Nifty Rockhound Bumper Sticker Slogans
Love a Geologist – feel your earthquake
Love a Faceter – they’re a cut above the rest
Love a Mineralogist – but don’t take them for Granite
Love a Beader – but they’ll string you along
Love a Paleontologist – but beware. They collect old dead things
I collect rocks – Diamond, rubies, topaz, emeralds……
Amateur Paleontologist – Professional Rock Collector
Amateur Mineralogist – Professional Rock Collector
From: Crack N’ Cab 10/2005
TOXIC ROCKS
Mineral samples can be as dangerous as any chemical found in chemistry labs. People wrongly assume that “they are not dangerous because they are “natural”. Dangerous levels have not been established for many minerals known as hazardous.
It only takes 0.3 grams of the mineral orpiment or arsenopyrite to kill a 150 pound man; realgar is similarly dangerous. Greenockite is very toxic if ingested or inhaled.
Poison fumes can be released by heating minerals like antimony, arsenic, barium, cadmium, copper, lead, mercury, nickel, selenium and zinc must be treated with caution. Licking or tasting minerals in the field is as risky as tasting wild mushrooms to see if they are toxic. It’s a much better idea to carry along a water filled squirt bottle to check out that special rock you find on your field trip. Harmful effects are most likely if the mineral is soluble in water or stomach acid. Acute symptoms include dryness and burning of the nasal cavities, gastroenteritis, delirium, coma, and even death. Always use caution when dealing with minerals, especially unfamiliar materials.
From: Mountain Gem, September 2003
CRYSTALS
What is a Phantom Crystal? A Phantom crystal is actually a crystal within a crystal. The make-up of the phantom must be the same as the one that encloses it. There may be more than one inside a single crystal. The usual explanation of phantoms is intermittent growth, growing for a while, and then stopping. For a period the crystal is exposed and very small amount of foreign matter (dust, etc.) falls on the surface. The conditions then change and the crystal starts to grow again, with the possibility of this happening several times. The result is a crystal that appears to have one or more other crystals enclosed within it. Sometimes phantoms are oriented the same as the enclosing crystal, at other times they are not. In clear crystals, such as quartz, the enclosed crystal appears shadowy and faint, and therefore we have the name phantom. The difference between a phantom and an inclusion is that the inclusion must be a different mineral species.
From: Shin-Skinner News