i got a few local rocks/minerals identified by a lab...

[storm]

i've prepared around 100 tiny mineral specimens (the lab wants specimens only 1-2mm in diameter--to pulverize) for their scanning electron microscope) and sent a third of them to a lab in seattle.  i have the results and thought i'd share them here.  sometimes an accurate identification wasn't possible due to the impurity of the specimens--sometimes it's difficult to isolate the target minerals when a lot of local rocks are mixed up into schists.  i'll have to re-submit a few specimens for this reason, but here is what the lab came up with...


i found this rock in Sheep Creek Wash.  it presents four colors, so i tried to isolate them into separate specimens.

red color--a Mg, Ca, Mn, Fe silicate--Rhodonite
yellow mineral is Spessartine Garnet
clear mineral is Quartz
black mineral--probably a Mn Oxide (the specimen i sent was impure)





i found a small outcropping of this yellow mineral in the Heath Creek Landslide.  it seems to be associated with the same black mineral (Mn Oxide) that accompanies Rhodonite.  the yellow mineral is Spessartine Garnet, with accompanying Quartz and a black Mn Oxide.  here's a pic of the Mn Oxide:






this banded quartzite is relatively common around here.  i got the pink material tested--likely Rhodonite. 





this is one form of local Actinolite.  here's another:





here's a specimen of Tremolite that i found in the levee:






this one threw me for a loop.  i thought it was a talc schist with tan magnesite crystals.  the tan crystals are Ferrian Magnesite.  out of the specimen of the schist matrix i sent, the lab found Amphibole and Serpentine.  that suprised me.





here we have white Albite crystals in a black Biotite Mica matrix.





i found this up above Grassy Hollow V.C. in that green serpentinite roadcut.  it is a form of Epidote called Zoisite.





i was curious what the rust is on this Calcite.  turns out to be Iron Hydroxide.





i found this Actinolitic Asbestos at the serpentinite vein.





i had originally wondered if the small brown crystals in this rock were Staurolite, but both specimens i sent (a crystal, the golden matrix) are likely Epidote.  i'm going to re-send these specimens for further analysis.




i thought this was simply Magnesite, but it tests to be Ferroan Dolomite.





this is Chlorite.





this is one of the forms of Epidote one can find around here.

[Wrightwood]

Good photos and information.
Excellent!

Storm what was total cost to get the results for 100 samples?

[storm]

if i get a batch of 25 specimens together, Bart at Cannon Microprobe in Seattle will charge only $8 per.  a set of 10 specimens cost $90.

i've gotten 35 samples analyzed so far.  i'll have to re-submit some speciemens that didn't jive with the lab equipment...

thank you for the kind words!  i'll share more mineral identification as i can afford to send specimens!

[ForestGal]

Fascinating pictures and descriptions, storm!     I walk/hike a lot here and am always interested in learning about what I see, flowers, rocks, etc.

I sent you a personal message.......

[escapedWW]

Storm,  I don't know if you do this as a hobby or if it's related to your work, but it is so cool that you take it steps further than most of us rock collectors.  Most (myself included) just speculate and wonder what we have and sometimes compare it to pictures in a book.  Because of your e-mail name, I was wondering if you remember or were associated with The Stone Age Rock Shop on Hwy 2 just below Mt. Top? Thanks for sharing the info. You rock!

[storm]

my hobbies coincide with my work (or the other way around). 

my work:  i teach kids about nature
my hobbies:  learning about nature

i've been into plants and mushrooms for a while, but rocks are a recent interest (actually, since moving to WW).  wrightwood has an amazing assortment of minerals--much more than any other place i've lived.

i never saw the Stone Age Rock Shop, but wish it was still around...

[Calindy]

Thanks so much for sharing! I am still amazed by all the quartz we have on our property!

[storm]

here's a few more local minerals along with their Elemental Spectra Plots (graphs illustrating the elements that can be found in the specimens):


if you can see the green flecks, they are Actinolite.  i'm learning that Actinolite is quite variable around here.


this shows that the specimen i sent in of the Actinolite contains Calcium, Magnesium, Iron and Silicon (Quartz is all Silicon--plus oxygen).  Ca+Mg+Fe+Si=Actinolite!





the whitish chunks one can find in gray rocks around here is Albite. 





this is a strange form of Calcite--very light and pock-marked.

i wonder if, after i get all of my wrightwood rock collection identified, i could develop  and donate a rock collection somewhere in town, like the museum...

[escapedWW]

I think that is a great idea!

[Nolena]

Great idea!
It would be a nice addition.
How about an online guide to local rocks, also?

[storm]

sometime this week i'll put all of this on my website (www.stoneageskills.com  --Geology section, which is currently empty).

i have to get a different digital camera and learn how to better photograph rocks (and everything else in general)...

[roynlorimoore]

I know you're posts are from 07, but I just saw them.  My husband and I are really into the rocks/minerals/gemstones thing.  His whole family were lapidarians.  He has alot of high quality rocks/minerals and alot of knowledge.  If anyone is interested in seeing them or having him help you identify something you have, pm us and I'll give you a phone number.

[Joe Schmoe]

His website states he passed away in 2008, but the mineral pictures can be found there: http://stoneageskills.com/geology/index.html

It's an interesting thing to consider........that a website such as this can outlive you for who knows how long...

[TimG]

I was looking at that earlier.  He made a post here the day before he died in the woods, too.  Does anyone have more info on Storm?  What happened?  The mention of that on his website is curiously cryptic--like he could still be out there living off the land.

[ChrisLynnet]

It was cancer, although what type I cannot recall. Stomach perhaps? He was an interesting man.