From simple cubes to complex twinned dodecahedrons, pyrite appears in over a half dozen different forms. And it is certainly found in countless deposits all over the world. Pyrite is so varied and common any collector could devote an entire collecting career to this one species. Chemically pyrite is not complicated. One molecule of pyrite is composed of one atom of iron and two atoms of sulfur, iron disulfide.
What is complex about pyrite is the many crystal forms it can take and still remain in the isometric or cubic crystal system! Some pyrite crystals differ enough to be given odd names like iron cross and oscillating cubes, pyrite suns, pyrite bars and pyritized fossils. Yet cubic pyrite’s most common and very recognizable crystal form is pyritohedron. Instead of having a square crystal face of a cube as you would expect, pyritohedron faces are five-sided. Luckily today, thanks to one important deposit in Spain, the most common form for pyrite available is simply a cube on a white marl matrix.
COMMON CUBES
This story is from the June 2021 edition of Rock&Gem Magazine.
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This story is from the June 2021 edition of Rock&Gem Magazine.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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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.\"
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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.
