Questions tagged [mineralogy]
questions relating to the scientific study and identification of minerals.
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Where/how people find minerals
Forever I have seen little shops here and there offer minerals like those crystals and neat shaped rocks of different kinds, turquoise and amethyst and many others and such. But I never really thought ...
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1answer
60 views
Do Pyroelectric gemstones really exist? Can they be found on web market?
I just got the curiosity today to know whether the gems that produce electricity non stop without an end exist, and I have found this site.
But I’m having doubts about it, thinking that it could be ...
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1answer
59 views
If the study of “minerals” is covered by inorganic chemistry
I am wondering what field studies "minerals", such as the minerals in Wikipedia's list. I keep thinking that perhaps it would be covered in inorganic chemistry (list of inorganic compounds wiki), but ...
10
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1answer
82 views
Why would India have so much thorium on it's beaches?
The recent BBC News article Why India Wants to Turn it's Beaches into Nuclear Fuel includes the passage:
The tropical beaches of India probably bring to mind sun-dappled palms, fiery fish curries ...
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2answers
109 views
I found this strange spherical stone in Gillette Wyoming. I have no idea what it is. Please help.
These are recent pictures of it. It’s heavy, I see small minerals that catch the light in it, very bumpy, spherical, doesn’t seem to be magnetic, I was falling down a deep trench and kicked it up at ...
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1answer
67 views
Is this a rock with metal or gold? [closed]
I found these really hard rock while i was excavating. It caught my attention the different colors.
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1answer
47 views
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44 views
Help Identifying this Mineral? [closed]
I have the following rock/mineral but can't seem to identify. Anybody have an idea what it might be? It's heavy, 3"x3", nonmagnetic (but slightly repels a neodymium magnet), blackish in color with ...
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1answer
68 views
Please identify- no origin known but given to me by a geologist
A very dear man who love his job as a geologist gave this to me. He’s been all over the country so I have no idea where he may have picked it up
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0answers
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What is this Stone [closed]
I found this stone in my father's old stuff. I tried to search online for about it but I don't know what is it. It looks to be a rare stone.
Can someone identify it?
3
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1answer
101 views
heavy, brown, rock with crystals, please help identify
please help identify this rock. it is heavier than most. dark brown color. picture is shown with streak test. found in Philadelphia pa. at home demolition site. crystals seem to be different type and ...
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0answers
28 views
A chemical formation or constructed by microorganisms?
This mineral formation was at the side of a fresh water canal in Gürpınar, Van, Turkey. It was dug out from the bottom of the canal. It is very brittle.
I know that the natural water sources in the ...
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0answers
52 views
What are the name of these stones?
There are some kind of stone, I collected them and I want to be sure of their identification.
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2answers
115 views
Please help identify this! Rock? Glass? Crystal? It's big and very heavy [closed]
About 1.5 feet tall, 1 foot deep and 2 foot wide. Very heavy and very hard. I will get a better picture posted asap. You can read a newspaper thru it. Was left to me by my uncle years ago but never ...
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2answers
163 views
Is this petrified wood or just “some rock”?
I was gifted this and have no idea what it is and was to embarrassed to ask, so here I am.
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0answers
46 views
Can you help me identify my rock?
I found this rock in my yard. Can someone please identify it for me? I’m not sure if you can see the blue hue on the rock in the picture! (https://i.stack.imgur.com/cuklH.jpg)
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How do I Interpreted EDX Result?
I am new for SEM-EDX but I want to learn. In the EDX data result, there are Wt % and at % from every element (for Example if : Wt % C 14.16, O 51.22, Al 2.22, Si 30.64, Fe 1.75 and At% C 21.11, O 57....
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How does chalcedony containing quarts and mogánite form?
I just learned that the cryptocrystalline form of silica, chalcedony, usually contains 1-20% of the monoclinic $\ce{SiO_2}$ mineral mogánite as well as the much more common hexagonal quartz. With time ...
4
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1answer
52 views
Unidentified mineral found in France
(I am not a native english speaker, so I'm not really aware of the specific terminology.)
A few years back, I found an unidentified rock on a beach in Normandie (France). It looks and feels (texture-...
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1answer
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Are these obsidian snowflakes?
I'm not sure if these are obsidian snowflakes:
I found it near a river, hardness is 4 to 5, it has a wax lustre when pre-polished. The 'flakes' in the matrix are raised and gray.
Pre-polished side
...
2
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1answer
44 views
What exactly are enantiotropic and monotropic polymorphic transitions?
Recently, I've been studying the subject of polymorphism and met two important concepts, the monotropic and enantiotropic polymorphic transition types. However, I can't really seem to grasp the ...
3
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1answer
94 views
What's this? Chess pieces growing spines!
These chess pieces have laid undisturbed for a long time (15-20 years?). In this time, they seem to have grown clear/white, spiny, long crystals. I'm wondering if they are dangerous, but also curious ...
2
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1answer
110 views
Is this deep green calcite, green gneiss stone?
The site where it is found is characterized by schist, quartz and gneis, but also other species of rock. This is a scissors 2 cm semi transparent, vitreous luster, hard scale 6.5 - 7 ... I will post ...
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1answer
75 views
What is the type of stone/mineral in this necklace please?
I would like to sell this necklace but can't remember its original description and the online store where I got it no longer carries it so I can't look it up that way. Blue Chalcedony comes to mind, ...
3
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1answer
118 views
Why would CaO be more finely spread than K2O in Granodiorite?
I recently interpreted some XRF data on samples of a granodiorite which were classified under three different types of physical characteristics: very little, mild and significant levels of weathering. ...
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1answer
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Can you help me identifying this beige/brown rock?
I found this stone in a box where I keep some memorabilia. Unfortunately I don't know, where it's from, maybe it's from a mountain side in the alpins or from a beach at the mediterranean sea. One side ...
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1answer
120 views
Help identify this brown red mineral?
This was found in my garden today and has me completely stumped. What is it?
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2answers
279 views
Melting point of minerals
Looking at this website, I can see the melting point of the following minerals: http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/Geophys/meltrock.html
Apparently at a temperature of 1200 °C, all the ...
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1answer
31 views
Is there any rule of thumb to decide the indentation hardness test?
How to decide whether Brinell Hardness test, Rockwell test or Vicker's test is to be applied as far as grain-size is concerned? Is there any rule of thumb to decide the type of indentation hardness ...
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2answers
99 views
Help identify glowing stone with scarab carving
I found almost no information from searching Google, Someone mentioned it might be Fluorite. I simply don't know where else to look for an answer and so I am asking you.
When I was a child, my ...
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0answers
20 views
Detecting the hydrothermal alteration zones?
Is it possible to use remote sensing to determine Hydrothermal alteration zones without resorting to collecting samples from the Area of study?
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1answer
150 views
What kind of light blue stone is this?
My son found this stone on the beach on the island Crete. It was a one of its kind, no other visible stone on the beach was the same.
We asked the locals, but they did not know this stone.
It's about ...
5
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1answer
108 views
What are the cubic formations found inside Larimar gemstones?
I recently noticed what appears to be common cubic formations just beneath the surface of Pectolite (Larimar) gemstones. They quite resemble transparent sugar sprinkles. Each formation isn't perfectly ...
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5answers
152 views
Which Earth minerals would Moon colonists miss the most?
In my science-based novel, Moon colonists need to return to Earth to collect some rare or absent mineral(s) Ideally, something they could derive from seawater. Which minerals might they be...?
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How can I distinguish real from fake? (Jade Stone)
How can I be certain this is jade. I bought this rock from a thrift store for 40 bucks. I thought it was a bit pricey for what it is..does anybody have any solid tips on how to clean up the ...
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2answers
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Iron-nickel phase in pallasite meteorites
I have recently been learning and researching about meteorite types and classification. Pallasites are mainly composed of a 'solid-solution' of olivine crystals and an iron-nickel alloy. My question ...
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1answer
61 views
Can anyone tell me what these rocks are? One is layered, the other has holes
These I have collected in Northeast Ohio.
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2answers
274 views
What disciplines of science are used in the locating and extraction of mineral resources? [closed]
Im trying to do an assessment but I just can answer this question!
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1answer
167 views
Inorganic Limestone and Inorganic Gypsum
I read that limestone is made from the compaction of marine animals' bones. But, I am unable to find out why limestone could not have been produced from calcium occurring naturally (5th most abundant ...
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1answer
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Difference between pyrite oxidation and dissolution
I've seen papers use oxidation and dissolution of pyrite. Are these two processes the same? I was always under the impression that pyrite does not dissolve easily. What is the difference between ...
4
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1answer
53 views
The influence of special emissions (possibly coal mining activity) on particulate matters
Based on multiple site sampling of airborne $PM_{2.5}$ and $PM_{10}$ , the elemental concentrations of the trace elements were analyzed.
I have found out in the site near surface coal mining zone ...
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0answers
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Chloride and evaporation
I have a layered aquifer with water that contains high concentrations of calcium and sulfate (~400 mg/L Ca2+, ~1300 mg/L SO42-), at 50 cm below ground surface (bgs), 250 cm bgs and 300 cm bgs. The ...
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Formation of dolomite
What are the kinetic barriers to dolomite precipitation? Does it precipitate out in solution as quickly as Calcite does?
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40 views
What are the regenerable natural resources?
It may seem stupid question, but I want to know if metals do regenerate? I mean, every time when our metals finish, then will regenerate after millions of years? Or, for how long will it take to be ...
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2answers
67 views
Geological maps of British Columbia
I’ve been doing research into mineral deposits in B.C. I’ve been overlaying old claims maps onto Google Earth maps. Are there any good public maps for metallic minerals for British Columbia online?
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1answer
228 views
Saturation Index clarification
I have a problem with my project and I was hoping I would find some clarification.
I did some modeling with phreeqc to calculate saturation indices and found that calcite was saturated in an ...
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2answers
49 views
Sulfate salts of magnesium and sodium
What concentrations of magnesium, sodium and sulfate are needed to precipitate solid MgSO4 and Na2SO4 (let's say evaporation is occurring in a system) I'm assuming probably really high because they ...
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2answers
152 views
What is serpentinization, in the context of disappearance of surface water on Mars?
The recent paper in Nature The divergent fates of primitive hydrospheric water on Earth and Mars (Nature 552, 391–394 (21 December 2017)
doi:10.1038/nature25031) has been linked by many recent news ...
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48 views
Formation of minerals from decomposition of soil
I was wondering if aerobic decomposition of organic rich soils, also rich in calcium and sulfur, can result in the precipitation of gypsum. My thinking is the decomposition would release the ...
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2answers
115 views
Analyzing composition of a mineral using SEM
If I have a mineral in which I did a SEM analysis on and got the data (elements and their wt% with Std. Dev., MDL, atomic % oxide % and k ratio) how would I go about quantifying the sample's ...
