Bulletin of the New York Mineralogical Club · 2015-08-27 · 2 Bulletin of the New York...

2015 Will Be Another Event-Filled Year for the NYMC

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

Volume 129, No. 1 Celebrating the International Year of Light January 2015

January 14 Meeting:th

Mitchell Portnoy: “Malachite:Ornamental and Collectible”

Everyone likes malachite. Indeed, itsbright, obvious green color has attractedman and woman since the Stone Age!This one-hour, lavishly illustrated,multimedia presentation covers thefollowing topics about malachite:Mineralogy; Worldwide Localities; InHistory; Collector’s Cavalcade;Associations & Pseudomorphs; Decor &Objects of Beauty; Jewelry, & Lapidary,of Course!; Simulants; & etc.

It is suggested that members bring intheir favorite malachite specimens orobjects from their collections for a quickshow-and-tell afterwards.New! Chinese Auction!

A selection of malachite specimensand objects will be offered at a “ChineseAuction” at this meeting. (See page 2 fora description of this event and page 7 fora roster of items to be offered.)Email Special Attachment

All members who receive this Bulletin through email also received aspecial attachment this month entitled“The Story of a Malachite Vase”.

Send in Your 2015 Club DuesIt is time to send in your 2015 club membership dues! Allmemberships run from January 1 to December 31 ofeach year (with a few exceptions).If your mailing labelsays “2014", you owe your 2015 dues. Please takethe time now to mail in your dues in order to preventuninterrupted delivery of your bulletin. A handy formappears on page 12. Dues are $25 for individual, $35 forfamily. Mail to: Membership Coordinator, N.Y.Mineralogical Club, P.O. Box 77, Planetarium Station,NYC, NY 10024-0077.

By Mitch Portnoy

The new year 2015 has beendesignated the International Year ofLight by the United Nations. As youprobably know, lighto f t en i s p a i r e dmetaphorically withknowledge.

With that inmind, let me shedsome light on myknowledge of whatthe NYMC has instore for its membersfor the year 2015.

T h e y e a r ’ smeet ing l ec tur eseries is almost fullypopulated and willfeature speakers, bothfamiliar and new, giving presentations ona broad range of mineralogical, geological,gemological and lapidary subjects.

One highlight, which is scheduled forlater in the year, will undoubtedly be theNovember meeting with Howard Heitnergiving a talk about fluorescence in tandemwith Dick Bostwick providing ademonstration on the same topic.

Charles Merguerian will regale us atthe year’s gala banquet, whose theme willbe garnet, with a talk about the geologyand mineralogy of the Second AvenueSubway. The popular silent auction, heldbefore the dinner, will have a garnetsection to underscore the banquet’s theme.

And speaking of auctions, I canalready tell you that the lot selection forthe Annual Benefit Auction (voice) inJune will not be a disappointment! Ealready have a wide range of minerals,gems, books, etc. of a very high quality!

The best material we have so far hasall come from the dealer donations at therecent Fall 2014 NYC Gem & MineralShow. There is every reason to expect thatthe dealers at the upcoming Spring 2015NYC Mineral & Gem Show in March.

And speaking of donations, I havesome good news. The Annual SpecialSale (January) will indeed be taking placeas a result of the immense generosity ofNik Nikiforou (Globe Minerals). See Club

Calendar on page 15for details or call meif you have anyquestions.

Although not yetscheduled, we dohope to have anotherO p e n H o u s esometime during thesummer months. Thissocial affair (witheating & drinking) hasbeen very popular andif you would like tohost this event in2015, please let me

know. You will be glad you did!I hope to see you at many of these

events and activities and you can see howvaluable a membership in the NYMCreally is. And remember, ideas andsuggestions are ALWAYS welcome!

Issue Highlights

President’s Message. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2Meeting Minutes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2World of Minerals: Yazzie Exhibition. 3Rare Twinned Garnet. . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Science Is Not a Popularity Contest. . 4Electrons’ Split ‘Personalities'. . . . . . 5Oldest Life?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6The 100: Three Oxides. . . . . . . . . . . . 7Chinese Auction Malachite. . . . . . . . 7Topics in Gemology: Chocolate.. . . . 8NASA May Lasso Asteroid. . . . . . . . 8Earth’s Biggest Crater. . . . . . . . . . . . 9Russian Malachite Mine. . . . . . . . . . 10Fake Amber. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11Membership Renewal Form. . . . . 12Oldest Rocks & Life.. . . . . . . . . . . . 13Hidden Ocean!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Atomic Man!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14Club & Show Calendars. . . . . . . . . . 15

2 Bulletin of the New York Mineralogical Club January 2015

President’s MessageBy Mitch Portnoy

Happy New Year to Everyone!Believe it or not, this is the beginning

of my 20 year as bulletin editor – the firstth

one that I produced for the Club was inJanuary of 1996.

A new NYMC postcard will bedistributed at the January meeting and newsets of note cards, in honor of theInternational Year of Light and the 100th

Anniversary of General Relativity (PopEinstein), will be available.

Malachite (Chinese) AuctionAt January’s meeting, the NYMC is

holding its First (?) Annual ChineseAuction! (See box, right, for an explanationof what this is if you don’t already know.)The items offered will be all be related insome way to the evening’s lecture aboutmalachite. Tickets will be sold prior to theauction [25 tickets for $5.00]. All proceedsgo to the NYMC treasury. Table set-up anditem layout will begin early at about 5:00PM, ticket sales will start shortly thereafter.The results will be announced before thelecture begins (in place of the regularraffle).

Good news! We WILL have a SpecialSale to benefit the NYMC thanks to theoverwhelming generosity of Nik Nikiforou(Globe Minerals). See calendar on page 15for info or call me for details.

Receive Your Bulletin Electronically!Send me an email asap! – Mitch

Club Meeting Minutes for December 10, 2014By Vivien Gornitz, SecretaryAttendance: 35 (Snow!)President Mitch Portnoy presided.Announcements:� After the raffle, Mitch reminded us that the

2014 IYCr was coming to an end while the2015 IYL was soon starting as well as the100 Anniversary of Relativity.th

� The last Crystallography game was playedafter the historic occurrences for the dayand month were shown.

� Attendees were reminded what wasavailable for sale (including floaty pens!),and what was free.

� Mitch encouraged people to pay their 2015Club dues and to get their 2015membership card if they already have.

� Vivien Gornitz highlighted two exhibitscurrently running in NYC, one aboutjewelry at the Museum of the AmericanIndian and another at the Met about (Asian)Indian jewelry.

� Naomi Sarna was congratulated for havingthe first public viewing of her jewelry andgemstone carvings.

� Mitch provided a overview of upcomingNYMC meetings and events.

If you would like to participate in next month’s“Show and Tell” please let me know so I can put youon the program list! – Mitch

Special Lecture: John Sanfaçon:“Worldwide Crown Jewels”

John Sanfaçon treated Club members to adazzling whirlwind tour of the world’s gemtreasures from antiquity to the present. Startingwith intricately carved Roman agate, onyx, andsardonyx intaglios and cameos, he quicklyjumped to medieval royal crowns generouslypaved with cabochons of Ceylon sapphires,rubies, amethysts, and natural pearls. Somemedieval highlights include the crowns ofCharlemagne and of St. Wenceslas of Bohemiaand a lavishly bejeweled statue of St. Georgeslaying the dragon.

By Renaissance times, gem-cutters began tomaster the art of faceting, greatly improving thebrilliance and fire of diamonds. Emeralds fromColombia found their way into the royal courtsof Europe and Mogul India, while Golcondadiamonds from India traveled west to Europe.Some outstanding later historical treasuresinclude the rare 41 ct Dresden Green diamond(1743), the elaborate sapphire and diamondparure of Marie Antoinette, the Crown of St.Stephen of Hungary (a national treasure safelyhidden from the Nazis during WWII), andCatherine the Great’s crown topped by a 399 ctred spinel!

More recent royal treasures include theBritish crown jewels, highlighted by theImperial State Crown with its 317 ct Cullinan IIdiamond, the Royal Scepter with the 550Cullinan I diamond, and the Queen Mother’s109 ct Koh-i-noor diamond and large “ruby”spinel bedecked crown. The U.S. National Gem

Collection, housed in the Smithsonian Institutionin Washington, D.C., boasts the 45.5 deep blueHope diamond, the turquoise and diamonddiadem and diamond necklace of Empress Marie-Louise (Napoleon’s 2 wife), emerald/diamondnd

Spanish Inquisition Necklace, and the 127 ctoctagonal-cut Portuguese diamond. Iran houses animmense treasure trove of royal jewels safelytucked away in the basement of the Central Bankin Tehran, including the Peacock Throne, a gem-encrusted globe of the world, and the crowns ofthe late Shah Pahlavi and Empress Farah.

4" Trim Saw available (hardly used)Contact Ruth Brodsky: [email protected]

Members in the News� Branko Deljanin will present New

Generation of Natural Looking CVD-GrownDiamonds - How to Separate Them fromNatural Diamonds in a Few Steps! (in botha lecture and workshop) at The NationalAssociation of Jewelry Appraisers (NAJA)43rd Annual Winter ACE It Education©

Conference to be held in Tucson, Arizona,from February 1-2, 2015.

� Dr. Oliver Sacks had a piece about theginkgo tree and its unusual leaves in TheNew Yorker that appeared on newsstandsNovember 17, 2014.

� Photographs from Melissa Fleming’s SeaChange series are included in the exhibition,“Modern Alchemy: Experiments inPhotography” at the Heckscher Museum ofArt. She was also interviewed for theDecember issue of SciArt in America.

Welcome New Members!Sharon Fitzpatrick. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . NYC, NY

What is a Chinese Auction?A Chinese auction is a combination of a raffle

and an auction that is typically featured at benefitevents.

The difference between a raffle and a Chineseauction is that in a raffle with multiple prizes, thereis one “hat” from which names are drawn, but in aChinese auction each prize has its own “hat” (or abowl). This allows ticket buyers to choose whichprize to focus on, as opposed to having a first,second, third, etc. prize.

In a Chinese auction, bidders are notprospective buyers (as in a conventional voiceauction). Instead, they buy tickets, which arechances to win items. The tickets themselves areoften inexpensive and bidders may buy hundreds ofthese tickets. Bidders buy as many tickets as theylike, and bid them on any item(s) they want byplacing one or more ticket in the “hat” beside theitem(s) they are trying to win. At the conclusion ofbidding, one winning ticket is drawn from the “hat”beside each item, and the item is given to the ownerof that ticket.

A bidder may increase the chance of winningby buying and bidding more tickets on a specificitem. Although there is generally no limit to thenumber of tickets a given individual may bid on aspecific item, the chance of winning depends on thetotal number of tickets bid by all individuals.

January 2015 Bulletin of the New York Mineralogical Club 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.

Glittering World: Navajo Jewelry of the Yazzie FamilyNational Museum of the American IndianNovember 13, 2014 – January 11, 2015

Glittering World, a dazzling exhibition of some of the finestcontemporary Navajo jewelry by the Yazzie family, evokes thevivid hues of southwestern sunsets and red rock mesas translatedinto colorful gems. The featured artists, Lee, Raymond, andMary Marie Yazzie grew up in a large Navajo family nearGallup, New Mexico. Both parents were silversmiths, as aremany of their siblings. Named after an episode from an ancientmyth, the exhibit is imbued with traditional Navajo valuesexpressed in contemporary form—beauty, harmony, balance,attention to detail, striving for perfection, and a deep sense ofplace.

Largely self-taught, Lee originally wanted to pursue adifferent career, but health issues forced him to drop out ofcollege and he subsequently turned to silversmithing. His pieces

are characterized by use ofthe highest grade gemturquoise, coral , andelaborate silver-work. Heemploys the overlaytechnique, embellished withmathematically preciseincised lines, curved, andstepped designs. Lee, likehis brother Raymond, hasalso perfected the art ofstone inlay. A crowingartistic and technical

masterpiece is a curved corncob cuff bracelet covered withhundreds of small dark blue Bisbee and Royal Web turquoise,lapis lazuli, coral and opal kernels entirely surrounding thepiece.

Raymond specializes in stone inlay, carefully juxtaposingcontrasting colors to form intricate abstract patterns, oftenincorporating the traditional sunface design. He slowlydeliberates over the exact placement and fit of the stones toachieve a pleasing balance. The seamless joining of multiplestones on one bracelet gives the impression of one continuouscurved piece of spider web turquoise.

Their sister, Mary Marie creates Navajo “pearls”—roundsilver beads, as well as turquoise bead necklaces and traditionalsilver jewelry. Other family members are also fine silversmiths.

The Yazzies seek perfection in their work, employing thetop grade gemstone. Their pieces feature untreated, naturalturquoise from now-closed southwestern mines, such as LanderBlue, Lone Mountain, Bisbee, and Morenci, deep redMediterranean coral, Afghani lapis lazuli, Australian opal, andsugilite. Some rings and bracelets are set in 14 and 18 carat gold.

In a visual feast for the eye, Glittering World highlights theexquisite jewelry of the talented Yazzie family, while at thesame time immersing the viewer in a culture that seeks harmony,values quality, and respects family and the land. The exhibitionis definitely worth a trip to lower Manhattan.

Blessings bracelet, Raymond C. Yazzie, 2002–3. Height, 1½ in.

Bracelet, Raymond C. Yazzie, 2005. Silver inlaid with coral, turquoise, lapis lazuli,14-karat gold accents. 2 3/8 x 1 in.

From left: Raymond C Yazzie, Mary Marie Yazzie, and Lee A Yazzie in front of theirgrandparents’ hogan (traditional hut), originally built in the 1890s.


A Rare Twinned Garnet CrystalBy Russ Behnke

I recently received a strange crystal from Merelani,Tanzania. It shows an interesting set of triangular, radial crystalfaces, arranged in alternating re-entrant angles, with roughstriations perpendicular to the intersections of the faces. Themineral itself has a vitreous luster, reddish-maroon color, isslightly translucent and has a hardness of 7. It is 4 cm (1.6inches) across. These properties narrowed the possible mineralspecies to only a few, with garnet a prime suspect, despite theweird crystal habit. An analysis using Raman spectroscopy,which uniquely identifies crystalline solids, proved it to begarnet with a composition intermediate between pyrope

3 2 4 3 3 2 4 3[Mg Al (SiO ) ] and almandine [Fe Al (SiO ) ]. Garnet crystalsare extremely common, but this was unlike any I had ever seenin decades of collecting and dealing minerals. The strangesymmetry and re-entrant angles of this crystal strongly suggestedthat is a twin, but does garnet form twins? If so, they must berare for me to have never seen one.

Face on and side view of the strange garnet (Russ Behnke photos).

After some research, I indeed found that garnet crystaltwinning does occur and that it is very rarely seen. A look inVictor Goldschmidt's classic Atlas der Krystallformen (Atlas ofCrystal Forms) published in 1913-1925 (and available atmindat.org) showed the many usual familiar untwinneddodecahedral and trapezohedral forms, among others. But hisFigure 80 (Band 4, Tafel 60) shows a strange one that matchesmy crystal almost exactly (the drawings are idealized so aperfect match is never expected). Goldschmidt referenced thesource for this drawing as Heddle's 1901 Mineralogy ofScotland, where a similar crystal drawing does appear on PlateLXIII (Figure 4), though it does not show the striations on thefaces that the Goldschmidt version does, and is not“see-through” either. In any case, it is clearly the same and is aninterpenetration twin of two dodecahedrons. This crystal wasfound in the Dalnabo limestone quarry, Glengairn inAberdeenshire and is the essonite variety of grossular garnet.

Much smaller twins were described in 1973 by PeterLessing and Richard Standish in an American Mineralogistarticle (volume 58, pages 840-842) on zoned garnet fromCrested Butte, Colorado. Though they were only seen in a thinsection, the twinning can be proved this way because it willshow the re-entrant angles visible on the outside actuallycontinue into the crystal, and are not just chance contacting. Iwould never cut open this rare crystal, but the chances of this

crystal form occurring by chance (not twinning) is less than onein 1.1 trillion. This is 2 to the 40th power and is derived fromthere being 19 faces, all pointing towards the center. All of these19 faces have striations perpendicular to the radius. And themain (highest) points are 120 degrees apart. All of these 40factors agree with the crystal drawings. Just giving each factora 50% probability each feature conforming to the twinningfeatures seen gives us an odds against chance of 1.1 trillion toone.

Left: Goldschmidt's Figure 80. Right: Heddle's Figure 4.

Source: Chip ‘n’ Pick, Newsletter of the Lapidary and MineralSociety of Central Connecticut, March/April 2014.

Science Is Not a Popularity ContestBy John Friedman

The interesting thing about science is that it is not aboutpublic opinion or even popular consensus. Scientific discoveries,even those that are unpopular, have a history of being borne outover time.

A scientific theory is a well-substantiated explanation ofsome aspect of the natural world that is acquired through thescientific method and repeatedly confirmed through observationand experimentation. Theories can be modified as moreinformation comes to light, and thus is scientific knowledgeadvanced.

Sometimes the new explanations are greeted withskepticism, and sometimes with outright hostility. Thosescientific theories that either challenge (or are seen to threaten)the status quo, or entrenched political and power structures oftenfind themselves attacked by those entities because they threatenthem.

The idea that tiny, invisible things in the air and water werecausing illnesses was not generally accepted until after LouisPasteur developed germ theory in 1861. Some physicians did notmake it a practice to wash their hands between patients and evenmocked the theory and refused to do so. But those early adopterswere proven right, and when London physician John Snow’sresearch showing clusters of cholera cases during the epidemicof 1854 resulted in the decision to remove the handle of thewater pump that was the source of the contamination, evenpeople who did not believe in or understand germ theorybenefited.

When Copernicus first presented the heliocentric model ofplanetary motion and placed the Sun, rather than the Earth, in thecenter, it actually was not seen as particularly threatening. Buteventually, as others refined his work and sought to explain how


it was not in conflict with church doctrine, the Catholic Churchwas less sanguine. By Galileo’s time the Inquisition had declaredheliocentrism to be formally heretical, which led to his housearrest and excommunication.

Listening to people claim that “science can’t be trusted”reminds me increasingly of O. J. Simpson lawyers’ argumentthat the more reasonable explanation for the preponderance ofevidence against their client was that the evidence had to havebeen planted or otherwise rigged. Since they could not make acredible case against the DNA being his, the only thing left wasto come up with another explanation for why it was there.

The argument that I find most specious and intellectuallysuspect is that the 97 percent of climate scientists who supportthe idea that climate change is linked to the contaminants we’vebeen putting into the air in massive quantities since the IndustrialRevolution have been compromised by money, while the tinyminority (often those paid by the polluters) remain intellectuallypure.

Another argument that falls flat is the concept of demandinga level of predictive accuracy. Just as evolution cannot predictwhat the next successful adaptations will be with certainty,psychiatry cannot accurately identify people who will becomeserial killers and those who will become philanthropists.

Scientists must acknowledge a portion of the blame for thiswhen they make declarative and firm statements – or allow (orencourage) the media to present their research in a way thatplays directly into the hands of those who would impeach theirresearch, such as the recent NASA statement that ice melting inWest Antarctica appears unstoppable. The caveat “appears” doesnot resonate as strongly or grab as much attention as the word“unstoppable” and phrases like “past the point of no return,” sothe cost of the attention-grabbing headline is the loss ofcredibility.

In the end, people will not decide whether the evidence forclimate change fits or not. History tells us that the truth will winout. In the meantime, I continue to wonder why, even if onechooses to disregard global climate change, people are notmoved to action at least by the other known ill effects (lungdiseases, asthma, etc.) that are unquestioned consequences of airpollution.

That ought to be enough of a reason to act.

Electrons’ Split ‘Personalities’ Help SolveSuperconductor MysteryBy Jesse Emspak

Electrons — the negatively charged particles around atoms —have split “personalities,” and act one way or the other dependingon how many of them are around, new research suggests.

The finding could help to solve a long-standing mystery aboutelectrical currents in superconductors, which carry such currentwith no energy loss. Physicists have long wondered why electronssometimes move freely as superconducting materials cool andother times jam up electrical flow.

The researchers focused on so-called high-temperaturesuperconductors, or those materials that conduct electricity attemperatures above supercold, or absolute zero (minus 459.67ºFahrenheit, or minus 273.15º Celsius). They used an electronmicroscope to examine one class of high-temperaturesuperconductors based on cuprates, orcopper and oxygencompounds. Cuprates are usually insulators (meaning they don’tconduct electricity) but when cooled to about 160º Kelvin (minus171º F, or minus 113º C) and mixed with a oxygen, amounting toa few atoms scattered among several cuprate molecules, they turninto superconductors, the team from Brookhaven NationalLaboratory found.Stuck Electrons

The researchers found that doping the cuprates with oxygeninitially caused some of the electrons to freeze in place — acondition called “stripes.” The stripes interfered with thesuperconductivity, because the stuck electrons only allowed thefree ones to move in certain directions.

Adding enough oxygen to the cuprates seemed to make a bigdifference, as the cuprates acted as semiconductors again, saidstudy researcher J.C. Séamus Davis, a senior physicist atBrookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, New York, anddirector of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Center for EmergentSuperconductivity.

The reason this seems to work has to do with whysuperconductivity happens. Usually, metals conduct electricitybecause the atoms have incomplete outer electron shells. Copper,for instance, has a single electron in its outer shell, even thoughthat shell has enough space for eight electrons. That extra spaceallows the electrons to act as though they are in a free-floating sea.Attaching a battery imposes an electric field on the electrons,which all get attracted toward the positive side of the field. Thebattery also supplies more electrons, which move like a conga linealong the wire. There’s resistance, though, because the electronsalso bounce around randomly.

If a metal is cooled enough, though, the electrons formso-called Cooper pairs. Electrons are negatively charged, so theyattract the positively charged particles, or ions, in the metal,

Galileo before members of the Holy Office in the Vatican in 1633.

A superconductor like the one used in recent research that showedelectrons may have “split personalities” that help explain their strangeproperties. | Lawrence Berkeley National Library via Getty Images


leaving a slightly denser positive charge as they move. Thatpositive charge attracts other free electrons, resulting in a weaklybound pair — one behind the other.

Quantum-mechanical rules allow them to sail through thecopper without interference. But it doesn’t work when thetemperature is too high, because the pairs break up when theelectrons are jostled around.

A process called doping — in which chemicals are applied toa metal or other substance — adds “holes,” or spaces of positivecharge where electrons are absent, to the material. The result is thatthe electrons in the cuprates have more room to move, and that’swhy, at cold temperatures, the stuck electrons — or “stripes” —disappear.Making Superconductors

While the phenomenon may sound esoteric, it’s an importantstep in understanding how to make superconducting materials,Davis said. “There were dozens of competing explanations. Theresult of our experiment showed it was a simple explanation,”Davis said.

There is still a lot of work to do on raising superconductortemperatures. The Brookhaven team’s experiment was done at 4ºKelvin, or about minus 450º F (minus 268º C) — well below thetheoretical limit. More experiments will have to be done withdoped cuprates at higher temperatures. That said, Davis notes thatif a superconductor could work at the temperature of liquidnitrogen, as opposed to liquid helium, that would reduce the costsa lot.

Also, knowing that “stripes” need to be prevented fromforming can guide engineers and scientists in choosing whatsubstances to focus on and how to boost the temperature ofsuperconductors even further. “Once the materials scientists knowwhat the objective is, they can work toward that,” Davis said.

Even with this new finding, superconductors still holdmysteries. Although Davis’ group has found a way to mitigate thestriping phenomenon, much of the underlying mechanism is stillunclear.

Yang He, a doctoral candidate at Harvard University, isamong a group of scientists who also study superconductivity. Hesaid in their findings, a phase where electrons are partiallyconducting and partially insulating — called the pseudogap —seems to evolve smoothly no matter what the electrons in thematerial are doing. In addition, the pseudogap phase electronsseem to participate in superconductivity as well. “Somehow, theelectrons are doing two things,” he said.Source: LiveScience.com |Posted: 05/16/2014

Traces of Some of the ‘Oldest Life’ on EarthMay Not Have Biological Origin after AllBy Tia Ghose

What were thought to be some of the oldest traces of life onEarth may not have been caused by life at all, new researchsuggests.

The fossils, tiny tubules etched into ancient rocks in SouthAfrica, were initially thought to be formed by ancient bacteriaboring through volcanic glass in the seafloor — a process calledbioalteration — during the Archean Eon, about 3.4 billion yearsago.

But the new study, published yesterday (May 26) in thejournal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,suggests these tiny tunnels were actually formed by the cooling ofthe volcanic rock nearby, just 2.9 billion years ago.

“Our new data challenges this complex ‘bioalteration model’proposed to have occurred in the Archean pillow lava rims,” study

co-author Eugene Grosch, an earth scientist at the University ofNorway, wrote in an email to Live Science.

Traces of LifeSeveral fossils have vied for the title of Earth’s oldest life.

Geologists thought rippling, wavy textures imprinted into rocks inthe Dresser Formation in western Australia may have been formedby microbial mats about 3.4 billion years ago. At anotherformation in western Australia known as Strelley Pool, domelikestructures called stromatolites may also have been formed bymicrobes nearly 3.5 billion years ago.

And in 2004, researchers digging at the Barberton GreenstoneBelt in South Africa identified the newly analyzed microscopicfilament structures, made of a mineral called titanite, that theybelieved were formed by ancient microbes in oceanic crust about3.49 billion years ago.

But finding the signature of tiny microbes that lived billionsof years ago is extraordinarily difficult, and geologists hotly debatewhich of these specimens is truly the earliest hint of life on Earth.Mysterious Formation

Grosch and his colleague Nicola McLoughlin, an earthscientist at the University of Norway, weren’t convinced that theBarberton textures were formed by ancient microbes. To test thatidea, the team drilled 590 feet (180 meters) into the rock where thetextures were found.

They measured hundreds of the textures throughout the coreand analyzed their size and shape distribution. The filaments hadhuge diameters and a very large size distribution compared withthose of the miniscule tunnels formed by microbes in oceanic crusttoday, Grosch said.

The team also used the decay of uranium and lead isotopes(elements with the same number of protons but a different numberof neutrons) to estimate the age of the titanite. (Because theseelements decay at different rates, the ratio of the two can reveal theage of the rock.)Not Life?

The tiny trace fossils were formed between 2.9 billion and 2.8billion years ago, so they’re about 650 million years younger thanthe formation as a whole.

The team also used a mathematical model of the coolingconditions in nearby pillow lava and found that the titanitestructures were likely formed by the prevailing conditions in thecooling rock at that time.

About 2.9 billion years ago, magma intruded into the evenmore ancient rock and heated it up, forming the titanite structuresas it cooled, the team thinks.

These findings discount the notion that the trace fossils wereformed by primitive microbes at the dawn of life on Earth, theresearchers argue.

“These textures are not biological or related to microbialactivity,” Grosch said.Source: LiveScience.com May 28, 2014

Typical titanite microtexture in the pillow lavas found at the BarbertoneGreenstone belt in South Africa. | Eugene Grosch


Hematite from Chubb Lake, NY

Rutile from Graves Mountain, Georgia

Ilmenite from Wyoming

Collector’s Series – “The 100"The 100 is a monthly feature of interest to mineral collectors written by Bill Shelton, based upon his many years ofexperience as a mineral collector, educator, author, appraiser, philanthropist and dealer. Comments as well as suggestionsfor new topics are most welcome. Contact him at [email protected].

Three Oxides: Rutile, Hematite, IlmeniteAn astute collector will know that each of these three oxides

can occur in black crystals but rutile will probably look differentfrom hematite and ilmenite. Rutile is rarely an ore but hematiteis the major iron ore worldwide while ilmenite is a majortitanium ore. Fine crystals do form for all three species. Rutile isoften red and hematite will exhibit a distinct reddish streak.Chemically, hematite is ordinarily nearly pure while ilmeniteand rutile normally contain more than trace quantities ofelements not seen in their ideal formulae.

A wish list for great specimens will vary with personal tastebut who wouldn’t like a fine hematite from Congonas, Brazil, anilmenite from Bancroft (Canada) alongside a rutile from GravesMountain, Georgia. There are a lot of other localities and a widevariety of specimens available but type locality material, fromthe Miask area (Russia) will be the only one you can find since

hematite and rutile haveno known type localities(see Encyclopedia ofMineral Names).

New York producednice spec im ens ofcrystalline hematite fromChubb Lake some yearsago. Connecticut veryrecently yielded fineilmenites from the classic

area around Washington in Litchfield County. Chester County,Pennsylvania once produced a lot of decent rutile crystals. So,our general area can be a good source for all of these minerals.The reddish sedimentary rocks (i.e. Triassic sandstones) arecolored by hematite as are innumerable rock units worldwide.Quartzite, Arizona has been a source for great hematites withquartz; Graves Mountain is a premier U.S. locality for rutile asis the Champion mine (California); Iron Mountain (Wyoming)is a good U.S. ilmenite source.

I generally cover gems and fluorescence for the “100” buthere we find a trio lacking in both respects. However, rutile as

included material inquartz, often withhematite is so commonand well-known that Ith i n k we can n o texclude it. Venush a i r s t o n e i s agemological term forrutilated quartz. Starsand clusters with apattern have beenknown to bring pricesI’d call fanciful. Onoccasion, a fine sample

of rutilated quartz has been found in Vermont. Microscopicrutile, when oriented in other minerals like quartz and corundumwill produce so-called star stones like the Delong Star Ruby in

the AMNH gem collection. It was sold for about $20,000 in1937 and ransomed following its theft for $25,000 many yearsago – it remains the second finest star ruby known to date.

Synthetic rutile can be produced in nearly colorless formvery different from any known to occur in nature. When faceted,the stones are noted to havea high index of refractionand dispersion. Once soldunder trade names likeTitania, they resembled i a m o n d s o m e w h a t .Currently, I see very littleof this material offered forsale.

The three oxides cano ccu r to ge t h e r a n doccasional fine specimensmay be the result. One ofmy favorites is the hematiterose from Switzerland with oriented rutile on the surface. If youpay attention to so-called Alpine deposits anywhere in the world,you will find beautiful examples of all three species that wouldbe a wonderful addition for most any collection. When rutile isoriented on a hematite core, we can get a beautiful mineralspecimen reminding the viewer of a starburst. They are similarlyknown to occur within quartz, especially from Brazil.

Other unusual specimens include botryoidal hematite – wefind them all over the world but the classic English piece wouldbe my first choice. Iridescent hematite, notably from Elba, canyield a very nice cabinet specimen. Martite, a varietal name,refers to hematite after magnetite – they come from Nova Scotia,Mexico and elsewhere. A local unusual item is hematiteexhibiting rhombohedral parting from Franklin, New Jersey.

What about locality data? According to mindat.org, I findhematite has 12,333 localities while ilmenite has 3,890 and rutilehas 4,503 localities.

Chinese Auction Malachite Offerings1. Velvet Malachite Miniature from Congo2. Small Malachite Egg3. Medium Malachite Egg4. Large Malachite Egg5. Malachite Thumbnail from Nevada6. Malachite Thumbnail from Maryland7. (8) Button-Size Cabochons8. Small Carved Malachite Dish9. Larger Carved Malachite Dish10. (2) Small Malachite Specimens from Bisbee, Arizona11. Velvet Malachite from Mexico12. Large Tumbled Malachite13. Small Malachite Pendant14. Malachite & Azurite Crystals from Tsumeb15. Small Polished Malachite from Zaire (Congo)16. Large Malachite on Matrix from Mexico17. And 10 more!


Topics in GemologyTopics in Gemology is a monthly column written by Diana Jarrett, GG, RMV, based on gemological questions posed toher over the years by beginners and experts alike. Contact her at dianajarrett.com.

Chocolate Schmocolate, Let’s Try SherryIt’s hard to imagine, but there was a time not that long ago,

when it was very difficult to sell brown diamonds. ‘Brownies’ in allsaturations and tones were relatively available, but were seen asinferior to the coveted colorless or ‘white’ diamond. By all countsbrown diamonds are the most common of fancy colored diamonds.

And as with any natural occurrence, they are not recentdiscoveries. The largest cut natural fancy brown is the GoldenJubilee, weighing in at a hefty 546.67 carats was discovered in1985. For a diamond, that’s pretty recent, but it took anotherdecade before delectable brand names for brownies penetrated themarket and became household terms.

Champagne, cognac, and chocolate are some of the morerecognized monikers for these colorful sparklers.

But, gem lovers are prone to overlook another highly dramaticjewel that makes a big impression and may also be discovered intints with more nuance of color in the brown family than diamonds:the natural zircon. Its sophisticated color palette makes collectorssqueal and designers effuse with creativity. Many zircons areproduced in autumnal hues and one such dazzler is sherry zircon.Rich brown with a reddish back color, this stone is remarkable forits vitreous to adamantine luster.

While it carries the visual punch of a diamond with theseattributes, the price per carat is certainly more appealing than itsfancy color diamond counterpart. It’s a glamorous and affordablecentral stone for an engagement ring. You might be surprised tolearn just how appealing it is when you present this as an option toyour customer. Long gone are the days of mis-identification ofzircon for cubic zirconia, aren’t they? If you think your customermany not understand the difference, you may want to make thatclear at the top of your presentation. Sherry, it’s not just for afterdinner anymore.

NASA May Lasso Truck-Sized Asteroid ThatBuzzed Earth Three Years AgoBy Irene Klotz

CAPE CANAVERAL Fla. (Reuters) - NASA is consideringrelocating a small asteroid that buzzed Earth three years ago intoa high orbit around the moon when it returns in 2024, officialssaid on Thursday.

The asteroid, known as 2011 MD, is among nine candidateson NASA’s potential relocation list. Once an asteroid isrobotically repositioned about 46,600 miles (75,000 km) above thelunar surface, NASA wants to send astronauts to visit it andcollect samples. The initiative is intended to test technologies andequipment needed for an eventual human expedition to Mars.

Newly completed surveys with NASA’s infrared Spitzerspace telescope show 2011 MD is about 20 feet (6 meters) indiameter, roughly the size of a delivery truck.

“You might actually be able to put this asteroid into yourgarage at home,” astronomer David Trilling, with NorthernArizona University in Flagstaff, told reporters on a conferencecall.

The asteroid, discovered in 2011, is about one-third as denseas solid rock and has a mass of about 100 tons. Scientists suspectit actually may be a pile of boulders, bound together by gravityand other forces. Or, it could be one massive boulder surroundedby smaller pebbles and dust. Either scenario is unexpected.

“Traditionally, people thought that small asteroids like 2011MD are just single pieces of rock or single boulders floating inspace,” said Trilling, who co-authored a study on 2011 MDpublished on Thursday in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

NASA has found about 11,000 asteroids that orbit near Earthand is adding about 100 asteroids per month to the list. So far,nine asteroids are believed to be suitably positioned for a roboticrendezvous and capture between about 2020 and 2024.

Another option is to pluck a boulder off a large asteroid andreposition just that piece into the lunar orbit. Either initiative isexpected to cost about $1.25 billion, NASA said.

Also Thursday, NASA selected 18 asteroid mission conceptsand technology proposals for six-month study contracts totaling$4.9 million. Winning companies include aerospace giants Boeingand Lockheed Martin, and startups, such as Deep Space Industriesand Planetary Resources Development Corp, both of which aredeveloping businesses to mine asteroids.Source: Reuters Posted: 06/19/2014

Sherry Zircon, 7.20 Carats. Photo Courtesy Dyer.

This image of asteroid 2011 MD was taken by NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope inFeb. 2014, over a period of 20 hours. The long observation, taken in infrared light,was needed to pick up the faint signature of the small asteroid (center of frame). |NASA/JPL-Caltech/Northern Arizona University/SAO


Earth’s Oldest, Biggest Impact Crater YieldsNew SecretsBy Becky Oskin

Geologists say they’ve discovered rocks long thoughtvanished, the youngest remains of the oldest and biggest impactcrater on Earth.

In the abraded heart of South Africa’s Vredefort impact craterlurk striking green-black rocks, some of the only remnants of amagma sea that once filled the gaping crater, according to a studyto be published this May in the journal Geology. Until now,geologists thought nearly all of these “impact melt” rocks were lostto time. Some 6 miles (10 kilometers) of Vredefort crater has wornaway since it was whacked open 2.02 billion years ago.

“It’s like discovering a new rock type in the Grand Canyon,”said study co-author Desmond Moser, a geochronologist atWestern University in Ontario, Canada. “Vredefort has beenwalked over for 100 years.”

A separate study in the same issue of Geology reports the bestevidence yet for possible Vredefort impact ejecta. The vaporizedbeads of rock were blasted into the atmosphere and rained down1,550 miles (2,500 km) away, on a proto-continent that becamenorthwest Russia and Scandinavia, the researchers said.

“I think this is a definite step forward in trying to understandthe top of the Vredefort structure,” said Matthew Huber, leadauthor of the second study and a planetary geologist at theUniversity of Brussels in Belgium.

Off with its HeadThe ancient Vredefort impact structure was once a much

bigger crater, about 185 miles (300 km) across, scientists estimate.The asteroid or meteor that hit proto-Africa was 6 miles (10 km)wide and excavated a hole 10 times deeper than the Grand Canyon,Moser said. The impact’s tremendous heat melted the Earth’s crust,creating a magma lake. Moser and his co-author Lisa Cupelli havealso explored the remains of a similar molten sea at Ontario’sSudbury crater, which is just slightly smaller and younger thanVredefort.

At Vredefort, little of this impact melt lake remains. There aremessy impact-related breccias, formed as slices of crust slumpedinto the crater just after impact. The slices slid so fast that theresulting friction melted rock into glass called pseudotachylite.There are also lava-filled fractures called dikes, stuffed with a rockknown as granophyre, forged from fingers of the impact melt thatpenetrated the local rock.

But Moser made a lucky find in the 1990s in the center of thecrater. He was trying to pin down Vredefort’s age when heaccidently discovered pristine, 2.02-billion-year-old zircons — tinyminerals with no signs of violent shocks. The zircons were stuck in

rare, magma-filled dikes. The dikes burrow through ancient crustonce buried 12 miles (20 km) deep in the Earth. Moser thinkspartially cooled magma leaked into crustal rocks that oozed in liketoothpaste to plug the crater, creating the layered foliation. (Thecrust rose up like a dome — picture the slow-motion videos of araindrop hitting a bowl of water.)

A Rare FindMoser published his discovery in Geology in 1997, and

immediately sparked a battle over whether the dikes, filled witha rock called gabbronorite, were truly remains of Vredefort’simpact melt. That battle continues today. Some researchersobjected because the magma had an unusual layered appearancecalled foliation, common in altered rocks. Perhaps it was simplyanother pseudotachylite, or part of the Earth’s original crust, thecritics said. Others suggested the young zircons could havecrystallized in pre-existing rocks from the impact’s heat.

So Moser and Cupelli recently returned to South Africa andsearched for definitive evidence that the magma dikes were asyoung as the crater itself.

“I wanted to put away all the doubts that this wasimpact-related,” Cupelli said.

Now Cupelli, who led the new study, thinks the team canprove the magmas were born in Vredefort’s impact melt. Thezircons are randomly distributed and interlaced with theirsurrounding minerals — they couldn’t have grown from the heatof impact later than their neighbors, she said. The zircons alsocrystallized between 1,337 to 1,702 degrees Fahrenheit (725º to928º Celsius), hotter than normal on Earth, but the sametemperature as in Sudbury’s impact melt.

Finally, levels of the element hafnium suggest that the magmamelted from the 3-billion-year-old rocks originally overlying thecrater (the same sedimentary and volcanic rocks in nearbyWitwatersrand Basin), not from the very deep crust now exposedby 2 billion years of erosion.

In the abraded heart of South Africa’s Vredefort impact crater lurk striking green-blackrocks, some of the only remnants of a magma sea that once filled the gaping crater.| NASA

A 3-billion-year-old shocked zircon that survived the Vredefort impact.


Race for New RocksThe new study has already kicked off a search for Moser’s

rocks by other Vredefort researchers, who hope to confirm or denythe results.

“I think the final solution to this dilemma is still out there,”said Uwe Reimold, a professor at Humboldt University in Berlinand director of the Museum für Naturkunde. Reimold is firmly inthe anti-impact-melt camp, though he praised the study’s zirconchemical techniques. “I still think this is consistent with aninterpretation as a pseudotachylytic breccia,” Reimold said. “I havenot changed my mind.”

But Moser thinks the unusual appearance of Vredefort’simpact melt could also help researchers search for older impactcraters, which have been confirmed only through discovery ofimpact ejecta. Impact beds go back to 3.5 billion years, butconfirmed craters end with Vredefort. Yet there are very old rockswith similar compositions and textures, such as the distinctivelayering of Vredefort’s impact melt, scattered across the Earth, theresearchers said.

“What Vredefort teaches us is that we haven’t been lookingwith the right set of eyes at some of these ancient rocks,” Mosersaid.

Looking Right RoundThe right set of eyes was key in finding Vredefort’s impact

ejecta in Karelia, Russia. The vaporized rock had originally beenidentified as ooids, which are tiny spheres of calcium carbonatethat usually form in shallow tropical seas, such as the BahamaBanks.

But Huber noticed a resemblance to round impact glass(called spherules) and asked for permission to examine the rocksamples: two drill cores acquired during the Fennoscandian ArcticRussia–Drilling Early Earth Project (FARDEEP).

“We quickly found evidence that these were impactspherules,” Huber said. “We started finding some dumbbells, andsome that were completely pulled apart into a teardrop shape,which is completely impossible for ooids.”

The impact glass is completely replaced by minerals such ascalcite and pyrite, but rare, space-linked elements such asplatinum and ruthenium remain. The glass is scattered in rockwhose age ranges from 2.05 billion to 1.98 billion years. Thatspan means there’s a chance a different impact could have blastedthe spherules into the sky, but they do match the expectedcharacteristics of a Vredefort-like event, Huber said.

“We’re hoping to do more geochemistry on these particularrocks to try and nail down even further what the source wouldhave been,” Huber said. Future plans include trying to figure outwhat kind of space hunk smashed into Earth, and comparing thespherules to Vredefort’s unique mineralogy.

“I hope this inspires people to look more carefully at theirrocks,” he said. “It’s really important to look for these fine detailsto better understand the cratering history of the Earth.”Source: LiveScience.com 04/30/2014

The Demidoff Malachite Mine:Russia’s Treasure HouseBy Daniel E Russell

Few ornamental stones are so closely associated withImperial Russia as malachite. The appreciation of this simplecopper carbonate by Russia’s aristocracy is attested to by theexquisite vases and tabletops, produced by Russia’s lapidaries,culminating in the construction of the famous “Malachite Room”in the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg.

One of the primary sources for Russia’s supply of gemmalachite, and a vital producer of copper, was a large depositlocated in Nizhne-Tagil’skoye, in Sverdlovskaya Oblast’. (It wasnot the sole producer of malachite for ornamental use, with anearby deposit at Bogoslowsk and another at Gumeschewskfurther to the south both producing malachite as copper ore and asornamental stone.) [As always, the transliteration of Russianlanguage place names is an entertaining past-time, and hasproduced a diversity of variations of spellings over the past 200years.]

The copper deposits here were discovered by NikitaDemidoff, operator of the first munitions factory in Russia.Charged by Peter the Great to cast cannon for the government,Demidoff was sent east into the Urals to search out suitable ironand copper deposits to provide the raw metal his factory needed.In 1725, after finding the iron he needed, he noted lumps of greenmineral in the possession of the serfs in the area around“Nijni-Tagnil” (often spelled Nizhni-Tagilsk; today,Nizhne-Tagil’skoye) which he immediately recognized asmalachite. It would become one of the most important copperdeposits in Imperial Russia, producing copper ore and gemmalachite for more than 175 years.

Around 1835, 1836 or 1837, “the largest mass of malachiteever known” was discovered at the Demidoff mine. According toKnox (1877):

The miners, who were working a vein of copper, foundsome shreds or strips of copper extending downward,

Lisa Cupelli at an outcrop of gabbronorite at the Vredefort impact crater.


and the superintendent of the mine ordered them to followthese shreds, in hopes of striking another vein. The workwas pushed forward, or rather downward, and the straythreads of ore were traced in all their windings. Twohundred and eighty feet below the mine, the shredsdisappeared, and the superintendent was about to give upthe enterprise in disgust and despair, when the mensuddenly came upon a huge mass of malachite. It wasbroken up and taken to the surface, and the aggregateweight of the mass was estimated at seventy tons! It wasthis lot that supplied the most of the malachite in theChurch of St. Isaac [in St. Petersburg], and from it, also,was made the enormous vase which the Emperor ofRussia sent to His Holiness the Pope.

The Encyclopedia Americana (1919) adds the block’sdimensions were “length, 10 ½ feet, width, 8 feet, height 3 ½ feet;the estimated weight was from 25 to 30 tons. As many as 125horses were used to haul this mass from the mine to Ekaterinburg.”Dana (1854) notes that at at Nizhne-Tagil’skoye “a bed ofmalachite was opened which yielded many tons of malachite; onemass measured at top 9 by 18 ft.; and the portion uncoveredcontained at least half a million pounds of pure malachite.”

During the second half of the 19th Century, the DemidoffMine was producing about 40% of Russia’s total output of refinedcopper (which, in 1872, amounted to 1,501,026 kilograms ofrefined copper from Nizhne-Tagil’skoye alone). The ores wereextremely rich, containing up to 16% copper – most of which wasin the form of an easily reducible carbonate.

In 1873, the Demidoff Mine (then under the control of PrincePaul Demidoff) sent an exhibit of their copper ores an intermediarysmelting products to the Vienna International Exhibition.According to Painter (1875) their display consisted of ores thatincluded “copper and iron pyrites and copper carbonates. Theproducts were slag from ore-smelting, matte, black and refinedcopper; the latter was of a light-rose color, and had a remarkablydistinct crystalline structure.”

Of the use in Russia of malachite as an ornamental stone,Oliver C. Farrington, curator of Chicago’s Field Museum, wrote in1903:

Malachite is prepared for ornamental use by sawingmasses of the character of those previously referred tointo thin strips, which are then fastened as a veneer onvessels of copper, slate, or other stone previously turnedto the desired shape. Putting pieces together so thatneither by their outlines nor color will it appear that theyare patch¬work, requires a high degree of skill, and suchwork is done almost exclusively in Russia. Table tops,vases, and various other vessels are manufactured in thisway, and form objects of great beauty.

Russia furnishes most of the malachite suitable for workof this kind, and the art of cutting and fitting the stone ispossessed almost exclusively in that country. Most of theRussian malachite has been obtained from the mines ofNizhni-Tagilsk and Bogoslowsk, in the northern Urals,or Gumeschewsk, in the southern. The supply hasgradually decreased till now only the Nizhni-Tagilskmines are productive. The malachite occurs there inveins in limestone.

ReferencesDana, James Dwight A System of Mineralogy New York 1854.Encyclopedia Americana “Malachite” New York (1919).Farrington, Oliver Cummings: Gems and Gem Mineral, New

York City 1903.Howard Painter Report On The Metallurgy Of Lead, Silver,

Copper, And Zinc, Vienna International Exhibition, 1873.Government Printing Office. 1875.

Knox, Thomas W. The Underground World. Hartford 1877.Source: Mindat.org.

“Pawn Stars”: Man's Fake ‘Amber Rock’ Endsup Costing Him Money

Madison was under the impression he had a piece of Balticamber that was between 40 and 50 million years old with atarantula trappedinside that he couldget up to $50,000 for.

He was hopefulbecause he got therock tested at Berkleyand had paperworksaying that thematerial appeared tobe Baltic amber. RickHarrison said the testwasn't definitive, andthat he needed to have the rock tested at the GIA, or theGemological Institute of America to know for sure.

Madison paid $200 to get it tested, and it turns out ... it'splastic. Rick Harrison had to break the bad news, telling Madisonthat 'It's worth negative $200.'

Bummer!Madison got the rock when he was just 10 years old, so he

was pretty stunned. Harrison said the rock was likely made ofBakelite, which is used to simulate Amber.

TheTwitterverse felt for Madison, and were skeptical that theamber was fake from the start.

Facebook fans had the same feeling he would be out $200.Hey, you win some, you lose some.Source AOL.com from June 13, 2014


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World’s Oldest Rocks Found to Contain KeyBuilding Block for LifeBy Becky Oskin

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A critical building block forcreating the first life on Earth was found in 3.8-billion-year-oldrocks from Isua, Greenland, researchers reported this week here atthe annual Goldschmidt geochemistry conference.

For the first time, rich concentrations of the element boronhave been found in Isua’s ancient marine rocks, study authorTakeshi Kakegawa, a professor at Tohoku University in Japan,said Monday (June 9). The discovery signals that boron wascirculating in seawater and was absorbed by marine clays, whicheventually became tourmaline, he said.

Boron can stabilize ribose, one of three key components ofRNA. Ribose, an organic sugar molecule, has a short half-life andnaturally decomposes without a stabilizer. Many researchers thinklife on Earth descended from RNA, which self-assembled frombuilding blocks such as ribose.

Until now, theories for the origin of RNA life pointed toRNA-based chemicals arriving on Earth from Mars. That’sbecause Earth’s first rocks and oceans seemed devoid of boron,which takes the form of borate minerals on Earth. On Mars, clayswith boron and another RNA stabilizer, molybdenum, areabundant.

“I want to challenge this idea that the early ocean was boratefree,” Kakegawa said. “The early ocean already contained borate,and therefore, early Earth — not Mars — could provideenvironments to stabilize ribose.”

The Isua rocks are among the oldest pieces of crust stillaround from Earth’s earliest eons. The layers were deposited undera liquid water ocean, perhaps when life was first emerging. Afterbillion of years of continental smashups, the rocks have beenheated, faulted and folded, but geologists can still decipher theiroriginal history. Some of the rocks were seafloor sediments, suchas mud and chert, and others were lavas erupted from underwatervolcanic vents, such as pillow basalts.

Kakegawa discovered the boron in tiny tourmaline crystalstrapped inside garnets in the ancient seafloor sediments. Thegarnets and tourmalines formed after the sediments weredeposited, when the rocks were metamorphosed. Boron is one ofthe major elements of tourmaline.

Isua’s volcanic rocks also carry boron-rich tourmalines,according to a separate study reported Wednesday (June 11) byEdward Grew, a professor at the University of Maine.Hydrothermal fluids circulating in the rocks are the likely sourceof the boron, Grew said.

Boron has two isotopes (elements with different numbers ofneutrons in their nuclei). The boron isotope ratio in Isua’s volcanicrocks also suggests early oceans carried enough boron to support

RNA-based life, Grew reported. “This is consistent with thescenario Dr. Kakegawa suggested,” Grew said. “There could havebeen a role for boron in the stabilizing of ribose in the RNA originof life.”

Grew found evidence for boron-rich seawater cycling throughthe Isua volcanic rocks, despite a lack of continental crust. Thetourmaline formed in an environment resembling today’s deep-seahydrothermal vents, where superheated seawater and other fluidsspew from volcanic fractures.

The abundant tourmalines indicate the fluids circulatingthrough the ancient rocks were rich in boron, Grew said. “There isno convincing evidence of seawater boron concentrations beinglower at 3.8 billion years ago than at the present,” Grew said.Source: LiveScience.com June 16, 2014

Hidden ‘Ocean’ Discovered Deep UndergroundNear Earth’s CoreBy Sara Gates

We may have another “ocean” to add to the world map – onlythis one is hidden hundreds of miles beneath our planet’s surface.

A new study suggests that a hidden “ocean” is nestled in theEarth’s mantle some 400 miles beneath North America. Thehidden reservoir, apparently locked in a blue crystalline mineralcalled ringwoodite, may hold three times as much water that existsin all the world’s surface oceans.

This discovery may help explain where Earth’s water supplycame from, and how subterranean water affects the shifting of rockin the Earth’s outer crust – a phenomenon scientists call platetectonics.

“Geological processes on the Earth’s surface, such asearthquakes or erupting volcanoes, are an expression of what isgoing on inside the Earth, out of our sight,” geophysicist Dr.Steven Jacobsen, an associate professor at NorthwesternUniversity, said in a written statement. “I think we are finallyseeing evidence for a whole-Earth water cycle, which may helpexplain the vast amount of liquid water on the surface of ourhabitable planet. Scientists have been looking for this missing deepwater for decades.”

Working with University of New Mexico seismologist Dr.Brandon Schmandt, Jacobsen used seismometers to measureearthquakes and the speed of resulting seismic waves at various

Scientists have found a critical building block for the first life on Earth in3.8-billion-year-old rocks from Isua, Greenland. Here, early Archean serpentine mudvolcanoes in Isua.

Fragments of the blue-colored mineral called ringwoodite, synthesized in thelaboratory.


depths in the Earth. From those readings, the team saw that seismicwaves seem to slow down when they hit the layer of ringwooditein the mantle – leading them to theorize that the mineral wassaturated with liquid.

To verify the theory, the team then attempted to replicate theringwoodite layer in the laboratory. They found that ringwooditeattracts hydrogen and that it’s capable of absorbing water muchlike a sponge, the Guardian reported.

So, according to the research, the hidden “ocean” may betrapped in the transition zone between the Earth’s upper and lowermantle. The researchers think that movement within the mantlespurred a reaction that led the water to merge with the ringwoodite.

While some scientists subscribe to the theory that Earth’searly water came from comets that came our way, the discovery ofthe hidden reservoir suggests that the world’s water emanated fromdeep beneath the surface.

“It’s good evidence the Earth’s water came from within,”Jacobsen told New Scientist.

A paper describing the research was published in the journalScience on June 13, 2014.Source: Huffington Post 06/13/2014

Workers Prepare To Clean Site Of ‘AtomicMan’ AccidentBy Nicholas K. Geranios

SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — Workers are preparing to enterone of the most dangerous rooms on the Hanford NuclearReservation — the site of a 1976 blast that exposed a technician toa massive dose of radiation, which led to him being nicknamed the“Atomic Man.”

Harold McCluskey, then 64, was working in the room whena chemical reaction caused a glass glove box to explode. He wasexposed to the highest dose of radiation from the chemical elementamericium ever recorded — 500 times the occupational standard.

Hanford, located in central Washington state, made plutoniumfor nuclear weapons for decades. The room was used to recoverradioactive americium, a byproduct of plutonium.

Covered with blood, McCluskey was dragged from the roomand put into an ambulance headed for the decontamination center.Because he was too hot to handle, he was removed by remotecontrol and transported to a steel-and-concrete isolation tank.

During the next five months, doctors laboriously extracted tinybits of glass and razor-sharp pieces of metal embedded in his skin.

Nurses scrubbed him down three times a day and shaved everyinch of his body every day. The radioactive bathwater andthousands of towels became nuclear waste.

McCluskey also received some 600 shots of zinc DTPA, anexperimental drug that helped him excrete the radioactive material.

He was placed in isolation in a decontamination facility forfive months. Within a year, his body’s radiation count had fallenby about 80 percent and he was allowed to return home.

But his radiation-related medical problems proliferated. Hehad a kidney infection, four heart attacks in as many months andcataract surgery on both eyes, followed by a cornea transplant anda precipitous drop in his blood platelet count, which requiredtransfusions.

Friends at first avoided him until his minister told people itwas safe to be around him. The accident sapped his stamina, andhe was unable to hunt, fish or do any of the things he had plannedfor his retirement. He was studied extensively by doctors for therest of his life and died of coronary artery disease in 1987 at theage of 75.

Hanford contains the nation’s greatest collection of nuclearwaste, and for more than two decades has been engaged in thedangerous work of cleaning up that waste. The space now dubbedthe McCluskey Room is located inside the closed PlutoniumFinishing Plant and is scheduled for cleanup this summer.

“It’s been largely closed up since the accident,” Geoff Tyree,a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Energy in Richland, saidWednesday. “It was restricted for the potential for airborneradiation contamination.”

Since 2008, the Department of Energy and contractor CH2MHILL Plateau Remediation Company have been preparing theplant for demolition.

“About two-thirds of the Plutonium Finishing Plant isdeactivated — cleaned out and ready for demolition,” said JonPeschong, an assistant DOE manager in Richland. “Cleaning outthe McCluskey Room will be a major step forward.”

When specially trained and equipped workers enter the roomthis summer, they will encounter airborne radioactivity, surfacecontamination, confined spaces and poor ventilation, the DOEsaid.

They will be wearing abrasion-resistant suits that protect themfrom surface contamination and chemicals. A dual-purpose airsystem will provide cool air for breathing and cool air throughoutthe suit for worker comfort, allowing them to work for longerperiods of time. The suits are pressurized, to prevent workers fromcoming into contact with airborne contaminants.

The McCluskey Room “is going to be the toughest workahead of us as we finish cleaning the plant and getting it ready fordemolition by the end of September 2016,” Tyree said.

Harold McCluskey, who was contaminated with a near-lethal dose of radiation in achemical explosion at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation near Richland,Washington, is pictured in March 1977. (AP Photo)


2015 Club Calendar

Date Event Location Remarks & Information

January 14, 2015 Meeting at 6:45 Holiday Inn MidtownSpecial Lecture: Mitch Portnoy – “Malachite”;Malachite (Chinese) Auction – New!!

SundayJanuary 18

Annual Benefit Sale46 West 83 #2E, Manhattanrd

11:00 am until . . .Primarily Nik Nikiforou/Globe Mineralsdonation of 30+ flats of worldwide minerals

February 11 Meeting at 6:45 Holiday Inn Midtown Members’ Show & Tell

March 11 Meeting at 6:45 Holiday Inn MidtownSpecial Lecture: Alfredo Petrov –“Pseudomorphs – False Forms of Minerals”

April 8 Meeting at 6:45 Holiday Inn MidtownSpecial Lecture: Jamie Kruse (Artist) – “NYCis a Geologic Force”

May 13 Meeting at 6:45 Holiday Inn MidtownSpecial Lecture: Renée Newman – “ExoticGems and the Jewelry Business Today”

June 10 Benefit Auction Holiday Inn Midtown, Mezz C 100+ diverse lots, not to be missed!

July/August Tentative Club Events TBD Details to Follow; Officers’ Planning Meeting

September 9 Meeting at 6:45 Holiday Inn Midtown Details to Follow

October 7 Annual Banquet Holiday Inn MidtownTheme: NYC Subway / GarnetLots More Details to Follow

November Meeting at 6:45 Holiday Inn Midtown Details to Follow

December Meeting at 6:45 Holiday Inn Midtown Details to Follow

2015 Show or Event Calendar

Date Event Location Remarks & Information

January 2015 United Nations’ International Year of Light Begins!

January 3147th Annual GeologyMuseum Open House

Rutgers University, NewBrunswick, New Jersey

Lectures, Mineral ID, Mineral Sale

Early February 2015 Tucson Shows Tucson, Arizona Temporary Mineral & Gem World Capital!

February 14-15Capital District Gem,Mineral & Fossil Show

New York State Museum, EmpirePlaza, Albany, New York

Contact: Michael Hawkins [email protected]

March 7-8Spring New York City Gem,Mineral & Fossil Show

Grand Ballroom, Holiday InnMidtown, New York City

20+ diverse dealers; lectures; wholesalesection (with credentials); Club Booth

March 27-29 EFMLS Convention/Show Hickory, North Carolina Article Contest Results; Details to Follow

October 23-24 AFMS Convention/Show Austin, Texas Details to Follow

Mineral Clubs & Other InstitutionsIf you would like your mineral show included here, please let us know at least 2-3 months in advance!

Also, 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.P.O. Box 77, Planetarium Station, New York City, New York, 10024-0077, http://www.nymineralclub.org

2015 Executive CommitteePresident Mitchell Portnoy 46 W. 83rd Street #2E, NYC, NY, 10024-5203 e-mail: [email protected].. . . . . . . . . . . (212) 580-1343

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

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

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

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

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

Director Alla Priceman 84 Lookout Circle, Larchmont, NY, 10538 e-mail: [email protected]. . . . . . . . . (914) 834-6792

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

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

Dues: $25 Individual, $35 Family per calendar year. Meetings: 2nd Wednesday of every month (except July and August) at the Holiday Inn Midtown Manhattan, 57 Streetth

between Ninth and Tenth Avenues, New York City, New York. Meetings will generally be held in one of the conference rooms on the Mezzanine Level. The doors openat 5:30 P.M. and the meeting starts at 6:45 P.M. (Please watch for any announced time / date changes.) This bulletin is published monthly by the New York MineralogicalClub, Inc. The submission 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 usageonly provided credit is given to the New York Mineralogical Club and permission is obtained from the author and/or Editor. The Editor and the New York MineralogicalClub are not responsible for the accuracy or authenticity of information or information in articles accepted for publication, nor are the expressed opinions necessarily thoseof the officers of the New York Mineralogical Club, Inc.

Next Meeting – Wednesday, January 14, 2015 from 6:00 pm to 10:00 pm

Mezzanine, Holiday Inn Midtown Manhattan (57 St. & Tenth Avenue), New York Cityth

Special Lecture: Mitch Portnoy — “Malachite: Ornamental and Collectible”

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

FIRST CLASS

Mitch Portnoy

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Mitch Portnoy

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Mitch Portnoy

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Mitch Portnoy

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Mitch Portnoy

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Mitch Portnoy

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Mitch Portnoy

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Mitch Portnoy

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Mitch Portnoy

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Bulletin of the New York Mineralogical Club · 2015-08-27 · 2 Bulletin of the New York...

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