Aragonite (CaCO3) and cerussite (PbCO3).
Aragonite isomorphous with cerussite. They have the same crystal structure with atoms ordered in the same places, the only difference is one contains calcium where the other contains lead.
(Source: commons.wikimedia.org)
Cerussite, PbCO3.
When people talk about lead poisoning from eating old paint chips, this pretty white crystal is the compound they’ve unfortunately ingested.
(Source: exceptionalminerals.com)
Tourmaline.
Tourmaline is a piezoelectric material. Piezoelectrics generate a voltage when compressed along a perpendicular direction. Materials optimized for these properties are commonly used in sensors, scales, speakers, motors, and microscopes.
(Source: watzlminerals.com)
Rare “Pinapple” Opal
“Opal Pseudomorphs are created by the deposition of opal in casts (molds) of fossil bone, teeth, shell, belemnoids (ancient relatives of cuttlefish), crinoids (sea lillies), wood, fir cones and even skeletons of large prehistoric animals. Many of these fossilized forms contain exceptional quality noble opal. White Cliffs is the only place where these marvelous (and very rare) pseudomorphic “pineapple” opals have been found. They were formed when a mineral crystal of glauberite (or ikalite) was first replaced by calcite and then opalised.”
(via loveyourchaos)
An inclusion is a lump of stuff trapped inside a crystal. This lump could be a different material than the crystal or it could just be of a different atomic arrangement.
The picture above shows carbon inclusions in diamond. They appeared when the diamond was formed, and just failed to adopt the same crystal structure.
If you’re a jeweler, you probably hate these guys. They lower the clarity rating and quality of the diamond. If you’re a scientist, you can look to inclusions to identify the mineral, or details about the environment at the time when it formed.
(Source: eskaejeweller.com.au)
celestite
I had placed a piece of this over my third eye once during a reiki session and it felt like someone had licked a 9-volt battery and stuck it to my forehead.
(via coreena)
This is a never-ever described compound right after recrystallization(:
This is some unspecified organic compound, those crystals look big enough to get a few pretty slammin’ diffraction patterns to get an atomic structure. Congratulations!
(via freshphotons)
The Fukang Meteorite
Back in the year 2000, an incredible meteorite weighing 2,211 pounds was discovered near Fukang, a city located in the northwestern region of Xinjiang, China. Named the Funkang meteorite, it was identified as a pallasite, a type of stony–iron meteorite. With 4.5 billion years in the making, its golden olivine mixed with silvery nickel-iron to create a stunningly beautiful mosaic effect.
Pallasites are extremely rare even among meteorites (only about 1% of all meteorites are this type) and Fukang has been hailed as one of the greatest meteorite discoveries of the 21st century.It has since been divided into slices which give the effect of stained glass when the sun shines through them. It is so valuable that even tiny chunks sell in the region for $40 to $60 a gram. An anonymous collector holds the largest portion, which weighs 925 pounds.
WHO ELSE MISREAD THIS AS “THE FUCKING METEORITE”
fukang beautiful
God fukang dammit
(via symphonicrevolution)
Kunzite, LiAl(SiO3)2.
The pink variety of spodumene is called kunzite. It’s bright color comes from manganese dopants. Manganese ions are likewise responsible for the permanganate ion, common as part of a basic solution that you probably have (or will) use in chemistry class.
Epidote, Ca2Al2(Fe3+;Al)(SiO4)(Si2O7)O(OH).
The anisotropy, or directional asymmetry, of epidote causes the stone to appear different colors from different directions. The crystal structure bends light differently depending on the path, appearing to you as a color change.
This picture shows a bluish-green for the crystals on the left, and a more yellow-green on the right.
(Source: watzlminerals.com)
Smoky quartz gets its black or, in this case, brown color from elemental silicon suspended in the SiO2 crystals. The elemental silicon is formed when the stone is exposed to radiation, either natural or man-made.
(Source: watzlminerals.com)
