Mineral Thread

[Anonymous No.7249023]

So /sci/, what's your favorite mineral?

Pic is realgar, an extremely poisonous ruby-like mineral with the chemical formula AsS.

[Anonymous No.7249024]

i see ass again

[Anonymous No.7249027]

My favorite mineral is stone.

[Anonymous No.7249052]

>>7249023

In b4 bismuth.

Mine is sweet beautiful gold.

[Anonymous No.7249057]

Cummingtonite

[crazyaga !!gDYZXg02vsZ No.7249087]

>>7249052
I googled bismuth just because of your post, and WOW those are really cool formations!

What other minerals create very cool formations?

[Anonymous No.7249091]

>>7249087
mods

[Anonymous No.7249092]

Smells like someone is samefagging.

[Anonymous No.7249093]

>>7249023
All the realgar I've ever seen looks like this, and is very powdery leading to an actual chance of digesting it.

[crazyaga !!gDYZXg02vsZ No.7249097]

>>7249091
Sorry for not being too knowledgeable about crystal formations of diffrent minerals anon.

can you show me some other really nice crystal formations? please? they look so artsy and nice

[Anonymous No.7249099]

>>7249097
Take your rocks elsewhere, and quit shitposting.

[Anonymous No.7249314]

>>7249097
You're taste in minerals is as entry level as your taste in music. Tripfag please go.

[Anonymous No.7249318]

>>7249093
>AsS. Looks like ass.
God have a sense of humor.

[Anonymous No.7249322]

>>7249314
>You're

[Anonymous No.7249337]

>>7249322
>not getting a meme as old as 4chan itself

[Anonymous No.7249757]

>>7249023
I like ass too

[Anonymous No.7249762]

>>7249322
Go be a newfaggot somewhere else.

[Anonymous No.7249765]

>>7249023
Moissanite, its rare and has a weird chemical formula SiC

[Anonymous No.7250234]

Any of you tried putting a mineral under a microscope? its pretty fun

[Anonymous No.7250237]

>>7249337
>I am a failure
>I will start calling my fails memes

[Anonymous No.7250526]

>>7249093
Its mislabeled, that is mostly Orpiment which occurs regularly with Realgar. Realgar IS in the sample, but why focus on those subhedral crystals?

>>7249087
Most Bismuth crystals are not minerals since they were artificially created

Gotta keep these non-geologists straight.

[Anonymous No.7250556]

Here is my sample

[Anonymous No.7250577]

>Mineral Porn Thread
https://imgur.com/gallery/2FCtC

Have fun.

It's damn hard to find good pics of the pseudohexagonal crystals of mica.

[Anonymous No.7250578]

http://www.reddit.com/r/MineralPorn

Dioptase is one of my favorite minerals, such a deep green.

[Anonymous No.7250585]

>>7250556
You have realgar, WOAW cool

[Anonymous No.7250613]

mineral thread hell yes

[Anonymous No.7250618]

this is from england

[Anonymous No.7250620]

mexico

[Anonymous No.7250627]

Is this the daily best gem thread?

[Anonymous No.7250630]

>>7250627
board of children confirmed

[Anonymous No.7250696]

>>7250627
>dem toes

[Anonymous No.7250718]

>>7249087
>What other minerals create very cool formations?
LOTS.

A geode full of amethyst is beautiful.
Bornite is known as "peacock rock" because its beautiful colors.

[Anonymous No.7250722]

>tfw work at a Rock/Mineral shop
>Sell all sorts of crystals amethyst, quartz, the works
>Have to deal with hippies and Newagefags
At least the hours are flexible.

[Anonymous No.7250727]

OK I'll fetch the pics too. I used to collect rocks.

[Anonymous No.7250732]

pretty

[Anonymous No.7250738]

azurite

[Anonymous No.7250739]

>>7250677
They perpetuate the idea that science is about blowing things up and shouting "YEEEAAAAAAAAH" afterwards. If it works getting the young interested (mostly in the US I suppose), I guess that's better than nothing, but at the same time it's worrying that they have to dumb things down that much for it to work.

I prefer pic related's style. It was the gold standard in science outreach, imho.

>captcha: select all hamburgers below

[Anonymous No.7250742]

>>7249087

[Anonymous No.7250744]

opal

[Anonymous No.7250747]

>>7250739
fuck me wrong thread

i miscliked

[Anonymous No.7250752]

kammerite

[Anonymous No.7250754]

clinoclase

[Anonymous No.7250763]

Cuprosklodowskite

[Anonymous No.7250767]

osmium

[Anonymous No.7250770]

Crocoite

[Anonymous No.7250772]

>>7249093
>AsS(s)

[Anonymous No.7250773]

Chalcanthite

[Anonymous No.7250775]

Hey guys, I'm in Chemistry but I am really unfamiliar with minerals, I wanna ask a not so /sci/ question. Do you think I could make a decent knife with any mineral as the blade?

[Anonymous No.7250785]

>>7250775
Obsidian makes a fantastically sharp knife. But the tradeoff on that is that its almost as brittle as glass. People have been making them for thousands of years. In fact, its so sharp that in modern times flakes of obsidian have been used as surgical scalpel blades. A flake of it is several times sharper than steel can ever be.

[Anonymous No.7250797]

>>7250775
You could make a good old fashioned flint knife, or any other microcrystaline silica mineral ie chert, obsidian.

Diamond knives are also a thing, although they are ridiculously expensive because the blade is a single flawless gem quality stone.

[Anonymous No.7250801]

>>7250775
You probably could with quartz.
Many minerals will likely grind away on a chopping board though, leading to your food being contaminated.
Generally, obsidian makes sharp things, but they're brittle.
>>7250785
adding to that, obsidian scalpels can only be used once because of how much they dull, hospitals spend lots of money on scalpels.

[Anonymous No.7250822]

>>7250738
>>7250732
>>7250727
>>7250618
>>7250613
>>7250578
>>7249023
>>7250744
>>7250752
>>7250754
>>7250767
>>7250770
>>7250773

>/r/geologyporn ---> top --->all

at least get some original pictures of minerals, but that would require you to go outside....

[Anonymous No.7250826]

>>7250801
>obsidian scalpels can only be used once because of how much they dull, hospitals spend lots of money on scalpels.

aztec hospitals?

[Anonymous No.7250839]

>>7250785
>>7250797
>>7250801
>>7250826
Thanks for the replies! I was hoping to go get some really pretty minerals to make a knife, but I guess it'd be better to use as the knife handle then. Has anyone tried this?

[Anonymous No.7250853]

>>7249023
>So /sci/, what's your favorite mineral?

Moldavite, as it has advantageous metaphysical benefits.

[Anonymous No.7250854]

>>7250839

[Anonymous No.7250859]

>>7250853
>metaphysical benefits

[Anonymous No.7250873]

Posting from my pictures

Garnet and wollastonite and some diopside

[Anonymous No.7250886]

>>7249093
Looks like it's just a typical rock covered in Dorito dust.

[Anonymous No.7250897]

>>7250873
dat skarn

[Anonymous No.7250900]

>>7250822
I posted minerals from my collection, nigger

[Anonymous No.7250902]

Whats with all these rocks

[Anonymous No.7250909]

>>7250902
I don't know, I just wanted to use them to decorate a knife or a vase. I think they're pretty, not really hard science but a way to appreciate geology maybe.

[Anonymous No.7250936]

>>7250909
Minerals are a hard science. Ever heard of mineralogy? It's complicated as fuck and full of science.

[Anonymous No.7250940]

You've got optical mineralogy, chemical, environmental, and economic mineralogy, and petrology to name a few areas of study

[Anonymous No.7250951]

>>7250940
dat 60/120 cleavage HHHHHNNNNNNGGGGH

Can you into double refraction with it?
Can you into double refraction with it?

[Anonymous No.7250963]

[Anonymous No.7250971]

>>7250951
I spent about an hour looking at the sun through it the other day when I was tripping on acid. Then I realized I should stop looking straight at the sun before I hurt my eyes. The colors are so good though.

[Anonymous No.7250978]

>>7250826
>aztec hospitals?
No.
http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/02/health/surgery-scalpels-obsidian/
http://www.finescience.com/Special-Pages/Products.aspx?ProductId=296&CategoryId=56

[Anonymous No.7250979]

>>7250936
Minerals may be hard but it is no science why my dick is so hard at seeing these rocks

[Anonymous No.7250999]

>>7250971
I'm pretty jelly that you have your own sample of it. I remember in mineralogy last year we got to use samples that had the double refraction, I spent the whole class period just messing around with it. Its micrography in thin-section because of it is pretty trippy too if you've ever seen it.

[Anonymous No.7251013]

>>7250979
>its no science

[Anonymous No.7251017]

>>7250979
>its no science

stahp

[Anonymous No.7251025]

>>7250999
>nice trips

Ever see ulexite, AKA tv rock or nature's fiber optics?

[Anonymous No.7251028]

>>7251025
I don't think I have no. How is the diffraction in ulexite different from calcite?

[Anonymous No.7251031]

>>7250618
literally everything in england is salt n pepper, bread n butter level, even the minerals

[Anonymous No.7251033]

>>7250979
Cause diamond is the hardest metal known to man. And your dick is now diamonds.

Pic related.

[Anonymous No.7251040]

>>7251033
Everyone knows Dragonforce is the hardest metal known to man

[Anonymous No.7251052]

>>7251028
Ulexite has parts of the crystal with a high refractive index, and parts with a low refractive index.

>n 1956, John Marmon observed that fibrous aggregates of ulexite project an image of an object on the opposite surface of the mineral. This optical property is common for synthetic fibers, but not in minerals, giving ulexite the nickname "TV rock". According to Baur et al. (1957)[full citation needed], this optical property is due to the reflections along twinned fibers, the most prominent twinning plane being on (010). The light is internally reflected over and over within each of the fibers that are surrounded by a medium of a lower refractive index (Garlick, 1991).[full citation needed] This optical effect is also the result of the large spaces formed by the sodium octahedral chains in the mineral structure. Synthetic fibers used for fiber optics transmit images along a bundle of threadlike crystals the same way naturally occurring ulexite reproduces images due to the existence of different indices of refractions between fibers. Additionally, if the object is colored, all of the colors are reproduced by ulexite. Parallel surfaces of ulexite cut perpendicular to the fibers produce the best image, as distortion in the size of the projected image will occur if the surface is not parallel to the mineral. Curiously, In situ samples of ulexite are capable of producing a decent, rough image. Satin spar gypsum also exhibits this optical effect; however the fibers are too coarse to transmit a decent image. The thickness of the fibers is proportional to the sharpness of the projected image (Baur et al., 1957).[full citation needed]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulexite

[Anonymous No.7251061]

>>7250940
Thats a pretty good Iceland spar

[Anonymous No.7251067]

>>7249023
I own one of these. Its pretty cool looks like a rose made of clay but its a natural mineral.

[Anonymous No.7251075]

Even lowly old quartz can be beautiful.

[Anonymous No.7251079]

>>7251067
Turd blossom

[Anonymous No.7251112]

[Anonymous No.7251122]

>>7251052
.....Gneiss

[Anonymous No.7251412]

>>7250797
I was under the impression that chert and flint were the exact same thing.

[Anonymous No.7251474]

>>7251412
Pretty much. I forgot to add agate too. They're all
microcrystaline silica.

[Anonymous No.7251537]

Man I want to start a mineral collection so bad. Being poor really does suck.

[Anonymous No.7251658]

>>7251474
Bro you want the best bang for your buck from yo silica you want good old SiC. Carborundum for LIFE

[Anonymous No.7251811]

>>7251537
You might have already started

[Anonymous No.7252513]

>>7250854
thumbnail looks like a dick without nuts

[Anonymous No.7252783]

>>7250854
Maybe you could make a really small macahuitl so you could replace blades individually. Also, if you're not doing surgery blades don't have to be discarded after one use.

[Anonymous No.7252882]

[Anonymous No.7253029]

>>7250775
Steel in a mineral.
Iron is a mineral.
Bronze is a mineral.
Copper is a mineral.
Flint is a mineral.
>The history of human tools in minerals.

[Anonymous No.7253032]

>>7253029
>Steel
>a mineral
Lrn2metallurgy

[Anonymous No.7253073]

>>7253032
>Not an animal
>Not a vegetable
Lrn2twentyquestions


I kid. You are right.

[Anonymous No.7253119]

>Uranium minerals
unf

>>7250773
Recognized the color and crystal shape as copper sulfate.
Been recrystallizing some for purity's sake and they've gotten quite big.

[Anonymous No.7253642]

>>7253119
>Been recrystallizing some for purity's sake and they've gotten quite big.
Cool. Glad to hear it. Always nice to see a fellow chemist.

[Anonymous No.7255247]

>>7253119
I want to fuck Uranium.

[Anonymous No.7255300]

>>7250526
>mostly orpiment

It could also be pararealgar (As4S4 the same as realgar, although differing in crystal structure. While orpiment is As2S3) which is caused by exposing realgar to light (and probable on a specimen that is regularly displayed)

[Anonymous No.7255367]

>>7252882

This is something only found in metorite impacts right?

[Anonymous No.7255399]

>>7253119

get on this guys level
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PoRyvpfkc1U

[Anonymous No.7255405]

>>7255367
correct.
from Pallasite wiki
>Pallasites were once thought to originate at the core-mantle boundary of differentiated asteroids that were subsequently shattered through impacts. An alternative recent hypothesis is that they are impact-generated mixtures of core and mantle materials

>It consists of centimeter-sized olivine crystals of peridot quality in an iron-nickel matrix.

[Anonymous No.7255498]

>no labradorite

[Anonymous No.7256356]

>>7250526
I thought that a synthetic crystal was a mineral if it had a analogous mineral in nature?

[Anonymous No.7256534]

>>7256356
Part of the proper definition of a mineral is that it formed naturally. Man made diamonds, while crystalline, are not considered minerals.

Posting my awesome minerals.

[Anonymous No.7256539]

>>7255498
Hell yeah.

[Anonymous No.7256557]

>>7256534
>>7256539

[Anonymous No.7256571]

>>7256557

[Anonymous No.7256575]

>>7256571

[Anonymous No.7256577]

>>7256575

[Anonymous No.7256581]

>>7256577

Celestite

[Anonymous No.7256586]

>>7256581

[Anonymous No.7256591]

>>7256586

[Anonymous No.7256596]

>>7256591
That's a Selenite rose.

This is delicious Kyanite

[Anonymous No.7257171]

>>7256534
Alright, I've always learned in college that synthetic minerals that can be found in nature are still minerals, but I guess there might be room for thought.

[Anonymous No.7257184]

>>7257171
When they occur naturally, yes, they are minerals.

I think you might be talking about in general, is a specific chemical formula arranged in a specific way created in the lab a mineral. While what I'm saying is that you have to consider the origins of the specific specimen in question.

[Anonymous No.7258580]

>>7250556
Nice AsS.

[Anonymous No.7259043]

>>7257184
Yes, what I'm saying that in geology courses I took in college I remember the professor explicitly stating that if a specimen made in a lab could be found in the exact form in nature, it is also considered a mineral, like synthetic gem stones.
To him the origin didn't matter unless it was something that couldn't be found in nature.

[Anonymous No.7259927]

>>7250627
> elephant feet
> puckered asshole mouth
How could they fuck it up so bad