Another type of "rose" is also ingrained in Argentinian culture-the variety of massive rhodochrosite called "Inca rose." Translucent to opaque and adorned with delicate banding, its colors range from intense rose-red to every shade of pink. Most eye-catching are polished slabs of rare stalactitic Inca rose adorned with their signature patterns of colorful, surreal, concentric rings.
MANGANESE CARBONATE
Rhodochrosite (manganese carbonate, MnCO3) is a member of the calcite group of trigonal carbonates. It has a Mohs hardness of 3.5-4.5, a specific gravity of 3.5-3.6 and, like calcite, perfect, three-directional cleavage. When pure, rhodochrosite is a deep rose-red, a color that calcium and magnesium ions often lighten to pink and zinc ions alter to brownish-yellow.
Although known since antiquity, rhodochrosite was not scientifically described until 1813. Its name stems from the Greek words rhodon, meaning "rose" and chrös, "color."
Rhodochrosite is widely distributed, but uncommon. As a hydrothermal-vein mineral, it occurs primarily as a minor component of multimetal sulfide deposits, with one major exception-Argentina's Capillitas Mining District.
ARGENTINA'S RHODOCHROSITE BONANZA
A remote, 10,000-foot-high mining district in the Andean foothills of northeast Argentina's Catamarca Province, Capillitas is the sole source of Inca rose. This deposit formed seven million years ago when volcanics intruded Paleozoic granite and associated, metal-rich, hydrothermal fluids filled fractures in both the newly emplaced volcanic rock and the surrounding granite.
The Capillitas deposit has 19 known veins, some more than 2,000 feet in length. All consist of rhodochrosite carrying substantial amounts of copper and traces of gold, silver, lead and zinc. The rhodochrosite occurs almost exclusively as banded masses; crystals are rare and less than one-quarter inch in size.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة March 2024 من Rock&Gem Magazine.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 8500 مجلة وصحيفة.
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هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة March 2024 من Rock&Gem Magazine.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 8500 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
MORGAN HILL POPPY JASPER
In California, there are very few places to collect semi-precious stones. Many locations from the past have been either exhausted of the material or the land has been developed.
THE ACORN
The briolette gemstone has the same design attributes of a regular gemstone, however, the pavilion is elongated and the crown is usually domed. This is perfect for an elegant pendant, earrings or a pendulum.
HOW TO PUT A PROTECTIVE CAP ON A CAB
To protect a specimen cab, often a cap is needed. In my case, I had a slab with the because of the color of the background and the pattern. This background had a more silicified consistency than most sandstones. It had no graininess like most sandstone, so I'm inclined to compare it to a jasper. The pattern was typical of a dendrite.
The Resilient Revival of Anne Brontë & Her Stones
For the first time, the Anne Brontë rock collection underwent complete description and identification, and along with Professor Hazel Hutchison of Leeds University and Dr. Enrique Lozano Diz at ELODIZ (a company specializing in spectroscopy analysis), an analysis of that collaboration, Anne Brontë and Geology: A Study of her Collection of Stones, was published in April 2022 in Volume 47, Issue 2 of the peer-reviewed journal, Brontë Studies & Gazette.\"
Amazing Women with Rock-Solid Careers
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The Case of the Bleeding Glacier
It's a gory sight called Blood Falls. Ever since British geologist Thomas Griffith Taylor first noted it in 1911, it has been a mystery.
Asteroid Samples Are Said to Hold Invaluable Secrets
If Only Scientists Can Pop the Lid!
Paleontologists Embrace a New Method for Seeing Fossils within Rock
Fossil bone can be delicate. Attempts to remove it from a hard rock matrix by picking and scratching or etching with acids can be time-consuming and/or may end up obliterating that which you hope to study.
Need a Map of the Ocean Floor?
Call in the Seals!
A Step Closer to Hydrogen, the "Climate-Friendly Fuel"
As I reported last June, the world is racing to find sustainably renewable, nonpolluting sources of energy to replace our carbon-based reserves of coal, oil and gas.