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DL Whitney @sorosilicate.bsky.social · 7d

Epic #kyanite crystals reveal their colors when split open. We are tracking variation in extent of kyanite to sillimanite transformation in a metamorphic dome — it varies from 0-100% with structural location in the dome: one of the many geo-useful and fun things you can do with kyanite. #MinCup25

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DL Whitney @sorosilicate.bsky.social · 7d

These white #kyanite crystals in a biotite-gedrite schist from central Australia somehow missed out on the titanium, iron, and other trace elements that kyanite typically contains to give it the iconic blue and other colors. #MinCup25

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DL Whitney @sorosilicate.bsky.social · 7d

This rock in western Norway originated as basalt in an ancient ocean, then it was buried (subducted) tens of kilometers and heated over 800 C to create this beautiful #kyanite. The alignment of the kyanite indicates deformation. #MinCup25

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DL Whitney @sorosilicate.bsky.social · 7d

Chromium-rich #kyanite blood, as seen with cathodoluminescence imaging. #MinCup25

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DL Whitney @sorosilicate.bsky.social · 7d

#kyanite party (Roan, Norway) #MinCup25

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DL Whitney @sorosilicate.bsky.social · 7d

I’m very excited that #tugtupite made it to the finals but can it do this? Folded #kyanite in a high-pressure quartzite, western Türkiye. #MinCup25

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DL Whitney @sorosilicate.bsky.social · 8d

I bought these! I’m not sure where they are from.

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DL Whitney @sorosilicate.bsky.social · 9d

Hematite is red,
#kyanite is blue,
And also green, white, black, and orange
too
#MinCup25

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DL Whitney @sorosilicate.bsky.social · 9d

#kyanite (blue) replacing or being replaced by pink #andalusite. Bonus: there is also #sillimanite, so this a rare locality containing 3 Al2SiO5 minerals (polymorphs). Lesjaverk, Norway. #MinCup25

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DL Whitney @sorosilicate.bsky.social · 9d

#kyanite wave (Western Gneiss Region, Norway) #MinCup25

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Reposted by DL Whitney

Mineralogical Society of America @mineralsocamerica.bsky.social · 13d

NOTE: MSA Inaugural Annual Meeting: Feb, 16-18, 2026, Tucson, AZ, USA
This will follow the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show. On Feb. 17 and 18 there will be a series of talks and poster sessions. Abstracts due: Oct. 31. Registration will be through the MSA website at www.msaweb.org

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DL Whitney @sorosilicate.bsky.social · 14d

Central Australia!

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DL Whitney @sorosilicate.bsky.social · 14d

This is in central Australia. I was fortunate to have permission to do field work in the area as part of a project to understand the geologic history, but the kyanite-rich sites are in a “no fossicking” (collecting) zone.

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DL Whitney @sorosilicate.bsky.social · 15d

#kyanite fields forever, or until the next orogeny #MinCup25

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DL Whitney @sorosilicate.bsky.social · 15d

#kyanite in biotite gneiss from the Entia Dome, central Australia. Kyanite forms deep in the crust before it makes its way to the Earth’s surface, a slow and much more challenging journey than taenite’s fall through space. #MinCup25

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DL Whitney @sorosilicate.bsky.social · 25d

#kyanite volcano (not really a thing but a nice way to display the different colors of kyanite) #MinCup25

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DL Whitney @sorosilicate.bsky.social · 27d

#Garnet swimming in a sea of #Titanite in a Franciscan Complex metamorphic rock, as seen in plane and cross polarized light. Photo by Sarah Brandt. #MinCup25

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DL Whitney @sorosilicate.bsky.social · 27d

#Titanite from the Franciscan subduction complex, California, as seen under plane and cross polarized light in a petrographic microscope. Field of view about 2 mm. Photo by Sarah Brandt. #MinCup25

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DL Whitney @sorosilicate.bsky.social · Aug 5

Magnetic and Crystallographic Fabric Analyses of Amphibolite: A Proposed Methodology Applied to a Migmatite Dome - Hamelin - 2025 - Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth - Wiley Online Library agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/...