Dussertite:
- An arsenate mineral containing iron and barium
- Forms in the oxidised zone of some base metal deposits
- Named after Jean Baptiste Desiré Dussert (1872-1928), a French mining engineer #minerals
Brochantite:
- A copper sulphate mineral
- Forms in arid climates or in rapidly oxidising copper sulphide deposits
- Named after French geologist and mineralogist André-Jean-François-Marie Brochant de Villiers (1772-1840) #minerals #MineralMonday
What if we told you there was ice in Antarctica nearly 5km thick (4.7km to be precise) and more than 15 times the height of the Shard?
Photo: Constantino Listowski
Cummingtonite:
- An amphibole mineral
- Mainly forms in metamorphosed magnesium-rich rocks but can also occur in some gabbro (intrusive igneous rocks)
- Named after its type locality Cummington in Massachusetts, USA, where it was discovered in 1924 #minerals #MineralMonday
Scorodite:
- A hydrated iron arsenate mineral
- Forms in hydrothermal deposits and as a secondary mineral in gossans
- Its name comes from the Greek word "σκορόδιου/scorodion" (garlic-like), because it smells like garlic when heated #minerals
Dickite
- A clay mineral
- Very soft, only 2-2.5 on the Mohs hardness scale, so it can be scratched with a fingernail
- Named after Allan Brugh Dick, a Scottish chemist who first described it #minerals
Sepiolite:
- A clay mineral
- Occurs in association with serpentine
- Can be found floating on the Black Sea
- Its name comes from the Greek word "sepion" (cuttlebone)
- Also known as meerschaum (German for sea foam) #minerals
I feel like she would understand tho...
I feel like she would understand tho...
Neptunite:
- A silicate mineral
- Discovered in 1893 in the Narssârssuk pegmatite, West Greenland
- Often associated with natrolite, giving it a "cookies and cream" appearance
- Thin fragments have a deep red colour
- Named after Neptune, the Roman God of the sea #minerals
Stibnite:
- A sulphide mineral
- A source of antimony
- Occurs in hydrothermal deposits
- Kohl (a type of mascara/eyeliner used since 3000 BCE) is made from crushed stibnite
- Stibnite expands when frozen, just like water does #minerals
Olivine:
- Not a mineral species, it's a group consisting of a solid solution series where magnesium and iron content varies
- Forsterite = Mg-rich end member
- Fayalite = Fe-rich end member
- Can be used as a gemstone, which is referred to as peridot #minerals
Childrenite:
- A rare hydrated phosphate mineral
- Named after John George Children, who was a chemist, mineralogist and zoologist, and worked at the British Museum
- He discovered it in George and Charlotte Mine in Devon, England in 1823 #minerals
Smithsonite:
- Zinc carbonate mineral
- Smithsonite & hemimorphite were thought to be one mineral (called calamine)
- Named after James Smithson, English scientist and founding donor of Smithsonian Museum
- First identified as a distinct mineral by Smithson in 1803 #minerals
Quetzalcoatlite:
- Named after Quetzalcoatl, an Aztec and Toltec god of the sea, due to its sea-blue colour
- Forms in the oxidised zone of tellurium-bearing hydrothermal deposits #minerals
- This below is a co-type specimen (one of the specimens used to define the species)