnet and only has 7 intact faces. I think it likely grew in a tight pocket and only managed to develop half-way. I sure would like to find its perfect cousin. It was a long drive into darkest Idaho & a stiff uphill hike to where I found it, but I'm going back next year.
|
|
Fritz
Trad climber
Choss Creek, ID
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - Nov 24, 2015 - 10:55am PT
|
This Aquamarine crystal was posted by a Facebook friend yesterday.
I went looking for more information on it, but only found dead ends.
What Wikipedia has to say on the subject: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beryl#Aquamarine_and_maxixe
Aquamarine (from Latin: aqua marina, "water of the sea") is a blue or cyan variety of beryl. It occurs at most localities which yield ordinary beryl.
The largest aquamarine of gemstone quality ever mined was found in Marambaia, Minas Gerais, Brazil, in 1910. It weighed over 110 kg (240 lb), and its dimensions were 48.5 cm (19 in) long and 42 cm (17 in) in diameter
When I started climbing in Idaho's Sawtooth Range in the early 1970's, I became aware that some nice Aquamarines had been found in certain areas of the range. I never found any on climbs, and finally in 1981 backpacked a considerable distance into the south-central part of "the Tooths" in search of Aquamarines & good fishing. I managed to find these two inch long specimens in two days of looking. The Sawtooth Wilderness has been closed to mineral collecting since 1992.
Heidi bought this nice Aquamarine cluster from Pakistan at the first Tucson Gem & Mineral Show we attended.
It's quite the handfull.
Here's a nice large specimen of Aquamarines on feldspar that we looked at in Tucson. It was about 18" long and I think the dealer wanted $15,000 for it.
|
|
hooblie
climber
from out where the anecdotes roam
|
|
|
Nov 24, 2015 - 01:09pm PT
|
look, i found it. i'm calling it meatstone. case closed
|
|
Fritz
Trad climber
Choss Creek, ID
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - Nov 24, 2015 - 09:07pm PT
|
Another busy daze at ST. Now it is abundant gear reviews, not politcal schist that dumps posts off the first few pages of ST.
Just in case, you missed this today?
|
|
Fritz
Trad climber
Choss Creek, ID
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - Dec 1, 2015 - 07:44pm PT
|
TOPAZ!
When I was climbing in Idaho's Sawtooth Mountains back in the 1970's, I was slightly aware of the existence of the gemstone Topaz, but I did not know any Topaz occurred in the area. 30 years later, I discovered I had brought home some nice specimens of Topaz, that I had thought slightly strange Quartz crystals.
In the mid-1980’s I learned about Topaz Mountain Utah, a middle of nowhere large lump of rhyolite, with lots of small Topaz crystals around. On my first visit, I learned hunting Topaz crystals in morning or late-afternoon sun works great, since the tiny (1/4” to ¾”) crystals refract sunlight, and you can sometimes follow a gleam of refracted light 20 feet to a Topaz crystal.
My second visit to Topaz Mountain was in mid-March the next year. I was returning to Idaho from a Denver Ski Show via Utah. My SLC friends and I agreed to meet at Topaz Mountain and mineral-hunt for the weekend.
A large late-winter storm intervened, and I barely made it to Utah from Colorado, and they wisely cancelled on their end. I made it to Topaz Mountain in a snowstorm, ate, drank, & slept in my 4-Runner, with minimal trips outside, and woke in the morning to 5 inches of snow and clear skies.
It was a beautiful day, and I finally started trudging up the South-side of Topaz Mountain through the now-melting snow. Late morning, temps were up to the low 50’s and I was starting to think I might actually find some Topaz crystals, after more snow melted.
Just then, a large rattler buzzed me from the sunny-side of a nearby rock. Instead of being scared, I was outraged at the concept of an active rattlesnake among the snowdrifts. I rushed the snake, a rock in my hand, as it disappeared under its rock. After a few seconds of male-insanity, crouching over its rock, and getting ready to lift it and do battle------Sanity prevailed.
I found some nice Topaz crystals that day by breaking open likely areas in the pinkish Rhyolite to reveal crystal pockets. Only a few scorpions boiled out of the pockets and I didn’t see more snakes. I have not been back.
The final Topaz is a great specimen Heidi bought at the Tucson Gem & Mineral Show, a few years back.
Per this Wikipedia quote, Topaz can occur in a wide variety of colors, but collectors should be cautious of blue Topaz.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topaz
Pure topaz is colorless and transparent but is usually tinted by impurities; typical topaz is wine red, yellow, pale gray, reddish-orange, or blue brown. It can also be white, pale green, blue, gold, pink (rare), reddish-yellow or opaque to transparent/translucent.
Orange topaz, also known as precious topaz, is the traditional November birthstone, the symbol of friendship, and the state gemstone of the US state of Utah.[5]
Imperial topaz is yellow, pink (rare, if natural) or pink-orange. Brazilian Imperial Topaz can often have a bright yellow to deep golden brown hue, sometimes even violet. Many brown or pale topazes are treated to make them bright yellow, gold, pink or violet colored. Some imperial topaz stones can fade on exposure to sunlight for an extended period of time.[6][7]
Blue topaz is the state gemstone of the US state of Texas.[8] Naturally occurring blue topaz is quite rare. Typically, colorless, gray or pale yellow and blue material is heat treated and irradiated to produce a more desired darker blue.[7]
|
|
Darwin
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
|
|
just a bump, and to let you all know that I appreciate this thread.
I will POST, but it may not be worth it for y'all. I've picked up some from the coast of the Beaufort Sea to Tierra del Fuego, but I mostly didn't keep track from whence they came. Shame. I my have to resort to a "name this rock/mineral format".
|
|
Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
|
|
Wow, that aquamarine would make a rad pendant, for Godzilla's old lady!
So BITD I knew this geologist. I went with him to a place he found some
crystal that wound up in the Smithsonian. It is often found near mercury
deposits and we were at an old mercury mine. It is some kind of sulfur but
when you break the rock open the crystal is blood red. Trouble is if you
leave it exposed to sunlight it turns to sulfur powder and POOF!
You've a pile of NUTHIN'!
Naturally, the day I went we didn't find any Smithsonian quality gems but
we did find some little guys. They were blood red and real purdy!
Eat yer hearts out! The Farallones on the back side of Capri!
That whole island has some juicy sendage and the bivies aren't too bad, either!
Yes, the water really is that color!
Why do you think it is called The Blue Grotto?
|
|
skcreidc
Social climber
SD, CA
|
|
Finally, Cambrian algal balls. Ya'll probably thought I was full of it on this one.
|
|
survival
Big Wall climber
Terrapin Station
|
|
|
|
Fritz
Trad climber
Choss Creek, ID
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - Dec 3, 2015 - 02:05pm PT
|
Thanks folks for posting up your rocks!
I do want to post a warning for those of you that worry about what your wayward children are up to.
|
|
skcreidc
Social climber
SD, CA
|
|
Watch it there Fritz! I'm this close to posting up pics of slides of rocks under microscope and crossed nichols. ;)
|
|
Fritz
Trad climber
Choss Creek, ID
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - Dec 3, 2015 - 05:28pm PT
|
skcreidc! Bring it!
Let's just warn folks not to let their children watch.
(after your photo of Cambrian algal balls, I'm braced for still more risque rocks.)
|
|
|
SuperTopo on the Web
|
Let us know!