#Rock Collecting

[reddpenn]

I GOT A REALLY COOL MICROSCOPE FOR CHRISTMAS DO YOU WANT TO SEE SOME ROCKS UNDER MY REALLY COOL MICROSCOPE

[todayontumblr]

Tuesday, May 30.

This is your sign to learn more about 🪨 cool rocks 🪨. Become a certified rockhound now.

I have something so important to tell you: Last week my sister and I smashed a bunch of rocks in half. It released something primal within us, and I am compelled to preach the one universal truth I now know; The key to life is to recognize you’re a certified Rockhound. A Granite Groupie. A real Basalt Head. 

Some rocks are almost made for throwing. A life like yours demands more exploring. Go on, my little #rockhound. Find a rock to smash open. The best part about your new hobby? In the absolute worst-case scenario, the rock is simply filled with more rock. What a beautiful thing.

[charles-breaks-beakers]

there are no rules to what's a trinket. you find something and it's pretty/meaningful to you then damn, that's a pretty good trinket.

however, trinkets must never be stolen. always make sure you are only in possession of ethically sourced trinkets.

here are some of my trinkets.

[somnambulant-seraphim]

Cool rock time! :D These are from a parking lot on the way to the public library :3 It was also nice and rainy, so it was easy to see the patterns and colours better.

The wispy, veiny-looking one is my favourite, because it has a mark that looks like a little heart on it <3

[ur-local-neighborhood-scene-kid]

Ok tumblr, I need help identifying these rock/minerals.

I got these from the “world’s greatest rock tumbler refill pack” from national geographic, if that helps. The ID guide from the pack is sparse and vague so it wasn’t much help.

I used google image search to id these as best I could. Thanks in advance to anyone who helps!

[alexparozi]

more rocks from the beach! like... a lot... of them

[fadbucker]

rock collecting by basalt cliff (old quarry) in nj, featuring rock with pond in it, two-striped grasshopper, old keys, bladder campion, pretty seeps, old shovel, shushrooms, cool crystals in rocks, cool rocks left by others, old cars.

[occultbooks]

friend searching; here r some things I like

movies (comedy, horror, and sci-fi specifically)

house md

animal crossing

the monkey island franchise

rock collecting/geology

primates (namely gorillas)

musical theater

filmmaking (I'm going into my film major next month)

homestar runner

smiling friends

smosh

music gets its own category

they might be giants

system of a down

fall out boy

jonathan coulton

weird al

ben folds/ben folds five

barenaked ladies

paul simon/simon & garfunkel

the aquabats!

bob dylan

CAKE

and lots more.

meow sorry for annoying post I just like meeting friends

[casually-cool-collecting]

Spectrolite, a type of labradorite found only Finland

[ardent-heretic]

Spawnette and I were rock hounding in the mini quarry in our woods. We have found a few glacier deposited rocks. But we have been hoping to find a fossil in the shale.

They are done harvesting shale. If you look in the back you can see they are dumping fill. On the left rock face you will notice a pink spraypainted line. That how far they will fill up the hole. And then this will be a retention pond for storm water.

Today was probably the last day we could be here. Monday they will finish dumping fill.

We have had fun exploring in here and will miss the rock specimens. But I know of other areas within a half hour that we can hunt for precious stones.

[penguinonfire]

My favorate kind of crystal I've found locally. I called them root beer rocks as a kid because, they look like frozen root beer. I think it's either honey calcite or some type of gypsum.

[reddpenn]

Now that I'm back from the gem and mineral show, here are all the Cool Rocks I came home with!

A cute little coral fossil! He looks like a cauliflower.

A Keokuk geode! These geode beds aren't far from where I live, and it's always fun to have local specimens.

Phosphosiderite! This purple stone comes from Chile. It's so soft that it has to be stabilized with resin before it's cut. This one is a cross section of a botryoidial formation!

Speaking of botryoidial, this Hematite! Botryoidial means it has a bubbly shape kind of like a bunch of grapes. The faces of the bubbles on this pieces are super shiny and metallic.

Dendritic chalcedony, from Turkey! It's a white chalcedony full of dendrites - branching formations of manganese that look kind of like trees!

A cabochon for my cab collection! This one is made from a material sometimes called "ajooba jasper." The pattern is actually a cross section of a bunch of colorfully jasperized bivalve fossils!

Speaking of jasper, this one is Blue Mountain jasper, from Oregon! The circles in this stone are what’s known as an “egg pattern,” and jaspers which have them (Blue Mountain, Imperial jasper, and a few others) are collectively known as “fine jaspers,” the most valuable jaspers in the world.

Hyalite opal! This stuff forms water-clear spheres that look like jelly.

It fluoresces bright green under UV light!

Now to show off this year's haul of awesome agates!

Dryhead agate, from the Bighorn Mountains in Montana! This agate is named after the many bison skulls found in the area. A weird shaped guy with awesome red and orange bands.

Bou Lili agate, from Morocco! I like the name of this one. Soft banding and very subtle, muted colors. I've heard that this locale can produce peachy colors too.

Bear Canyon agate, from the Pryor Mountains in Montana! Agates from this locale have very stark black and white banding.

Red Fox agate, from Argentina! Sometimes this material is also called "crater agate" because the area it comes from is near the crater of an ancient volcano.

A Blue Sky thunderegg, from New Mexico! Thundereggs from this locale often have this two pointed, saucer-like shape.

It fluoresces really brightly!

Dulcote agate, from England! The bands of this agate are full of calcite, which gives them a strange, distinct texture.

Malawi agate, from Malawi! See all the cracks in it? Almost all Malawi agates have them. Frequent earthquakes due to the East African Rift cause these agates to crack and fracture.

Paint Rock agate, from Paint Rock Valley in Alabama! This agate is very rarely banded, and usually just contains swirls of red and yellow color.

A big, unpolished slab of Montana agate! This agate is known for its clear banding and black lines and spots, which are caused by manganese dendrites.

It's best viewed with some light behind it!

A smaller piece with really amazing dendrites!

Here it is backlit!

Fighting Blood agate, from Hebei Provence in China! This locale is known for its super saturated reds and yellows. This piece has purple amethyst crystals growing inside! They didn't photograph well; they are much more purple in person.

A really weird Fighting Blood agate! This one lacks the bright colors typical of this locale, but makes up for it with that super cool spiderweb pattern!

And finally, as is tradition, I came home with some Ethiopian opals! Here are the five I got this year.

And that's everything I got at the show!

[spacefinch]

The "crystals and minerals are cool but they do not have 'healing auras' or any of that nonsense" post that @a-dinosaur-a-day reblogged got me thinking about my own rock collection.

I've been collecting rocks almost my whole life, but during middle school I got REALLY into geology and rockhounding.

Edit: here’s my rock collection

[im-wide-asleep]

PLEASE HELP

[somnambulant-seraphim]

It’s been a while since I’ve been able to find some cool rocks outside, so I was glad to find these in some local parking lots :)

The first batch is from a grocery store parking lot, the big stripey, layered one it my favourite <3 The second batch is from a rainy day in a thrift store parking lot. 

The very last little orangey-brown one is from a neighbour’s driveway. It’s really pretty and translucent, with slight variations of colour when held up to the light, it definitely reminds me of an agate (like the more common ones found in rivers and lakes).