august 2019 bulletin of the new york mineralogical club · august 2019 bulletin of the new york...

TheBULLETIN

OF THE NEW YORK MINERALOGICAL CLUB, INC

America’s Oldest Gem & Mineral ClubF o u n d e d 1 8 8 6 I n c o r p o r a t e d 1 9 3 7

LONG ISLAND

OPEN HOUSE

WORLD OF

MINERALS: GOLD!

PERIODIC TABLE

PREHISTORY

BLUE

CHALCEDONY

BANQUET

RESERVATION

FORM

Insect in Opal

See page 10!

Volume 133 No. 8

August 2019

Directors Fight Brutal Heat toAttend Annual Planning Meeting

Bulletin of the New York Mineralogical ClubFounded 1886 Ë New York City, New York Ë Incorporated 1937

Volume 133, No. 8 Celebrating the International Year of the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements August 2019

Scheduled Summer Activity!Open House and Barbecue

For Members Only!(and their Friends & Family)

1. This summer’s Open House is beinghosted by member Cheryl Neary ather home out on Long Island.

2. Her home is easily accessed by theLong Island Railroad out of PennStation. (The 10:55 AM or 11:45 AMtrains are strongly suggested.)Transportation from the station to herhome will be provided for those trains.

3. If you are driving there, please let meknow.

4. Lunch will be served but contributionsof food and drink for the party are, ofcourse, most welcome!

5. Cheryl can accommodate only about25 guests, so an RSVP to Mitch isrequired.

6. When you contact me, I will provideadditional information about theparty’s location and other details.

By Mitch Portnoy

On Sunday, July 21, 2019 most of theClub’s officers, directors and severalinvited members met at my apartment onthe Upper West Sideto discuss the Club’sactivities, meetings,and events for theremaining months of2019 and for 2020.

The meetingbegan at 11:00 amagain, and lasteduntil 3:30 pm. AChinese food lunchwas served so as tokeep up the strength and spirits of theattendees.

The agenda was quite extensive butthe primary topic was about the Club’sOctober Labradorite Banquet.

The first hour, however, was spentdiscussing some of the recent andupcoming club meetings and events. Thereaction was universally positive, with anemphasis on how smoothly the BenefitAuction works.

We also need to find a replacementmineral guidebook to sell at the NYCMineral Shows since the one we havebeen recommending (Schumann) is nowout of print.

In addition, we need to reorder manyof the gem-related books written by RenéeNewman, as they have completely soldout, a testament to their popularity!

Lastly, we will be offering someinteresting mineral collecting kits forChildren

Everyone was extremely pleasedabout the meeting lectures, both in termsof quality and variety.

The next 90 minutes focused on theBanquet. The group was presentedinitially with a presentation (includingmusic) that showed every single aspect ofthe banquet. This made the discussion ofdetails MUCH easier as the afternoonwent since EVERYTHING was

illustrated and made concrete. (Imagescould be brought up at any time forclarification.) The group officers wereshown ALMOST everything that iscurrently planned for the banquet. I’d like

them to experiences o m e o f t h esurprises that all willexperience at thislavish event!

So m e go o dsuggestions werenamed to win someof the annual awardswe present at thisevent.

We quicklytalked about next year’s banquet (whosetheme will be “silver”) and decided thatthe theme for the banquet in 2021 will be“pink gems”! So much fun to come!

The last segment of the meeting wasabout the Club’s future and mostly about2020. The lecture program is almostcomplete, with only November andDecember open; a lecture aboutmeteorites was requested and I will lookinto that.

The last topic was about which newpeople we could invite to this meetingnext year.

We sincerely thank all attendeddespite the brutally hot weather here inNYC!

Issue Highlights

President’s Message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2Meeting Minutes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2World of Minerals: Gold! . . . . . . . . . . . 3-4June Show Dealer Donations . . . . . . . . . 5Periodic Table Prehistory . . . . . . . . . . . . 6So Long, Opportunity! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7New State of Matter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8It’s Elemental: Finding Rare Earths . . . . 9Indonesian Opal with Insect . . . . . . . . . 10Topics in Gemology: Blue Chalcedony . 11Missing Antarctic Meteorites . . . . . . 12-13Banquet ‘19 Reservation Form. . . . . . 14Club & Show Calendars . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

2 Bulletin of the New York Mineralogical Club, Inc. August 2019

President’s MessageBy Mitch Portnoy

Thanks to Susan Ritter for donating 100'sof white mineral boxes for the Club’s use.

Missing a Bulletin?If you lost or did not seem to receive themost recent Bulletin of the NYMC,remember you can ALWAYS download itfrom the Bulletins Page on the Website!

Club Meeting Minutes forJuly 10, 2019By Vivien Gornitz, SecretaryAttendance: 47President Mitch Portnoy presidedAnnouncements & Proceedings:� The monthly raffle was held.� There was a brief discussion about the

recent Summer (June) NYC Gem &Mineral Show.

� The new NYMC garnet-colored teeshirts were available for sale.

� Some future plans for the NYMCWebsite were presented, including apage for youth and a donations page.

� The day’s holidays and historicalevents were listed.

� A special “Quartz Variety” game wasplayed (relating to the meeting lecture).

� The annual planning meeting isscheduled for July 21, 2019.

� Information and suggestions for gettingto the Springfield Mineral Show inAugust were provided.

� Upcoming NYMC events informationwas quickly gone over.

Special Lecture: Eric Rampello“Quartz: An Infinite Variety!”

Quartz is one of the most commonminerals on the Earth’s surface. It is acollector’s favorite, owing to the abundanceof attractive, reasonably-priced clear andcolorful crystals, as well as the wide varietyof forms. But advanced collectors may lookdown on quartz, because they view it as toocommonplace and too availableeverywhere. Eric Rampello set out to provethem wrong by showing many beautifulexamples from his personal collection thatshould interest collectors of all stripes.Because of the enormous variety, hefocused his talk on macro-crystals, and leftout micro-crystalline types such as agate,jasper, chalcedony, etc.

In terms of quality, Eric singled out thefine clear crystals from McEarl Ridge,Arkansas and also from the Penas BlancasMine in Colombia. In addition to thecolorless variety, quartz crystals also occurs

in a number of different colors includingpurple (amethyst), brown to black (smokyquartz), yellow (citrine), and pink (rosequartz). Top-notch amethyst can be found atJackson’s Crossroads, Wilkes Co., Georgia.One particularly attractive amethystspecimen was an amethyst “flower” fromArtiga, Uruguay in which smaller crystalsclustered around a larger central one, likepetals on a flower. Amethyst with hematiteinclusions occurs at Calabar, Cross RiverState, Nigeria; also the Thunder Baydistrict, Lake Superior, Canada. Namibiayields interesting crystals of deep purpletips or outer zones over clear quartz, oftenwith internal phantoms, hematite, and fluidinclusions with moving gas bubbles(enhydros). An unusual specimen featuredan etched, doubly-terminated crystal withamethyst core and clear quartz tips fromBrandberg, Erongo Region, Namibia.

A brownish-yellow natural citrine(untreated) occurs in the Mansa District,Luapula Province, Zambia. (The citrineturns an attractive orange-yellow colorwhen heated, more suitable in jewelry, butless so for the serious collector). The best ofboth worlds is found in ametrine, whichfeatures separate sectors of amethyst andcitrine from the Anahi Mine, in Bolivia.

Smoky quartz from the Swiss Alps isworld-famous, but an intriguing doubly-terminated specimen from the Middle MoatMts., Carroll Co., NH displayed a darkbrown core with milky white tips. Rosequartz usually occurs as tiny drusy crystalsor in massive form, but a lovely exceptionwas a specimen of clear and rose crystalsfrom Minas Gerais, Brazil.

Clear and colored quartz crystals canappear in parallel growth, in skeletal growth(e.g., Herkimer Co., NY—often containingdark anthraxolite inclusions), as Dauphinėor Japan law twins, scepters in which a laterquartz or amethyst crystal grew on top of anearlier prismatic stem, tapered Tessin habitcrystals, and as gwindels or twisted crystals,often from the Alps.

Quartz can trap or enclose an amazingvariety of inclusions that impart adistinctive color, such as flakes of hematite(strawberry quartz), fuchsite (aventurine),chlorite, “cotton-candy” or pale pink to tanmontmorillonite clay, and golden rutileneedles. Examples of rare inclusions are theturquoise-colored papagoite and bright blueajoite in quartz from the Messina MineMine, Unusual inclusions include the rutile“stars” on hematite cores in quartz fromBrazil, also a large cut stone of blueoctahedral fluorite crystals in quartz fromMadagascar.

Eric’s lecture was both informative andvisually attractive. It opens the door to thepossibility of specializing in a single mineralspecies.

Welcome New Members!James Merwin . . . . . . . . . . . Brooklyn, NY

Members in the News� Naomi Sarna was named one of the

judges for the 2019 AGTA SpectrumAwards.

� The recent issue of Rocks & Minerals(May-June 2019) has an article byDavid Ziga and John Rakovan on theColombian “mango” quartz specimens.

Coming In September 2019

And in October!

August 2019 Bulletin of the New York Mineralogical Club, Inc. 3

The World of MineralsThe World of Minerals is a monthly column written by Dr. Vivien Gornitz on timely and interesting topics relatedto geology, gemology, mineralogy, mineral history, etc.

The Lure of GoldPart I—Enduring object of desire

Gleaming gold nuggets were probably the first type of metalworked by our ancestors. Since the dawn of history, people havecraved, waged wars, and sailed to the ends of the Earth in searchof this glittery yellow metal. What makes gold such an obsessiveobject of desire?

Gold is considered a “noble” metal because of its attractiveglistening, sunny luster, its superior resistance to tarnish andcorrosion, its malleability and ductility, and comparative rarity innature. Pure gold is very soft—around 2 on the Mohs hardnessscale. Although gold becomes harder when alloyed with othermetals, such as silver or copper, it is still too soft to be useful formaking tools or weapons. Historically, it has been fashioned intojewelry and important ceremonial objects. Pure gold is also

extremely dense (19.32 g/cm3) and melts at 1064°C (1950°F).Gold readily forms alloys with silver and copper, but also withpalladium, rhodium, nickel, and iron.

In its pure state, gold displays a unique bright golden yellowhue unlike that of any other metal. However, the color is sensitiveto the presence of other metals, and the luster of low karat gold isdistinctly duller and less yellow than that of the pure metal. Goldcombines with silver and copper in all proportions. With increasingsilver content, the color changes from yellow to greenish-yellowand finally to an off-white. An increasing copper content drives thecolor toward pale rose and ultimately a coppery-red. An evenwider color spectrum can be achieved by mixing with otherimportant metals such as palladium, zinc, nickel, iron and evenaluminum (see Table 1 below).

Table 1. Colors of 18k Gold Jewelry (values as percent) Source; R. Newman (2013)COLOR Gold Silver Copper Palladium Zinc Nickel IronYellow 75 12.5 12.5

Green 75 25Red-Rose 75 25Pink 75 5 20White 75 25White 75 10 1 14White 75 10.5 3.5 10 1Blue 75 25

Ternary plot of different colors of Ag–Au–Cu alloys (Wikipedia) Spectacular Gold Crystal from Venezuela (Wikipedia)

Gold—the mineralGold crystallizes in the isometric (cubic) system. Its most

common crystal forms include the cube, octahedron,dodecahedron, and their combinations. Rarer habits includetetrahexahedra and trisoctahedra, among others. The closestpacking of gold atoms in the crystal lattice is responsible for itshigh density. Gold atoms occupy corners and face centers of theunit cell—the smallest entity possessing the full symmetry of thecrystal. In cubic closest packing, each atom is surrounded by sixclosest neighbors in one layer, with another three above and threebelow on the 111 (octahedral) plane. The layers are slightly offsetwith respect to each other, repeating in an a, b, c… sequence. Goldreadily forms twins according to the spinel law in which theoctahedral face (111) is shared between two crystals. The twins aremirror images of each other. Repeated twinning during growthcreates elongated dendritic, wiry, and reticulated forms, oftenassuming fanciful shapes resembling ferns, leaves, and feathers.

In nature, gold occurs as the native element, Au, commonlycontaining variable amounts of silver, Ag, and copper, Cu, but alsoantimony, Sb, lead, Pb, iron, Fe, and mercury, Hg. It also readilyforms compounds with tellurium, Te, selenium, Se, and sulfur, S.Small amounts of gold reside in other common minerals such aspyrite, chalcopyrite, and arsenopyrite, which can be frequently beeconomically exploited as gold ores. Other prominent goldminerals include calaverite, AuTe2, sylvanite, (Au,Ag)Te2,krennerite (Au,Ag)Te2; petzite, Ag3AuTe2; kostovite, CuAuTe4:auricupride, Cu3Au; aurostibite, AuSb2; and gold amalgam, whichcontains varying amounts of Au to Hg (also used in dentistry).The lust for gold

The lust for gold has persisted throughout history and showsno signs of abating. As a precious commodity, the price of goldpeaked during the recent recession at nearly $1,900 per ounce in2011, but has dropped considerably since then. In early June, 2019gold stands at around $1,330/oz. The total gold production in 2018amounted to around 4500 metric tons. As of 2017, over half thegold produced wound up in jewelry (predominantly in Asian


countries, such as India, China, the Middle East), also the UnitedStates. Around 5 percent went to central banks, 9 percent was usedfor electronics, 6.5 percent consumed in other industries, and 1.2percent in dentistry. The world’s top gold-producing countries (asof 2018) include China (426 metric tons), Australia (296 metrictons), Russia (271 metric tons), U.S. (230 metric tons), and Canada(176 metric tons). South Africa, once a major gold producer, nowonly ranks eighth.

In stark contrast to the 19th century gold rush regions ofCalifornia, Colorado, the Yukon and Alaska, and Australia,today’s major gold mines are more likely to be located indeveloping countries such as Papua, Indonesia, Uzbekistan, andSiberia, Russia. The gold typically occurs as tiny, highlydisseminated grains as a mining by-product within low-gradedeposits that are usually exploited for other metals, such as copperor molybdenum. However, legions of ever-hopeful prospectors,gold-seekers, and artisanal miners still seek their fortunes in searchof gleaming nuggets and flakes easily-extracted from streambedsor ancient near-surface placer deposits using simple, traditionalmethods of gold panning or concentration with sluice boxes. Asidefrom the intrinsic mystery of where to find an economically viablequantity of these glittery masses, nuggets hold other mysteriesrelating to their origin. Things are never as simple as they seem atfirst glance. Part II—Nugget Mysteries

The discovery of gold in Sutter’s Creek, California in 1848,triggered off an explosive gold rush in 1849-1850, followed byother exciting finds in Colorado, North Dakota, and culminatingwith the perilous trek to the Klondike and Alaska goldfields in1897. In Australia, discovery of large golden nuggets in placerdeposits set off several major gold rushes starting in the 1850s.Most of the initial discoveries were made by prospectors searchingfor gold nuggets and flakes recovered from modern or fossilstreambeds. Some of the largest nuggets were found during the 19th

century Australian and American gold rushes. The largest goldmass was a large 2,340 oz gold specimen from Calaveras County(1854), California, the Welcome Stranger, a 2316-oz nugget fromVictoria, Australia (1869), and Welcome, also from Victoria,Australia, weighing 2166 oz (1858). (The largest gold mass,although not a true nugget, weighed 630 pounds, was 53 incheslong. It actually came from a mine in 1872 managed by B.O.Holtermann).

Some other notable nuggets include a 2083-oz mass from theDemocratic Republic of Congo, reported in 1947, a 1955-oznugget from Sierra Pelada Mine, Para, Brazil (1983), and theBlanch Barkley, 1743-oz, from Kingower, Victoria, Australia(1857). Slightly less massive are the Canadian (1619 oz) and Legof Mutton (1616 oz) nuggets from the Canadian Gully, Ballarat,Victoria. Large collectible nuggets continue to be found thanks tometal detectors and persistent prospectors, often re-working oldmining claims, or discovering fresh favorable locations.

Curiously, while the image of a gold nugget seems fairlystraightforward, an exact definition and origin remain somewhatvague. Generally defined as a gold mass weighing over 1 gram andgreater than 4 mm across, some geologists would restrict the termto a gold piece that shows some degree of physical transport fromits place of origin, such as rounding. Since most nuggets are foundin alluvial deposits (active or former streambeds) or in deeplyweathered soils, they are usually considered to be products oferosional weathering and transport. But other characteristics raisequestions.

The huge size of some gold masses have no apparentcounterparts in the lode vein deposits. It is difficult to envisionhow vein gold could yield such large gold masses by simplyweathering out of the mother rock. Other nuggets still show tracesof well-defined crystal forms that suggest a low degree of abrasionand origin close to the source bedrock. But more puzzling aresmaller masses that present delicate features such as dendritic,wiry, or porous structures or tiny euhedral crystals that suggestfurther growth in the river environment, possibly associated withbiological activity.

Mounting evidence hints at the ability of microbes toprecipitate gold in near-surface environments. Iron- and sulfur-oxidizing bacteria can break down gold-bearing gold sulfideminerals within the oxidation zone, releasing the native metal orsoluble gold thiosulfates. Gold may also bind to organiccompounds present in soils or loose sediments. Other bacteria actin turn to precipitate gold from thiosulfate or chloride complexes.Lab experiments demonstrate the bacterial precipitation of puregold from gold chloride and thiosulfate solutions. Gold-precipitating bacteria were even retrieved from a 3 kilometer-deep(4.8 mi) borehole in a South African gold mine.

Colonies of bacterial biofilms on gold have also beenextracted from Australian gold mines. Small bead-like gold“droplets” deposited on placer gold from Alaska, as smalloctahedral platelets, and what appear to be gold-encrustedmicrofossils have been observed on placer gold specimens. Thesefindings suggest that while most nuggets are probably the productsof concentration by physical or chemical weathering and fluvialtransport, additional growth and deposition of gold can occur in theriver environment, either onto already-existing detrital nuggets oras small freshly-formed grains and flakes.

Further ReadingFor Part IBachmann, H.-G. et al., 2003. Gold: the Noble Mineral:

extraLapis English No. 5.Benton, D., 2017. The top 10 largest gold mines.

https://www.miningglobal.com/top10/top-10-largest-gold-mines (posted Oct. 10, 2017).

Dhiraj, A. B., 2018. The world’s largest gold producing countries.CEOWORLD Magazine. https://ceoworld.biz/2018/06/14/the-worlds-largest-gold-producing-countries-2018-rankings/(posted June 14, 2018).

Hough, R.M., Butt, C.R.M., and Fischer-Bühner, J., 2009. Thecrystallography, metallography, and composition of gold.Elements 5:297-302.

Newman, R., 2013. Gold, Gold, Platinum, Palladium, Silver &Other Jewelry Metals: How to Test, Select & Care for Them.Alhambra, CA: International Jewelry Publications U.S., 137p.

Statistica, 2017. Distribution of global gold demand by industry in2017. https://www.statista.com/statistics/299609/gold-demand-by-industry-sector-share/ (accessed 6/5/2019).

For Part IICook, R.B., Francis, C.A., and Mauthner, M., 2017. The

occurrence and characteristics of gold nuggets and masses.Rocks & Minerals, July/Aug. 2017, 92(4):318-342.

Gwynne, P., 2013. There’s gold in them there bugs. Nature495:512-513.

Southam, G., Lengke, M.F., Fairbrother, L., and Reith, F., 2009.The biogeochemistry of gold. Elements 5:303-307.


June Show Dealer Donations for theOctober 2019 Banquet Silent Auction orMay 2020 NYMC Benefit Voice Auction

The following includes the donations that theJune 2019 NYC Mineral & Gem Show dealers

made to the Club this year:

Alan’s Quality Minerals� Aquamarine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Brazil� Meteorite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ArgentinaAmazon Imports� (2) Blue Apatites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BrazilAMORCo� Polished Green Onyx . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BalochistanAurora Minerals� Cut Gemmy Geode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BrazilAYS International� Opal Bead Strand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . EthiopiaBary Gems� Spectacular Labradorite Cabochon . . . . . . . . . . MadagascarChina South Seas� Amethyst Bead & Cloisonné Bead Necklace . . . . . . . . ChinaCrystal Circle� (9) Assorted Thumbnails . . . . . . . . . Mt. St. Hilaire, Canada� Sphene Thumbnail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SwitzerlandCrystal Passion� Orange Celestine on Matrix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CanadaExcalibur Minerals� (15) Assorted Minerals & etc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MiscExotic Russian Minerals� Libyan Desert Glass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Libya (duh)� Synthetic Teal-Colored Quartz. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RussiaBill Gangi Gems & Lapidary Arts� Old Collection!! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MiscGlobal Curiosity Shop� Set of Poppy Earrings on Mother of Pearl . . . . . . . . . . China� Poppy Pendant on Mother of Pearl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ChinaHighland Rock & Fossil� Carved Puzzle Ball. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . China� (5) Polished Labradorite Specimens . . . . . . . . . Madagascar� Stromatolite Fossil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Madagascar� Mounted Picture Jasper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . China� Small Orange Calcite Buddha . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ChinaKhyber Minerals� Gemmy Green Barite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PakistanMahalo Minerals� (7) Superior & Aesthetic Agate Slabs . . . . . . . . . . . . . MiscNature’s Collectibles� Carved Rhodochrosite Owl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . NARaj Minerals� Rock Crystal Heart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Himalayas, India� Polished Agate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IndiaRocko Minerals� Spectacular Polished Agate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MadagascarHoward & Betsy Schlansker� Gemstone Hearts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MiscSomethings (Arlene Joseph)� Collection of Jewelry (!!!) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Misc

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More than 2,000 Years of Elements: aPrehistory of the Periodic TableBy Jennifer Rampling

Personifications of the principles of mercury and sulfur, from thesixteenth century. Credit: Wellcome Collection

More than two millennia before the periodic table wasconceived, ancient philosophers were already grappling with thenature of ‘stuff’ in the world. Are all substances reducible to thesame, universal matter? If so, when exactly does one substancebecome distinct from another? From Greece in the fifth century BCto northern Europe in the seventeenth century, successive attemptsto answer these questions gave rise to a profusion of coexistingconcepts, from elements to principles, atoms to corpuscles — eachintended to solve a specific problem, each raising new difficulties.In the fourth century bc, the philosopher Aristotle formulated theproblem in his Physics: how many times can a piece of gold bebisected before it ceases to be gold? He intuited that there is a levelof simplicity beyond which matter cannot be reduced withoutlosing its defining character. This is the “natural minimum”: thesmallest particle of a substance that can still be identified as beingof that substance. Any smaller, and our example could no longersupport the bundle of properties that makes gold what it is.

Similar reasoning undergirds modern understanding of theatom as the fundamental unit of a chemical element. However, suchanalogies can be deceptive. Aristotle attacked the earlier theory ofindivisible “atoms”, proposed by the philosopher Democritus, asmathematically impossible. Rather than a particulate structure,Aristotle suggested, all substances were composed of matter andform. He saw form as imprinted on matter, which itself consists offour “elements”: earth, air, fire and water.First Principles

Aristotle was not the first to conceptualize an elementalsystem: he borrowed from the fifth-century-bc pre-Socraticphilosopher Empedocles. His elements comprised a materialsubstrate lying beneath the world of forms, inaccessible to humansense. Although elemental, they were divisible, each composed oftwo pairs of contrary qualities: hot/cold and wet/dry. Moreover,one element shifts into another when its properties alter: thus, as

coldness is replaced by heat, water (cold and moist) transformsinto air (hot and moist). In Aristotle’s cosmology, it is this abilityto change, hard-wired into terrestrial physics, that drives thecomplexity and diversity of the elementary world.

This model retained its prestige during the Middle Ages as thefoundation of medieval Islamic and Christian natural philosophy.However, it sometimes fell short in terms of explaining observedchemical operations. For instance, when one substantial form isdestroyed, another is created in its place; the process should beirreversible. Wine might sour into vinegar, but vinegar cannotbecome wine again. Yet, as scholars and metalworkers were wellaware, many operations are reversible. Pure silver can berecovered following its dissolution in nitric acid, as can mercuryafter its transformation into a red precipitate. Such effects hintedat an underlying, particulate structure of the kind condemned byAristotle.

An influential compromise was developed by alchemists, inresponse to hints in another work by Aristotle, Meteorology. The“sulfur–mercury” theory was first set down in eighth-centuryArabic alchemical writings attributed (although pseudonymously)to Jābir ibn Hayyān. It became the dominant theory of metallicgeneration for another 500 years, introduced to the Latin worldwith the translation of Arabic scientific texts during the twelfthcentury.

The theory proposes two paired principles, sulfur andmercury. (Confusingly, these do not always correspond to theelements bearing those names.) The mercury principle is cool andmoist; sulfur, hot and dry. Together, they combine to make theseven core metals — gold, silver, copper, tin, iron, lead andmercury. The two principles offer an intermediate stage of matter:composed of the four elements, yet with qualities that determinethose of metals. Iron, for instance, has a high melting point andgives off sparks when struck, so within the theory might be seen ashaving a high proportion of the hot, dry sulfur principle.

Sixteenth-century Swiss physician and alchemist Paracelsus createdan influential theory of elements. Credit: Pictorial Press/Alamy

If alchemical transmutation offered one context for thinkingabout structures of matter, medicine provided another, particularlyfrom the sixteenth century. In tracts such as Opus Paramirum, theSwiss medical reformer Paracelsus (1493–1541) expanded thesulfur–mercury dyad by adding a third principle, salt. He claimed


that these “three first things” underpinned all matter, not justmetals. In a deeply religious culture, this triad convenientlycorresponded to the Christian trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Paracelsus did not propose a universal form of matter. Heargued that every substance was reducible to particular forms ofsulfur, mercury and salt. Thus, the salt of wood is not the same asthe salt of gold, and might have very different pharmacologicalproperties. The system therefore catered primarily to medicalpractitioners’ needs. It contrasts with the seventeenth-century riseof mechanical philosophies, which tried to account for materialchange in terms of the action of particles governed by contactmechanics. French natural philosopher and priest Pierre Gassendisought to revive ancient atomism in a Christian framework,whereas philosopher René Descartes proposed an entirelymechanistic universe based on contiguous point particles.

In practice, a chemist might select aspects from all theseoutwardly contradictory systems. The Flemish physician JanBaptist van Helmont (1580–1644) adopted some mechanistic ideas,for instance when explaining how metals dissolved in mineral acidsthrough reduction into smaller parts. Despite criticizing Paracelsianmedicine, he was also influenced by Paracelsus’s notion ofprinciples. Yet his practical experience led him to question whethersulfur, mercury and salt really were constituents of substances, ormerely products of fire and chemical processes.

Van Helmont’s approach influenced Robert Boyle, RoyalSociety co-founder and advocate of mechanism, who expressedsimilar doubts in The Sceptical Chymist (1661). Boyle equatedelements and principles in a purposefully loose definition, as“primitive and simple Bodies of which the mixt [compound] onesare said to be composed, and into which they are ultimatelyresolved”. On these grounds, he disqualified Paracelsian principlesas physical constituents of compound bodies. Nor did he findexperimental evidence for Paracelsus’s salt. However, as a keenbeliever in transmutation, Boyle was willing to entertain thepossibility that metals contained a ‘mercury’ and ‘sulfur’ — and,in a later work, even claimed to have extracted metallic ‘mercuries’himself.

Boyle’s solution was to propose a universal “catholic matter”that clumped into semi-permanent “corpuscles” (small bodies).These were the smallest particles divisible by human art, so theirown composition could not be investigated. Functionally,corpuscles thus served as atoms, while avoiding the mathematicalobjection against indivisibility. A crucial caveat, however, was thatthey could also carry properties such as size or motion, allowingBoyle and other corpuscularians to relate the distinctive propertiesof materials to the “texture” of their corpuscles.

Chemistry, medicine and mechanism all contributed to solvingthe early modern matter problem. In the 1660s, experiment alonecould not demonstrate the deep structures of matter, as Boylehimself recognized. Such structures were invisible to the eye, andeven a vaunted new technology, the microscope, failed to revealtheir elementary composition. Yet these challenges created scopefor theoretical innovation, allowing natural philosophers to mix andmatch from a diversity of models and explanations. This pluralismof approach continued into the eighteenth century. From JosephPriestley’s work isolating gases in England to Antoine Lavoisier’singenious apparatus for weighing chemical products in France, thatarray yielded a sequence of theoretical insights and experimentaltechniques that eventually allowed a new vision of atomic structureto emerge.Source: Nature.com from January 29, 2019

So Long, Opportunity and Thanks for All theScience!By Alfredo Carpineti

NASA has confirmed that the Opportunity rover has ceasedoperations. The rover had not been heard from since June 10,2018, when the global dust storm that enveloped Mars sent it intohibernation. Over the last few months, NASA has regularly triedto contact the rover, with the latest attempt made on February 12.

Illustration of Opportunity on Mars. NASA/JPL-Caltech

“I was there with the team when these commands went out inthe deep sky and I learned this morning that we had not heardback, and our beloved Opportunity remained silent.” NASA'sAssociate administrator, Thomas Zurbuchen said during the pressbriefing. “It is therefore that I am standing here with a sense ofdeep appreciation and gratitude, that I declare the Opportunitymission complete.”

Opportunity is a testament to the hard work and quality thatspace missions are designed to produce. The rover's goal was tooperate for 90 days on the Red Planet. It tracked across the Martiansurface for 14 years and 293 days, 55 times longer than its plannedlifetime. It was also the first rover to complete a marathon inspace, and in total, Opportunity clocked up 45.16 kilometers(28.06 miles) of distance during its many years of operation.

Opportunity’s mission was successful from the get-go. Withinthree months of landing, the rover had already uncovered evidencethat liquid water once drenched the surface of Mars. In its almost14 years of service, it discovered extra-Martian meteorites,explored several new sites like the Endeavour crater in detail, andanalyzed the planet's rock and soil. But it was more than just aremote-control geologist. It performed, with the Mars GlobalSurveyor orbiter, the first atmospheric temperature profile of Mars.It also made important astronomical observations, for example, itrecorded the transits of Phobos and Deimos (the Martian moons)across the Sun.

The rover's long life brought it to unique geological features.It climbed Cape Tribulation, reaching its summit 135 meters (443feet) high, Opportunity's greatest ever ascent. On the way down,it also experienced its steepest slope, at 32 degrees, which allowedthe sand that had accumulated on its solar panels to slide off. In itsmany sols (Martian days), Opportunity had the chance to collectincredible panoramas of the different places it explored. It evenreached the location where its heat shield once impacted Mars.

Among the most suggestive observations made byOpportunity, the time-lapse of the blue Sun setting over theMartian plains remains a breathtaking and truly alien snapshot ofthe Red Planet. Opportunity was on the opposite side of the planet from itstwin rover Spirit, another mission that outperformed expectations.


Spirit too was supposed to operate for just 90 days and lasted until2010, when it got stuck in soft soil. For almost two months, it actedas a stationary science platform but NASA then lost contact withit. Attempts were made to reestablish contact until May 2011, whenthe mission was declared complete.

And now it is Opportunity’s turn. As NASA didn't hear backfrom the rover when they last attempted to contact it, the missionis now officially complete. And what a mission it has been. Animportant chapter in the history of Mars exploration is now over.

Mars is a little quieter today. Curiosity and InSight arecarrying on the legacy left by Opportunity and they will be joinedin the next few years by new NASA and European missions. Itgoes without saying that the trailblazing work conducted by bothSpirit and Opportunity has been key to solving some of themysteries of the Red Planet.Source: IFLScience.com from February 13, 2019

Elements Can Be Solid and Liquid at the SameTime in Newly Discovered State of MatterBy Rosie McCall

It sounds paradoxical but scientists say they have discoveredthat an element can be both liquid and solid at the same time.

In a study soon to be published in the Proceedings of theNational Academy of Sciences, scientists have achieved a veryparticular state of matter whereby potassium atoms displayproperties of both a liquid and a solid simultaneously.

So, how exactly does this work? It all comes down to thestructure of potassium.

In its solid form, potassium has a pretty basic crystallattice-type structure. But put the element under extremely highpressure and that structure will shift. It will become more complex,reshuffling so that five cylindrical tubes made up of atoms form anX-shape while four long chains assemble between them.

The two arrangements are loosely connected – so much so thatwhen the temperature is turned up, the chains start to disappear asthe tubes stay intact. The researchers describe it as a “chain-meltingtransition”.

“It would be like holding a sponge filled with water that startsdripping out, except the sponge is also made of water,” AndreasHermann, study co-author and a condensed matter physicist at theUniversity of Edinburgh, told National Geographic.

To find out what is going on here, Hermann and his colleaguesemployed a neural network, a type of AI based on the human brainand nervous system that “learns” from a bank of previousexamples.

In this case, it was taught quantum mechanics using computersimulations of small groups of potassium atoms. Post-training, itwas able to create simulations involving 20,000 atoms andconfirmed that under the right circumstances, potassium canachieve this chain-melted state.

This occurs at pressures between 20,000 and 40,000 timeshigher than atmospheric pressure and only when temperatures havereached 400 to 800 Kelvin (127-527°C or 260-980°F). At thispoint, the weaker chains in the potassium dissolve but the strongertubes remain solid – creating this bizarre part solid, part liquidstate.

According to National Geographic, this is the first timescientists have been able to show it is possible to achieve this stateand for it to be stable – for any element, which is very excitingstuff. There are over half a dozen other elements (including sodiumand bismuth) that, like potassium, are thought to be able to achievethis strange state under the right circumstances.

“Potassium is one of the simplest metals we know, yet if yousqueeze it, it forms very complicated structures,” Hermann said ina statement.

“We have shown that this unusual but stable state is part solidand part liquid. Recreating this unusual state in other materialscould have all kinds of applications.”

This is just the latest experiment to show things aren't alwaysas simple as they seem, particularly when it comes to states ofmatter. Despite what most of us learned at school, materials canexist in states other than solid, liquid, and gas. As well as plasma,scientists have discovered dropletons, the Jahn-Teller metal,Bose-Einstein condensate – even supersolids and superfluids.Source: IFLScience.com from April 9, 2019

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It’s ElementalIt’s Elemental is a series of columns by Bill Shelton written this year in recognition of the United Nations’International Year of the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements.

Finding Rare Earths

I find it very interesting to look at rare earths in terms ofmineral occurrences. Of course, some are NOT rare while findingothers, particularly in the so-called ideal formulas of mineralsmight be a little difficult if even possible. We can judge raritybased on the number of known species but we should also take intoaccount how rare the given element is in terms I label crustalrarity. A few examples are given below to illustrate the idea:

Element# of

SpeciesExamples

CrustalAbundance

Lanthanum 51monazite-(La),florencite-(La)

35

Cerium 154allanite-(Ce),

lanthanite-(Ce)24

Samarium 2 monazite-(Sm) 42

Europium none n/a 57

Holmium none n/a 56

Ytterbium 5keiviite-(Yb),

hingganite-(Yb)52

As we can see, rare earths in terms of crustal abundance arerelatively common to relatively uncommon. Gold ranks 73rd and isrelatively rare for comparison. Also, notice some of the examplesare not found in the ideal formulas of any minerals known to exist.You can find some minerals that contain modest or trace amountsof rare earths such as europium. So, we can say it is in minerals butnot to the extent that is required for it to be in the ideal formula.

We may also notice crustal rarity seems to, at least to somedegree, suggest the presence of fewer species. If we only look atrare earths, that seems to be possible. However, based on all 92naturally occurring elements, we can find examples that suggestotherwise. Consider bismuth with a crustal abundance of 64 wherewe also find 233 minerals.

You should recall that small quantities or even quite largeamounts of a given element may not be present in the idealformula. We see innumerable examples; you will find manyminerals are colored by very small amounts of a given element.They will not be in the ideal formula.

Corundum var. Ruby, Al2O3 – is red due to chromium – yet chromium(Cr) is entirely lacking in the ideal formula.

Monazite-(Ce) – (Ce, La) PO4

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Strange Fossil May Be Rare Insect Preservedin GemstoneThe “incredibly unlikely object” has experts clamoring to studyhow it formed and what secrets it may reveal.By John Pickrell

In a find unlike anything seen before, a piece of opal from theisland of Java in Indonesia holds some remarkable cargo: astunningly preserved insect that may be at least four to sevenmillion years old.

Previously, plenty of ancient insects have been found inamber, a gemstone made of fossilized tree resin. When animalsbecame encased in the fresh resin, it entombs them rapidly enoughto preserve the remains, often with exquisite detail. (See adinosaur-era bird found preserved in amber.)

But typically, the natural formation of opal involves silicasolutions concentrating in cavities underground over thousands oreven millions of years, raising questions as to how an insect couldhave been preserved in this way.

“It’s an incredibly unlikely object—but so are many other rareand wondrous things in nature that were thought not to exist, or betheoretically possible, until they were shown to be true,” commentsJenni Brammall, an expert on opal and opalized fossils at theAustralian Opal Centre in Lightning Ridge, New South Wales.

The sample is currently in private hands and has yet to bethoroughly studied by paleontologists or geochemists. But if it'sconfirmed, the discovery may not only represent a previouslyunknown source of valuable fossils, it may change what we knowabout a popular gemstone.

Brammall has known of the specimen since 2017 and has alsoseen images of a second possible insect in opal from the samemine in Java. However, because she has only seen photos and noscientific research has yet been published, she says it's difficult forher to offer an informed opinion on the sample.

“I have no reason to doubt that it’s genuine, other than that itis so unlikely, but we’ll have to wait and see what the sciencesays,” Brammall says. “I hope it’s genuine, because if it is, it’sgoing to reveal some absolutely fascinating things about opalformation.”Filling Voids

A Javanese opal seller found the odd specimen in 2015, andit passed through several hands before being bought by Brian T.Berger, a gemologist and dealer in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.Berger himself was initially skeptical that the specimen was real,so he submitted it for analysis to the Gemological Institute ofAmerica (GIA). Experts there confirmed with National Geographicthat they believe the specimen to be authentic natural opal that hasnot been tampered with.

“I was thinking this has to be a counterfeit,” Berger says.

“This is some kind of new treatment or something, but I studiedthe stone, and everything looked right… and the GIA confirmedthe findings.” Berger has since written about the specimen in ablog post for Entomology Today.

Numerous opal fossils have been found in Lighting Ridge inAustralia, although the process there is different. These“replacement” fossils formed when spaces in the ground onceoccupied by bones and teeth were filled with silica solution thatturned to opal, like jelly in a mold. Phil Bell, a paleontologist at theUniversity of New England in Armidale, Australia, recentlydescribed a new species of dinosaur from fossil fragments opalizedin this manner.

“Opalized fossils have undoubtedly gone through millions ofyears of history underground, being squashed, heated up, and allthe rest of it,” he says. While it’s not impossible, he’s skeptical thatan insect could be preserved in the same way.

Instead, Berger and a number of experts think it's possible thespecimen is made of amber that somehow became opalized.

“My gut reaction is that it looks like a piece of ambersecondarily embedded in opal,” comments Ryan McKeller, whoresearches fossils in amber at the Royal Saskatchewan Museum inRegina, Canada. Opalized fossil wood is common from Java,hinting at a possible route for tree resin to have become embeddedin opal.

“Opal usually fills voids,” McKeller says. “In this sort ofscenario, a log might have been opalized, leaving its amber contentencased.” A known specimen of Canadian amber filled a crack ina piece of wood and was subsequently turned into silica on theoutside, he says.

“The new specimen may have undergone a similar process,but it is pretty speculative until chemical analyses are conductedand researchers take a hard look at preservation of the insect.”Awaiting Analysis

Until the sample goes through full scientific analysis, manyexperts were also unwilling to venture a guess as to the kind ofinsect trapped inside.

Given the shriveled appearance of the wings, it may representan adult form of a winged insect recently emerged from its pupalstage, says Ricardo Pérez-de la Fuente, a paleoentomologist at theOxford University Museum of Natural History in the U.K. But heemphasizes that it is vital the insect is formally studied beforeanyone can offer “sufficiently credible arguments” about itsbiology.

Thomas van de Kamp, an entomologist at the KarlsruheInstitute of Technology in Germany, is one of the experts hopingto study it. He wants to use a synchrotron to do a detailed x-rayscan and create a 3-D reconstruction that will offer acomprehensive description of the animal.

Many of the known fossil insects were found in amber and soare probably tree-living species. If the newfound specimen formedin opal alone, it may represent a rare glimpse at a creature from adifferent kind of environment.

“Other types of 3-D preserved insects are therefore extremelyvaluable to extend our view,” van de Kamp says.

Berger says that he is currently in talks with museum expertsand other researchers around the world on how to collaborate onscientific study of the sample. After that, he says, he’d like thespecimen to be displayed at a museum.

“I might sell it to a museum, I might donate it, I might keep itand just loan it for display purposes,” he says. “I haven’t reallydecided.”Source: www.nationalgeographic.com from January 30, 2019


Topics in GemologyTopics in Gemology is a monthly column written by Diana Jarrett, GG, RMV, based on gemological questions posed to herover the years by beginners and experts alike. Contact her at [email protected].

Chalcedony’s TimeIts day has come. Chalcedony, a general name for a group ofquartz minerals is finding its place amongst some stellar stonesthese days. It has always been a beautiful gem, but it now cominginto its own as an intriguing semi-opaque gemstone material.When it’s blue, the attention ratchets up further.

Statement Collection Blue Chalcedony Necklace(Courtesy Mia Katrin for Jewel Couture)

Name That StoneThe material occurs naturally in a wide range of colors and is oftenfound in large size rough. But the scene stealer in this stone lay inthe natural patterns each specimen displays. That detail makes thestone itself part of the design process. The material is a variety ofcryptocrystalline quartz. So many of these varieties exist that toeliminate confusion, the one called chalcedony refers only to thetranslucent to solid, lighter color variety, which typically exhibitscolors from blue to white or gray. Whether they are transparent oropaque, collectors adore blue gemstones; so blue chalcedony is astar in the making.

For the record, other cryptocrystalline quartz stones areidentified by their own individual trade names, like banded agate,jasper, and carnelian.

What’s in a Name?Chalcedony’s foundation name stems from the Latin wordChalcedonius, and was probably derived from Chalcedon, theancient seaport of Asia Minor; today in Turkey. Jewelers like thematerial because it ranks 7 on the Mohs scale, and it will take anexcellent polish. Some say after a prolonged polish; certainchalcedony varieties display a glow that appears to emanate fromwithin.

Even Blue Chalcedony is called by sub-category names todistinguish it even further. Mohave and Mt. Airy Blues, fromdeposits in California and Nevada display a slightly grayish bluetone. The blue material from Namibia, is African Blue, and rangesfrom grayish-blue to a straight pure blue hue; in light to mediumdark tone. Some experts claim that the most desirable bluechalcedony hails from Oregon, however. Its blue tint may includetraces of pink, resulting in an attractive lavender stone, andidentified as Holly Blue.

Rough Namibian Blue Chalcedony Parcel (Courtesy Minerasia SRL)

Through the Designer’s EyesDesigner Mia Katrin of Jewel Couture LLC specializes indistinctive stones for her collections. She sources what womenwould like to wear—because she’s a woman who loves distinctivejewelry herself. Katrin confesses, “I’ve always loved chalcedony,especially the blue color. It’s kind of soft and dreamy but also veryintense and vibrant.” The stunning blue chalcedony neckpiece fromher Statement Collection is bold yet feminine, and that’s howKatrin sees today’s woman.

What Women Want NowIn her Statement Collection blue chalcedony neckpiece, the cleverpairing of vibrant blue chalcedony with complementary gems likemoonstone establishes its effortless chic. “I like the juxtapositionof the raw natural nuggets of my blue chalcedony in harmony withmoonstone, sterling nuggets and sapphires in the same piece,” shepoints out.

As collectors become more savvy about gemstones in general,and acquire jewelry that makes a personal statement about theirstyle, we’ll find blue chalcedony making a bigger splash in jewelrystores. Your customers may not know what they like until youshow them something out of the blue—like the easy elegance ofblue chalcedony.

Blue Chalcedony Imperial Egg (Courtesy Mia Katrin for Jewel Couture)


The Mystery of Antarctica’s Missing MeteoritesHiding deep under the ice, iron meteorites could hold clues to

the solar system’s past.By Robin George Andrews

For about a month, Katherine Joy spent hours snaking up anddown the Antarctic ice on a snowmobile, trying to spot gatheringsof meteorites.

The bottom of the Earth is a jarringly alien realm—an“expansive place where the sky and ice seem to go on forever,”says Joy, a Royal Society University Research Fellow andmeteorite hunter at the University of Manchester. And in somestretches of ice, “every rock you come across is from space.”

The majority of the world’s meteorites are discovered inAntarctica. A single dark rock would be easy enough to spot amidthe white background, but the movements of the ice can also act asa conveyor belt, creating concentrated pockets of space debris.Meteorite-hunting expeditions over the past few decades haverevealed, though, an enigmatic lack of iron meteorites inAntarctica compared with other locations around the world.

Though iron meteorites are falling through the atmosphere atequal rates across the planet, they simply weren’t showing up onthe icy surface as often as they should be compared with theirstony meteorite cousins. This raised an intriguing possibility:These missing iron meteorites were hiding beneath Antarctica’sice.

To test this idea, Joy and her colleagues had come toAntarctica as part of the first-ever expedition to search for “lostmeteorites.” They spent late December to early February scoutingout accessible spots that might contain the best hauls. If theyeventually find these missing meteorites on the full-blownexpedition in a year’s time, they’ll have located new geochemicalclues contained within that chronicle the early chaos of the solarsystem and its inner rocky planets, including our own.

Treacherously frigid conditions aside, finding meteoritesburied beneath ice while scooting across a truly vast landscape willrequire plenty of serendipity, because buried meteorites can onlybe detected if you’re standing right above them. That’s why, togame the odds as much as it can, the team is bringing along someextremely fancy iron meteorite detectors: snowmobiles equippedwith the sort of tech you’d normally find in war zones.

The hunt for lost meteorites began after a group ofmathematicians and glaciologists started to wonder whethermeteorites could burrow through Antarctic ice. The first test, in2014, deployed a humble household freezer, a Pixar-like desklamp, and “some small and cheapish meteorites,” says GeoffreyEvatt, a senior lecturer in applied mathematics at the University ofManchester.

The researchers shined the lamp on those discount meteorites,and nothing appeared to happen. Realizing that the lamp didn’tmimic the sun properly, they upgraded to a solar-simulator beamthat provided the vital missing infrared spectrum.

That’s when they saw meteorites heat up and start to nestledown into the ice.

Iron meteorites generally come from the hearts of massiveasteroids. Their composition is not dissimilar to that of Earth’s owncore, which suggests that they can tell us much about the formationof rocky planets. They are rather shiny and typically havepronounced, sometimes crosshatched textures that catch the eye.Often, because of these properties, strange-looking rocks that thegeneral public brings to meteorite researchers turn out to be ironmeteorites, says Matthew Genge, a senior lecturer and meteoriteexpert at Imperial College London not involved in the expedition.

Iron meteorites are also tougher than other meteorites, whichmeans they survive atmospheric entry better than their relations.All things considered, we should be finding plenty of them, so it’sstrange to encounter so few in Antarctica, an otherwise veritablewonderland for all things spaceborne.

This deficit matters. Joy notes that the handful of differentmeteorite groups we know of originate from at least 100 differentsources, from the innards of long-lost annihilated planets to theinner reaches of asteroids.

“Any new meteorite we find could provide us with apreviously unsampled asteroid type that tells us something newabout how planets first formed and geologically evolve,” she says.The lack of iron meteorites means a key part of that cosmic puzzleis missing.

After those early desktop experiments, the researchers uppedtheir game. Within a cloud-simulator contraption, which replicatedreal-world Antarctic environmental conditions, they carefullyplaced meteorites between two ice layers. Shining a solar lamp onthe site, they noticed that the stony and iron meteorites sometimescaused melting above and below them, meaning they could moveup and down in their icy prison an inch or two in just a few hours.

The team then used a simple, elegant mathematical model toscale up these results to Antarctica. In the lab, stony and ironmeteorite migrations were pretty indistinguishable, but this modelshowed that on a longer timescale, the iron meteorites could sinkinto the ice far quicker than the stony ones. These results, describedin a 2016 study, made it seem possible that a huge number of ironmeteorites were in hiding.

The next step: prove it. By December 2018, funded by asignificant grant, the first U.K.-led Antarctic search mission wasout in the wilds of that frosted land, hunting for meteorites—aproof-of-concept run for the climactic meteorite search a year later.

Scouting out meteorites on the surface is one thing, but findingburied iron meteorites is an entirely different ball game.

In Antarctica, some areas of blue ice—named for its ethereal,vivid hue—are so compressed and lacking in trapped air bubblesthat they look like glass. It feels like “you’re walking on air,”Genge says, and any patches of snow on top “looks like clouds.”Standing there makes you feel like being on top of the world at theend of the world. In more practical terms, the ice can be almosttransparent, providing an ideal window into the realm below. Butno one had ever been out in blue-ice areas looking for sunkenmeteorites before, so the team didn’t know whether they wouldcontain any, Evatt says.


A meteorite sinking into ice (Katherine Joy)

It's not simply a matter of zooming around and taking inotherworldly views. Fun though this is, Joy says it’s “a bit of achilly business when the wind is blowing.” At the same time,concentrating on scanning the ground for meteorites while makingsure to drive safely and not get lost can sometimes be exhausting.

The iron meteorite-detection technology attached to thesnowmobiles is both bespoke and complicated. It is analogous toland-mine detectors, but has some key design differences.Meteorite detectors don’t need to be as sensitive. Land mines tryvery hard not to be found, Evatt says, but large lumps of iron arefairly conspicuous to metal detectors, so long as you know whereto look. However, land-mine detectors don’t like being bashedaround, which is why the metal detectors on the snowmobiles hadto be built to be far hardier. They need to deal with being “bangedaround left, right, and center” across the continent, Evatt says.

Land-mine detectors also dislike being moved too rapidly,which is problematic for the team: Researchers have to be able todetect iron meteorites in real time while they zip about. Thanks toall the computing power you can fit on the snowmobiles, that’spossible, but they have to maintain a speed of about nine miles perhour, because the signal-sorting algorithms can’t handle movingany faster or slower. Tests in Svalbard, a series of islands in thehigh Arctic, revealed other quirks; the detectors, for example,experience different types of signal noise on snow compared withice.

The alternative to all this, though, would be exploring thecontinent by foot, using traditional metal detectors, a torturouslyslow endeavor. There’s likely fewer than one iron meteorite buriedin ice every 0.4 square miles, on average. Even if the team doesfind a buried meteorite, it’s not always clear how to excavate it outof what could be several feet of bulletproof ice.

Already, though, researchers have some promising signs thattheir models and experiments are correct. Bits of mountain rockhave been found falling into Antarctic ice and melting through, andJoy says that some meteorites they found have been partiallyburied within the ice, too. In both cases, heating during the australsummer days likely drove the rocks downward. During thisseason’s fieldwork, Joy and her colleagues have collected a goodhaul, at least 36 meteorites with a variety of compositions.

The team has yet to spot any fully buried iron meteorites, butthat’s the aim of the fieldwork in 2020. It is nevertheless preparedfor the possibility that it ultimately ends up empty-handed.

“We are literally in the hands of the gods,” Evatt says. “If acollision hadn’t happened in the asteroid belt millions of years ago,or if the orbital path of Earth hadn’t lined up with the trajectoriesof any resulting asteroidal debris, then it’s a definite possibility thatthese meteorites [never] landed at all, and there’s nothing we or allour equipment can do about that.”

They could, of course, end up finding plenty, and thathypothetical buried treasure would suddenly become very tangible.Success isn’t a numbers game at the end of the day. To show thatiron meteorites might be found lurking beneath the surface, and todemonstrate that the model they have spent years working onapplies to the real world, all they need to do is get lucky once.

“As soon as we’ve found one,” Evatt reckons, “I’ll be happy.Just one.”Source: Atlantic.com from February 26, 2019


Bring an additional friend or loved one!133nd Anniversary New York Mineralogical Club Banquet

Date: October 16, 2019 [Wednesday Evening]Time: 6:00 p.m. - 11:00 p.m. [Social Hour & Silent Auction from 6 p.m. - 7 p.m.]Place: Watson Hotel Manhattan, 57th Street Between Ninth & Tenth Avenues, NYCCost: $30 for Members/Guests (Advance Payment); $35 for Non-Members (or Payment at the Door)

Gala Dinner Menu (tentative)Appetizer

SaladChoice of Entree:

chicken • salmon • beef • vegetarian • kosherPotatoes & Seasonal Vegetables

Selection of Breads & RollsRed & White Wine

Soft Drink Assortment“Labradorite” Dessert Selection

Coffee & Tea

Special Banquet Theme

“Dazzling Labradorite”Amount

Please reserve _______ seat(s) for me at the banquet @ $30.00 per member (or $35.00 per non-member) each.I will probably be ordering G Salmon G Chicken G Beef G Vegetarian G Kosher for my dinner entree(s).

Special Food Instructions (if any):

Special Seating Instructions (if any):

Also included are my 2020 New York Mineralogical Club Membership Dues. (G $25 Individual, G $35 Family)

I am adding a Wine/Dessert Donation to help make the banquet an affair to remember. (Each bottle costs about $25)

I REALLY want _____ of the NYMC T-Shirt(s)! [$15.00 each - indicate size(s)] S M L XL XXL

Please bring _____ copies of the Club’s Award-Winning Publication, “The 100” for me. (Each book @ $10.00)

I’d like to get _____ of the Drawstring Backpack(s) which features the Club. (Each backpack @ $5.00)

Please reserve _____ set(s) of the Boxed Labradorite Note Card Sets for me. (Sets @ $5.00 each include envelopes)

Please reserve Labradorite Banquet Souvenir ______ CD-ROMS and/or _____ Flash Drives. (Each item @ $5.00)

I wish to make an Additional Donation as a sponsor to help support the Banquet and the NYMC.

» Total Included Other Comments:

Name(s)

Street Address Apt. No.

City State Zip

Phone Email


2019 Club Calendar

Date Event Location Remarks & Information

SundayAugust 18

Open HouseHome of Cheryl Neary

Patchogue, Long Island, New YorkRSVP Required; Lots of Details to Follow

THIRD Wednesday!September 18

Meeting at 6:00 pm Watson Hotel, ManhattanSpecial Lecture: Christopher Kemper Ober – “The Periodic Table and the Language of Science”

ThursdayOctober 3

Special Gallery Talkat 6:00 pm

Wilensky Mineral Gallery173 Tenth Avenue (at 20th Street)

Emerald Exhibit Talk by Stuart WilenskyRSVP required! (Members & Friends ONLY!)

THIRD Wednesday!October 16

Annual Gala BanquetMezzanine B & C

Watson Hotel, ManhattanTheme: Labradorite; Silent Auction; Awards; Fun& Games; Gifts & MANY Surprises!

November 13 Meeting at 6:00 pm Watson Hotel, ManhattanSpecial Lecture: Alfredo Petrov– “Mineral Collecting in Spain Today”

December 11 Meeting at 6:00 pm Watson Hotel, ManhattanSpecial Lecture: Vivien Gornitz– “Ice: The Mineral that Shapes the World”

2019-20 Show & Event Calendar

Date Event Location Remarks & Information

July 11 - September 28

“Summer Gems”an Exhibition ofNihonga Paintings and Minerals

Sato Sakura Gallery at 501 West 20thStreet, New York

A gallery collaboration between Wilensky and Sakura;visit https://www.satosakuragallery.com for info.

July 27-2838th Annual Gem & MineralShow

Mattituck High School,15125 Main Road, Mattituck, NY

Sponsor: Long Island Mineral & Geology Society(LIMAGS); Info: limineralandgeology.com

August 9-11East Coast Gem, Mineral &Fossil Show

Better Living Center, Eastern StatesExposition, West Springfield, MA

Largest Show in the East! 200+ Dealers!Info: www.mzexpos.com/east-coast-show

August 17 Gem and Mineral Show and SaleMorris Museum , Morristown,New Jersey

Sponsor: Morris Museum Mineralogical Society

September 21 - 22Mid-Hudson Valley Gem andMineral Show & Sale

Gold’s Gym, Poughkeepsie, NY50th Anniversary Show!; Theme: “Pyrite . . . Don’t beFooled”; Pyrite Exhibit by Vassar College

October 12-13South Jersey Gem, Jewelry,Mineral & Fossil Show

1721 Springdale Road Cherry Hill,New Jersey

Website: www.sjmineralshow.com

November 9-10Fall NYC Gem, Mineral,Jewelry & Fossil Show

Grand Ballroom, Watson Hotel,New York City

25+ High Quality Dealers; NYMC Booth;Lecture on Both Days; Wholesale Section

November 20 Naomi Sarna Solo ShowWilensky Mineral Gallery173 Tenth Avenue (at 20th Street)

Details TBD

November 30 -December 1

Rock and Mineral Weekend Morris Museum , Morristown,New Jersey

Sponsor: Morris Museum Mineralogical Society

January 9, 2020Magnificent Masterpieces GroupShow Including N. Sarna, etc.

Wilensky Mineral Gallery173 Tenth Avenue (at 20th Street)

Details TBD

For more extensive national and regional show information check online:AFMS Website: http://www.amfed.org and/or the EFMLS Website: http://www.amfed.org/efmls

George F. KunzFounder

The New York Mineralogical Club, Inc.Founded in 1886 for the purpose of increasing interest in the science of mineralogy through

the collecting, describing and displaying of minerals and associated gemstones.

Website: www.newyorkmineralogicalclub.orgP.O. Box 77, Planetarium Station, New York City, New York, 10024-0077

2019 Executive Committee

President Mitchell Portnoy 46 W. 83rd Street #2E, NYC, NY, 10024-5203 email: [email protected]. . . . . . . . . . . . (212) 580-1343

Vice President Anna Schumate 27 E. 13th Street, Apt. 5F, NYC, NY, 10003 email: [email protected] . . (646) 737-3776

Secretary Vivien Gornitz 101 W. 81st Street #621, NYC, NY, 10024 email: [email protected] . . . . . . . . . . . (212) 874-0525

Treasurer Diane Beckman 265 Cabrini Blvd. #2B, NYC, NY, 10040 email: [email protected] . . . . . . . . . . . (212) 927-3355

Editor & Archivist Mitchell Portnoy 46 W. 83rd Street #2E, NYC, NY, 10024-5203 email: [email protected]. . . . . . . . . . . . (212) 580-1343

Membership Mark Kucera 25 Cricklewood Road S., Yonkers, NY, 10704 email: [email protected]. . . . . . (914) 423-8360

Webmaster Joseph Krabak (Intentionally left blank) email: [email protected]

Director Richard Rossi 6732 Ridge Boulevard, Brooklyn, NY, 11220 email: [email protected] . . . . . . . . . . (718) 745-1876

Director Sam Waldman 2801 Emmons Ave, #1B, Brooklyn, NY, 11235 email: [email protected] . . . . . . . . (718) 332-0764

Dues: $25 Individual, $35 Family per calendar year. Meetings: 2nd Wednesday of every month (except August) at the Watson Hotel, 440 West 57th Street between Ninthand Tenth Avenues, New York City, New York. Meetings will generally be held in one of the conference rooms on the Mezzanine Level. The doors open at 5:30 P.M. andthe meeting starts at 6:45 P.M. (Please watch for any announced time / date changes.) This bulletin is published monthly by the New York Mineralogical Club, Inc. Thesubmission deadline for each month’s bulletin is the 20th of the preceding month. You may reprint articles or quote from this bulletin for non-profit usage only providedcredit is given to the New York Mineralogical Club and permission is obtained from the author and/or Editor. The Editor and the New York Mineralogical Club are notresponsible for the accuracy or authenticity of information or information in articles accepted for publication, nor are the expressed opinions necessarily those of the officersof the New York Mineralogical Club, Inc.

Next Activity: Open House, Sunday August 18, 2017 from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm

For NYMC Members Only (who can bring their friends & family, of course!)Home of Cheryl Neary, Patchogue, Long Island, New York — RSVP Required!

New York Mineralogical Club, Inc.Mitchell Portnoy, Bulletin EditorP.O. Box 77, Planetarium StationNew York City, New York 10024-0077

FIRST CLASS

Mitch

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