Lazurite ( (Na,Ca)8 (Al,Si)12O24(S,SO)4 ), is one of a number of related feldspathoid minerals, which occur in silica-poor igneous rocks collectively termed the Sodalite Group. Also part of the group are nosean (or noselite) along with a clacium-bearing type named Haüyne.
Sample of Haüyne from Mayen, Eifel Mountains, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Attribution: Rob Lavinsky, iRocks.com
Lazurite is a [...]
Plants growing on land are rarely preserved fossils because continental conditions may not be very favourable for the process of fossilisation.
Fossil wood is not usually found associated with the rest of the tree (leaves and roots) and identification can be difficult, in these cases the specimens are given a special botanical name. These [...]
When starting out on preparation most hobbyist collectors will find the use of a rotary tool kit with interchangeable heads immensely versatile. Along with an electric engraver, steel probes and craft knives, these can be helpful for carefully picking away and removing the surrounding sediments. Fortunately the tools just mentioned do not take up much space and can be purchased at very little expense to the user.
Frosterley Marble is a dark grey to black limestone which has been used as an ornamental stone locally and internationally in churches and buildings such as Durham Cathedral.
Welcome to the latest offering in the TVRIGS Rock of the Month series of articles. This month I thought that we might examine a broad group of deposits known as argillaceous rocks, collectively referred to as argillites (clay rocks), as opposed to arenites (sandstones) and rudites (conglomerates, tillites and breccias).
Derived from the Latin Argilla – [...]
These are an extinct order of arthropod (animals having a jointed and segmented body plan) which make their first appearance in the fossil record during the Cambrian Period, commencing about 520 million years ago. Trilobites, meaning ‘three-lobes’, are some of the earliest known arthropods and lived on the sea floor at a variety of [...]
A well exposed rock outcrop known as Chiastolite Slate, part of the Ordovician Skiddaw Group, can be seen in the Glenderaterra Valley which is located in the northern area of the Lake District. The exposure (grid ref. NY 299 269) is by an unnamed stream next to the path leading from the Blencathra Centre, NY [...]
Water, the Hub of Life.
Water is its mater and matrix, mother and medium.
Water is the most extraordinary substance!
Practically all its properties are anomalous, which enabled life
to use it as building material for its machinery.
Life is water [...]
For this month’s article we are going to take a look at a commonly occurring mineral having a long history of association with humankind. Fool’s Gold is a common name used to describe a number of different minerals including weathered biotite mica, though most frequently the name [...]
Amber is not strictly a rock, although it is referred to generally as resinite and may contain the preserved remains of insects and other invertebrates. It is formed through the fossilisation of resin from ancient trees.
Ant trapped in amber. Picture by Mila Zinkova.
The Ancient Greeks named amber electrum, from to its ability to attract [...]