March 2024 Program Information
March 2024 Program
The program ("Mystery" minerals) was a huge success, and we will certainly do it again! (Apologies if I got anything wrong - I was writing fast!)One of our newest members, Rich, shared with us a mineral ID app that we can download to our phones. He demonstrated how to use it by holding his iPad close to the sample, taking a photo which was scanned, and the results with descriptive information appeared. The app can also store information about each sample. and a saved collection can be made. The name of the app is "Rock Identifier:Stone ID" There is a free version as well as one that has a yearly fee if it will be used frequently. There are others as well, but Rich, a previous science teacher and collector, likes this one the best.
Cindy had handouts to give out to aid in mineral identification, as well as mineral ID kits that she made. She had several rough as well as polished unknowns.
Debbie brought rock & mineral books that she uses to help identify specimens.
Eva had some unknown fossils.
Vix had an unknown which was probably some type of geode.
Jack had a heavy unknown.
Charlie had several agate and jasper slabs that he wanted to be identified by its specific name.
Bob had a large rough dark burgundy sample that was determined to be a garnet.
Gary showed a sample from the Netherlands and one from Montana.
Ed, who has returned to the group after an 8 year hiatus, had some samples from Vesuvius, VA
Larry, who just returned from Tucson, had many samples to give away as well as to get id’ed. He showed some pelecypods from TX, near the Glen Rose dinosaur site. He had a couple of 12" partial ammonites that he collected from a construction site, and some AR quartz from the Ron Coleman mine. His trip covered nearly 9000 miles, as he also went on several day trips sponsored by the Roadrunner Club while in Tucson as well as some rambling around other states. He even had a close encounter with a diamondback rattler! There was a 20' thick area of chipboard rhyolite of which he had a 10" round sample and some other rhyolites. He had some samples from Louisville, KY and a "paramorph" from Altavista. A paramorph is a mineral that has morphed several times but has the same chemical composition as the original. His sample had a creamy tan 2" cube on top of a reddish-cream base.