Aquamarine is a pale blue form of the mineral beryl. Aquamarine crystals can occur in such rocks as granites and pegmatites. These beautiful gemstones have a glassy luster (shine) and are either translucent or transparent. These properties make aquamarine a prized stone for all types of jewelry.
Filed under: minerals on March 3rd, 2010 | No Comments »
February babies are lucky! Amethyst is one of the coolest minerals ever. We love the variations in the purple color and the awesome points that it can form. Amethyst is actually a purple form of the mineral quartz.
Filed under: earth science, geology, minerals on February 1st, 2010 | No Comments »
This unique mineral is often called TV Stone or TV Rock because of its fiber optic properties. Place a sample on a picture or text and watch the image transmit from beneath the mineral to the top. Ulexite is composed is white, silky fibers and is very soft.
Filed under: earth science, geology, minerals, rocks on December 1st, 2009 | No Comments »
Azurite is a beautiful, deep blue colored mineral. Relatively soft, azurite has a hardness of 3.5 to 4 on the Mohs scale. The deep blue color in its natural form and its light blue colored streak are strong identifying properties of the mineral.
Filed under: earth science, geology, minerals, rocks on November 24th, 2009 | No Comments »
The November birthstone is topaz. Topaz is a unique gemstone which comes in a huge varitey of colors such as orange-yellow, colorless, light blue, pink, brown and green.
Filed under: earth science, geology, minerals, rocks on November 13th, 2009 | No Comments »
We received this interesting question from a 10-year old who is interested in what is it like to work as a geologist.
Question: Is being a geologist fun? Or is it drudgery? Do you have to stay away from your family for long periods of time?
Filed under: earth science, geology, minerals, rocks on November 9th, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Ask-a-Geologist Q&A about Metamorphic Rocks. What rocks are changed by high pressure and high temperature?
Filed under: earth science, geology, minerals, rocks on September 21st, 2009 | No Comments »
A streak test is one tool that geologists use to determine the identity of a mineral. The “streak” is the color of the mineral in powdered form. Some minerals will have a streak color that is the same as the outer color of the mineral while others will have a streak color that is very different from the outer color.
Filed under: earth science, geology, minerals, rocks on September 17th, 2009 | No Comments »
A new shipment of wonderful grossular garnet crystals have arrived. Beautiful grossular garnet mineral from Mexico is one of six varieties of garnet. Each single crystal shows the natural dodecahedral form of the garnet group. These samples, from Mexico, are approximately 0.75 to 1 inch in size.
Filed under: earth science, geology, minerals, rocks on September 10th, 2009 | No Comments »
Sapphires are a blue form of the mineral corundum. When corundum is red, it is called a ruby.
Filed under: earth science, geology, minerals, rocks on September 9th, 2009 | No Comments »
