Mineral Mondays!

Gaspeite:

This rare stone takes its beautiful green hues from its Nickel content, it's naturally vibrant green is one of my favorites. It is only found in very few localities with the largest one in Western Australia. This location has long since been worked out, and the only Gaspeite available on the market now comes from small supplies collected many years ago.

Another stone similar in colour to Gaspeite is Mojave (Mohave) Turquoise, which is often marketed as being Gaspeite.

Formula:	(Ni,Mg,Fe)CO 3
System:	Hexagonal	Colour:	Light green
Hardness:	4½ - 5
Member of:	Calcite Group
Name:	After the type locality: Gaspé Peninsula, Lemieux Township, Gaspé-Ouest Co., Québec, Canada

Type Occurrence of Gaspéite:

Type Locality: New Jersey Zinc Exploration Co. roadcut, Mont-Albert, La Haute-Gaspésie RCM, Gaspésie-Îles-de-la-Madeleine, Québec, Canada

General Appearance of Type Material: Light green rhombohedral crystals, Spinel, Serpentine Group, Magnesite, Dolomite Annabergite

Associated Minerals at type locality:

Physical Properties of Gaspéite

Lustre: Vitreous, Dull

Colour: Light green

Streak: Green, yellow

Hardness (Mohs): 4½ - 5

Cleavage: Distinct/Good, Good {1011}

Fracture: Irregular/Uneven

Density (measured): 3.71(1) g/cm3

Density (calculated): 3.748 g/cm3

Crystallography of Gaspéite

Crystal System: Hexagonal

Cell Parameters: a = 4.621Å, c = 14.93Å

Ratio: a:c = 1 : 3.231

Unit Cell Volume: V 276.10 ų (Calculated from Unit Cell)

Kisses,

K

(Images and info via Cactus and Coyote, Entia Jewelry, Wikipedia, CMU, Mineral Atlas, Mindat)

 

Inspire Me Tuesday

The Paciffic Northwest is such an inspiring place to be. It never ceases to amaze me. There are so many naturally beautiful sights and sounds to experience. This weekend I had the pleasure of sharing one such moment with my husband.

We were out on a beach overlooking downtown Seattle as a summer storm approached. The air got a little bit thicker, darker, and the swiftening sky carried an intense marine smell on its winds. Suddenly, there were waves, significant ones for the Puget Sound, and into the quiet of the encroaching storm it was as if the waves began to sing.

They sang a song I had never heard before. A song that played against the rocky shore. A song of rushing and shushing. Of hurrying and reaching into the masses of pebbles and slipping away. Of mad dashes and whooshes....

It was a beautiful sound that spoke of land and sea and the power of nature. Those of you who grew up on rocky shoals have probably heard this siren song before. But growing up on gentle sandy beaches I had never heard even the largest of hurricane waves be able to sing this unique and beautiful language. It's power crashes onto soft cushioning sand.

For those who've never heard it, I wish l could share it with you. With all of you really. I'll work on uploading a video (always more to learn).

But in he meantime I hope you find a momment that moves you. I hope it as powerful, calming, lovely, and inspiring as mine is for me. I hope it helps you to translate a moment of peace and beauty that exists even amidst life's storms. It's there, somewhere, if you take a moment to breathe, look, and listen.

Kisses,

K

(Images property of Krista Carson)

 

Mineral Mondays!

A kiss on the hand can be quite continental...

But diamonds are a girl's best friend!

Formula:	C
System:	Isometric	Colour:	Colourless, yellowish to ...
Lustre:	Adamantine, Greasy	Hardness:	10
Name:	From Greek "adamas", 'invincible'. First known use by Manlius (A.D. 16) and Pliny (A.D. 100).
Polymorph of:	Chaoite, Graphite, Lonsdaleite

Diamond is the hardest natural substance known. It is formed deep in the mantle, and is only brought to the surface via kimberlite pipes, lamprophyres, eclogites and other rocks that originate deep within the mantle. It is also found in alluvial deposits, along with quartz, corundum, zircon and other minerals, derived from such rocks, and in certain meteorites.

The variety carbonado was suggested to form in stellar supernovae explosions (Garai et al., 2006), but this has been disputed by other authors.

 


Kisses,

K

(Images via Pinterest and info via Mindat)

 

Mineral Mondays

Welcome to Mineral Mondays! Every Monday I will share a different mineral with you. I love geology and am excited to share a photo and the mineral's information with you.

To begin: Atacamite

Formula:	Cu 2 (OH) 3 Cl
System:	Orthorhombic	Colour:	Bright green, dark ...
Lustre:	Adamantine, Vitreous	Hardness:	3 - 3½
Member of:	Atacamite Group
Name:	Named after the type locality, in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile.
Polymorph of:	Anatacamite, Botallackite, Clinoatacamite

It is a secondary copper mineral formed through the oxidation of other copper minerals, especially in arid, saline conditions and may alter to malachite and chrysocolla, creating pseudomorphs.

Kisses,

K

(Information and photos found via Cochise, Mindat.org, and Wikipedia)