October 2015 Bulletin of the New York Mineralogical ClubGeology at Hofstra University (1981-2014), Visiting Research Fellow at Yale University and has a broad range of expert consulting

Dr. Charles Merguerian SubwayGeology Lecture Featured at Banquet

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

Volume 129, No. 10 Celebrating the International Year of Light October 2015

October 14 Event:th

Annual Banquet with SilentAuction, Special Lecture, Gifts,Games, Awards & Surprises!

Preview of the evening’s program:

Social Hour & Reception6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.

Silent Auction6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.

(Thanks to all donors!)

Dinner, Drinks & Dessert7:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.

Some Entertainment & Fun & Games “Garnet Locality Game”

New York Mineralogical Club Meeting8:30 p.m. - 11:00 p.m.

Banquet DedicationDr. Oliver Sacks & Park McGinty

Announcements & AwardsSilent Auction Results

2016 Membership CardsNYMC Enthusiasm Awards

NYMC Certificates of AppreciationMarco Polo Award

Bulletin Article AwardsSpecial Garnet & Subway Note Cards

Upcoming NYMC EventsAdditional Announcements

Presentation of Gifts to MembersIncluding Special Door Prize

Lecture by Dr. Charles Merguerian“86 Street Subway Mineralogy”th

Thanks & Acknowledgments

Final Words & Adjournment

By Mitch PortnoyThe long-delayed Second Avenue

Subway project in NYC has provided for athorough three-dimensional study of thestratigraphy, structure, and metamorphismof the Hartland Formation in NYC. Siteinspections and mapping over a period of1.5 years of TBM-bored tunnels andg r o u n d - d o w nancillary stationcomplex excavationsindicate that theHartland in this partof NYC exposes avery well-layeredschistose to gneissicrock mass consistingof the assemblagemuscovite-quartz-plagioclase-biotite ± kyanite ± staurolite ±garnet with interlayers of quartz-plagioclase-mica granofels, greenishamphibolite ± biotite ± garnet andsubordinate gray quartzite ± biotite ±garnet. The schistose facies is lustrous andconsists primarily of aligned fine-to-coarse-textured muscovite and thus splits readilyalong the foliation and also lithologiccontacts. The mica gneiss, granofels,amphibolite, and quartzite interlayers aretypically massive and quite hard, containmuch less mica than the schist and may notshow pronounced foliation.

Superposed ductile structures are cut by

1brittle features including foliation joints (J )produced parallel to the regional foliation

2and by steep NNE- to NE-trending (J )joints and dip-slip faults mineralized andinfilled by stilbite+calcite, by younger steep

3NW-trending (J ) joints and strike-slipfaults (Manhattanville “125th Street” series)infilled by K-feldspar, microcrystallineepidote, quartz and pyrite, and by

4moderately dipping J joints.Gently inclined well-layered Hartland

rocks in NYC cut by intersecting steepdiscontinuities have proven to be excellentcandidates for efficient subsurface miningby TBM, traditional drill and blasttechniques, and by mechanical means andmethods of excavation. The PowerPointlecture will take attendees on a virtual tourof the subsurface of NYC and show some

interesting occurrences and specimens ofmineral that have been discovered in theopen joints and fractures.

Dr. Charles Merguerian, a long-timemember of the New York MineralogicalClub, is internationally recognized as theleading authority on the geologic structureand tectonics of New York City. He is the

Pr inc ip a l o f DukeGeological Laboratory inS to ne Rid g e , NY,Professor Emeritus andformer Chairman ofGeology at HofstraUniversity (1981-2014),Visiting Research Fellowat Yale University and hasa broad range of expertconsulting experience with

the United States Geological Survey, theCalifornia- and Connecticut StateGeological Surveys, the New York CityDEP, Con Edison, and many prominentmegaconstruction joint ventures, as well asgeotechnical and engineering firms. He alsosits on the Advisory Board of Star America.

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Issue Highlights

President’s Message. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2Meeting Minutes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2World of Minerals: Garnet II . . . . . 3Mars Mineral Veins. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Atomic Bomb Birthplace. . . . . . . . . . 5Plants & Diamonds.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6New State of Matter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7Remembering Names. . . . . . . . . . . . . 7The 100: Garnet Redux . . . . . . . . . . . 8Topics in Gemology: Wittelsbach. . . 9Met Collects: Emerald Pin. . . . . . . . 10Banquet Preview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10Banquet Reservation Form. . . . . . 11Silent Auction Listing.. . . . . . . . . . 12Banquet Gift Preview. . . . . . . . . . . . 12The “Pentaquark”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Gold Spirals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14Balancing Rocks.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14Dr. Peter Rona Deceased. . . . . . . . . 15Fool’s Gold (Pyrite). . . . . . . . . . . . . 16Mars & Silica. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17New Particles/Standard Model. . . . . 18Club & Show Calendars. . . . . . . . . . 19

2 Bulletin of the New York Mineralogical Club October 2015

President’s MessageBy Mitch Portnoy

I first want to thank the scores of peoplewho commented favorably on the SpecialBulletin I created, dedicated to the memoryof NYMC member Oliver Sacks.

A Huge Bulletin!One of the great advantages to the Club inmore and more members getting themonthly bulletin by email is that, by cuttingprinting costs, I no longer feel constrainedby the former 12-page limit. This month’snewsletter, at 20(!) pages, might be thelargest ever sent out.

Long vs. Short URLA few members questioned why the URL(address) for our new website is so “long”and hard to remember and type. In fact, thelonger URL that we have is both descriptiveand clear since it is our actual name!

The shorter club acronym “NYMC”(which was not available to us, in any case)is confusing to Google and other commonsearch engines. Consider:NYMC: New York Medical CollegeNYMC: New York Medical CenterNYMC: New York Maritime CollegeNYMC: New York Mortgage CoalitionNYMC: New York Mortgage CompanyNYMC: New York Mixed ChorusNYMC: New York Medicaid ChoiceNYMC: New York MedicalNYMC: New York Math CircleNYMC: New York Motor ClubNYMC: New York Mennonite ConferenceNYMC: New York Multiple ChoiceNYMC: New York Marble CemeteryNYMC: New York Muscle ClubNYMC: National Youth Ministry Conference

I suggest that you just create abookmark in your preferred browser or ashortcut on your desktop and not have totype anything whatsoever to get to the site.Given the fact that both I and our champ of a webmasterdisagree with many of the design standards, contentrequirements and outright security problems with theAFMSwebsite contest criteria, we will not participate in the annualclub website contest that they sponsor.

Receive Your Bulletin Electronically!Advantages� Early Arrival� Pristine Condition� Full-Color Version with Hyperlinks� Electronic Storage� Club Saves Money� Receive Special Mailings� Go Green!Requires� Email Request to Mitch

([email protected])� Adobe Reader (Free)Optional� Printer (B/W or Color)

Club Meeting Minutes forSeptember 9, 2015By Vivien Gornitz, SecretaryAttendance: 40President Mitch Portnoy presided

Announcements:� The meeting raffle was held.� Dr. Oliver Sacks, a member who had

passed away a few days earlier, wasremembered.

� The day’s historical events werepresented and the IYL Game #5 aboutmetallic luster was played.

� The new NYMC website waspresented to the Club for the firsttime and its features and contentdemonstrated; discussion ensued.

� Mitch reminded the attendees whatClub items were for there for sale andthe new note card set (gold) shown.

� Mitch quickly reviewed the Clubevents from the past few months butespecially thanked Alla Priceman forsponsoring the 2015 Open House.

� Mitch quickly previewed the remainingClub events for 2015 but highlightedthe October banquet, its lecture (Dr. C.Merguerian – Subway Geology), gifts(2016 wall calendar), etc.

� Steve Okulewicz was introduced withan Abbot & Costello video included.

Special Lecture: Prof. Steve Okulewicz:“Digging Gold in Alaska-‘Is There Goldin Them Thar Hills?'”

Steve Okulewicz, adjunct professor atHofstra University, and part-time magician,has entertained Club members withinformative, well-illustrated lectures andclever magic tricks. His latest presentationwas no exception. The hope of striking itrich still attracts many gold-seekers toAlaska, who pan for gold the old-fashionedway and maybe add some sluice boxes tohelp concentrate the tiny flakes of yellowmetal. A number of serious miningoperations are also underway, madeeconomically feasible by the high price ofgold.

Steve began by reviewing the physicalproperties of gold that make it so attractive

and valuable-its bright yellow color (whenpure), resistance to tarnish, chemicalinertness, high density (15.6-19.3 g/cm3),high malleability and ductility, high electricaland thermal conductivity. On the other hand,pure gold is very soft (Mohs H = 2.5-3) andtherefore it is usually alloyed with othermetals to harden it. Gold in jewelry rangesfrom 10K (41.7%) to 24K (99.99 pure;desired by the Chinese). Most jewelry ismarked 14K (58.3%) or 18K (75%). Metalalloys change the color-adding copperproduces a rose gold, silver a palegreenish-yellow, and nickel or palladium awhite gold.

Gold crystallizes in the isometricsystem, ideally forming octahedral crystals,but owing to its softness, good large crystalsare rare, often distorted or squashed. Morecommonly, well-crystallized gold occurs inarborescent, skeletal, hoppered, andsceptered masses, or as veins in quartz, inigneous or metamorphic rocks. The largestskeletal octahedral gold crystal everrecovered weighed 217.8g (7.7 troy oz).Most gold mined today, however, consists oftiny, often invisible flecks, recovered bycrushing tons of ore and extracting the metalwith cyanide.

In Alaska, although some minor goldstrikes occurred as early as 1848, the firstmajor discovery in 1869 near Juneau broughtmany new settlers to the region. Gold wasfirst found at Sumdum and Windham Bay(60 mi south of Juneau). Major strikes werefound in the streambeds of Silverbow Basinin Gold Creek, 2 mi east of Juneau. Othergold finds led to the opening of severalmines. One of the largest, the Treadwellmine operated until 1917, when supportingpillars collapsed and the mine flooded. Somemining in the district persisted until WWII. Afew small mines have reopened,concentrating on recovering gold from oldmine tailings. (Other, more modern miningoperations are producing gold elsewhere inAlaska).

Skagway, Alaska, at the northern end ofthe Inside Passage, was the doorway to theKlondike and Yukon gold fields in1898-1899. After disembarking at Skagway,eager prospectors had to climb the icy,treacherous 3,740 ft high Chilkoot Pass intoCanada and then trek another 600 miles tothe Klondike. Many perished in the attempt.Aside from real gold nuggets and goldjewelry on sale at the numerous shops, theonly large gold nuggets to be seen inSkagway are a huge “gold” granite boulder,and a pile of gold-sprayed Styrofoam“nuggets”.

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October 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.

Part II – Garnet: A Geologic “Tape Recorder”Garnets Everywhere

Mineral collectors and gemologists alike love garnets for theirattractive colorful crystals and wide array of gemstones. Togeologists, however, garnets store a vast archive of informationabout past Earth conditions. Garnets are everywhere. They formover a broad range of geologic environments: deep in the Earth’supper mantle, to igneous intrusions in the crust, and rocks caughtin the upheavals of colliding tectonic plates.

Thanks to their toughness, hardness, and high density, garnetssurvive attack by wind and water and weather into rounded reddishgrains that concentrate in river beds and in beach sands. Abeachcomber on Fire Island, among other places, can often seealternating stripes of dark reddish-brown and cream to buff-coloredsands at the water’s edge. Closer inspection reveals tiny grains ofalmandine garnet mixed with hornblende, magnetite, ilmenite inthe dark bands, while quartz, feldspar, and finely pulverized shellfragments make up the lighter bands. The sands were oncegranites, schists, and gneisses of New England, ground up and leftbehind by the glaciers of the last Ice Age on the south shore ofLong Island. The metamorphic rocks, in turn, constitute the rootsof lofty mountains heaved up in ancient plate collisions.Garnets from the Depths

Garnet is a common constituent of the Earth’s upper mantleand lower crust, found in rocks such as peridotites, eclogites, andless commonly in crustal igneous rocks. Peridotites consist mainlyof olivine, pyroxenes, and garnet, whereas eclogites contain a mixof garnet and pyroxene. However the garnets and pyroxenes differsignificantly between these two rock types, which provides usefulclues in tracing the origins of diamonds thatbear these inclusions. Peridotitic garnets arepredominantly a bright ruby-red Cr-richpyrope, with small amounts of almandineand grossular. Eclogitic garnet, on the otherhand, is a Cr-poor, Ca-rich orangey-redpyrope-grossular-almandine. Eclogites alsoharbor a distinctive type of pyroxene—greenomphacite, which has a composition betweenthat of jadeite and diopside. Themineralogical differences between these tworock types reflect quite different origins.Peridotites are true igneous rocks,crystallized from a magma, whereas eclogitesbegan their journey as ocean basalts dragged down subductionzones into the upper mantle, where the high temperatures andpressures transformed their mineralogy.

Garnets have become an important “pathfinder” for diamondexploration. (Other “pathfinder”, or indicator minerals includebright green chrome diopside, chromite, olivine, ilmentie, and Cr-spinel). More specifically, the “G10" category flags the Ca-poor,Cr-rich pyrope of harzburgite peridotite origin in diamond-bearingkimberlite pipes. Eclogitic “G3" garnet also signals a gooddiamond-bearing potential.

Some of the world’s finest pyropes come from Bohemia,weathered out of volcanic rocks containing upper mantle rockfragments. A most unusual pyrope source is “anthill”garnet—small dark red grains from Garnet Ridge on the NavajoReservation, northeastern Arizona. The garnets were literally

excavated by industrious ants from a weathered, but non diamond-bearing, kimberlitic pipe.

Closer to the Earth’s surface, granitic pegmatite from the roofof the world in the western Himalayas yield lovely orange to darkbrownish-red spessartine crystals, associated with schorl, quartz,and albite. In the Tongbei District of Yunxiao County, FujienProvince, China, orangey spessartine crystals make strikingspecimens perched on white albite or coating dark smoky quartz.These crystals were extracted from small pockets and pegmatiticveins within granite.Garnets in Earth’s Upheavals

The stability of garnet over a wide range of temperatures andpressures enables geologists to decipher how the Earth’s crust hasevolved at plate boundaries. As mentioned in Part I, the “A” siteof garnet holds various ions that are largely interchangeable, suchas: Mg , Fe , Ca , and Mn . Each of these is surrounded by 82+ 2+ 2+ 2+

oxygen ions in a cage-like distorted cube. However, theproportions of these ions changes during metamorphism. As garnetis subjected to increasing temperatures and pressures, magnesiumand iron increase at the expense of calcium and magnesium. Thesecompositional changes are faithfully recorded in a series of growthzones from core to rim of the crystal. The exact growth sequence,however, may be complicated by “inheritance” of fragmentaryhistories from earlier metamorphic events that have not beenerased or “reset” by the latest heating cycle.

In northern Pakistan, the spessartine crystals from pegmatitesin granitic rocks formed during the collision of continental crustthat raised the Himalayas. In the Italian Alps, on the other hand,the rather non-descript pyrope from the Dora-Maira massif offers

evidence of crustal subduction taken to anextreme. There, pyrope coexists with quartz,kyanite, and coesite, an extremely high-pressure polymorph of quartz. Inferredconditions of crystallization are 700° to800°C (1290-1470°F) and depths of 120 km(75 mi). Closer to home, a quiet stroll inCentral Park reveals a multitude of highlyweathered almandine garnets embedded inthe quartz-feldspar-biotite Manhattan schist.A sharp eye can infer the turbulent history ofthese rocks revealed in the sharp contortionsand folds made by alternating light and darkbands. Some of these can grow quite large,

as in the famous football-sized “Subway Garnet.” Because of its ability to preserve the diverse stages of growth

during major tectonic episodes, garnets have come a powerfulgeologic “tape recorder.” In addition to its wonderful variety ofcolorful specimens and gemstones, garnet also finds many usefulapplications in industry and technology. These attributes makegarnet an “uncommonly useful” minerals.

Further ReadingCaddick, M.J. and Kohn, M.J., 2013. Garnet: Witness to the

evolution of destructive plate boundaries. Elements 9:427-432.Gilg, H.A. et al., eds., 2008. Garnet: Great Balls of Fire.

Lithographie, LLC, east Hampton, CT.Wood, B.J., Kiseeva, E.S., and Matzen, A.K., 2013. Garnet in the

Earth’s mantle. Elements 9:421-426.

Simplified cross-section of a diamond pipe and residualsoil deposit showing the relationships of xenoliths anddiamonds with the pipe and residual soil.


NASA’s Curiosity Eyes Prominent MineralVeins on Mars

Two-tone mineral veins at a site NASA’s Curiosity rover hasreached by climbing a layered Martian mountain offer clues aboutmultiple episodes of fluid movement. These episodes occurredlater than the wet environmental conditions that formed lake-beddeposits the rover examined at the mountain’s base.

Curiosity has analyzed rock samples drilled from three targetslower on the mountain in the past seven months. It found adifferent mineral composition at each, including a silica mineralnamed cristobalite in the most recent sample. These differences,together with the prominent veins seen in images taken a littlefarther uphill, illustrate how the layers of Mount Sharp provide arecord of different stages in the evolution of the area’s ancientenvironment.

The two-tone veins are at the site called “Garden City.” Theyappear as a network of ridges left standing above the noweroded-away bedrock in which they formed. Individual ridgesrange up to about 2.5 inches (6 centimeters) high and half that inwidth, and they bear both bright and dark material.

“Some of them look like ice-cream sandwiches: dark on bothedges and white in the middle,” said Linda Kah, a Curiosityscience-team member at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.“These materials tell us about secondary fluids that weretransported through the region after the host rock formed.”

Veins such as these form where fluids move through crackedrock and deposit minerals in the fractures, often affecting thechemistry of the rock surrounding the fractures. Curiosity hasfound bright veins composed of calcium sulfate at several previouslocations. The dark material preserved here presents an opportunityto learn more. Kah said, “At least two secondary fluids have leftevidence here. We want to understand the chemistry of thedifferent fluids that were here and the sequence of events. Howhave later fluids affected the host rock?”

Some of the sequence is understood: Mud that formedlake-bed mudstones Curiosity examined near its 2012 landing siteand after reaching Mount Sharp must have dried and hardenedbefore the fractures formed. The dark material that lines thefracture walls reflects an earlier episode of fluid flow than thewhite, calcium-sulfate-rich veins do, although both flows occurredafter the cracks formed.

Garden City is about 39 feet (12 meters) higher than thebottom edge of the “Pahrump Hills” outcrop of the bedrockforming the basal layer of Mount Sharp, at the center of Mars’Gale Crater. The Curiosity mission spent about six monthsexamining the first 33 feet (10 meters) of elevation at Pahrump

Hills, climbing from the lower edge to higher sections three timesto vertically profile the rock structures and chemistry, and to selectthe best targets for drilling.

“We investigated Pahrump Hills the way a field geologistwould, looking over the whole outcrop first to choose the bestsamples to collect, and it paid off,” said David Blake of NASA’sAmes Research Center, Moffett Field, California, principalinvestigator for the Chemistry and Mineralogy (CheMin) analyticallaboratory instrument inside the rover.

Analysis is still preliminary, but the three drilled samples fromPahrump Hills have clear differences in mineral ingredients. Thefirst, “Confidence Hills,” had the most clay minerals and hematite,both of which commonly form under wet conditions. The second,“Mojave,” had the most jarosite, an oxidized mineral containingiron and sulfur that forms in acidic conditions. The third is“Telegraph Peak.” Examination of Garden City has not includeddrilling a sample.

Blake said, “Telegraph Peak has almost no evidence of clayminerals, the hematite is nearly gone and jarosite abundance isdown. The big thing about this sample is the huge amount ofcristobalite, at about 10 percent or more of the crystallinematerial.” Cristobalite is a mineral form of silica. The sample alsocontains a small amount of quartz, another form of silica. Amongthe possibilities are that some process removed other ingredients,leaving an enrichment of silica behind; or that dissolved silica wasdelivered by fluid transport; or that the cristobalite formedelsewhere and was deposited with the original sediment.

NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory Project is using Curiosityto examine environments that offered favorable conditions formicrobial life on ancient Mars, if the planet ever has hostedmicrobes, and the changes from those environments to drierconditions that have prevailed on Mars for more than three billionyears.

After investigations in the Telegraph Peak area, the rover teamplans to drive Curiosity through a valley called “Artist’s Drive” toreach higher layers. Engineers are meanwhile developingguidelines for best use of the rover’s drill, following detection ofa transient short circuit last month while using the tool’spercussion action to shake rock powder into a sample-processingdevice. Drilling can use both rotary and percussion actions.

“We expect to use percussion as part of drilling in the futurewhile we monitor whether shorts become more frequent,” saidSteve Lee of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena,California. Lee became deputy project manager for the MarsScience Laboratory Project this month. He previously led theproject’s Guidance, Navigation and Control Team from designthrough landing.

JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology inPasadena, built the rover and manages the project for NASA’sScience Mission Directorate in Washington. For more informationabout Curiosity, visit:http://www.nasa.gov/msl or http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/Source: NASA JPL April 1, 2015

70 Years On, Crowd Gets Close to theBirthplace of the Atomic BombBy Rick Rojas

WHITE SANDS MISSILE RANGE, N.M. — The stretch ofNew Mexico desert would seem endless if not for the mountainrange looming high in the distance. It is the kind of place wheredrivers keep an extra close watch on their fuel gauge, and theclosest neighbors are small towns, tiny specks of civilization,dozens of miles away.

This March 18, 2015, view from the Mast Camera on NASA's CuriosityMars rover shows a network of two-tone mineral veins at an area called“Garden City” on lower Mount Sharp. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech


Yet on Saturday morning, the two-lane road winding towardthe White Sands Missile Range was clogged with minivans, carsand motorcycles, a snake of vehicles stretching for miles, inchingits way through a checkpoint. Decades ago, the remoteness of thisarea in south-central New Mexico attracted scientists looking totest the most destructive weapon mankind had ever created,sending up a radioactive cloud that blistered the sky. Trinity Site,as it became known, was where the first atomic bomb wasdetonated in 1945, just weeks before two atomic bombs wereunleashed on Japan, effectively ending World War II.

These days, the rehearsal stage for calamity has become atourist attraction. Saturday was one of the rare days, typicallytwice a year, when the public is allowed onto the 55,000-acre site.The events can draw thousands; Saturday set a record with 5,534visitors, including Boy Scout troops, classes on field trips andfamilies.

Thousands of “nuclear tourists” made their way to a NewMexico desert during the weekend for a rare peek at the testing siteof the first atomic bomb blast 70 years ago.Admission came with rules: Visitors were allowed to explore andphotograph only in cordoned areas. Beware of rattlesnakes, therules also warned, but not so much the radiation, which had fallento levels low enough to no longer be a cause of concern. Still, aline formed to take selfies with a sign posted on a fence: “CautionRadioactive Materials.”

“This was on my bucket list,” said Robert Simpson, 65, aveteran of the Air Force, who came from Rio Rancho, outsideAlbuquerque, with his wife and friends. “It makes the story real.You can study the battles all you want — that doesn’t hit home.You have to go see the history.”

As the 70th anniversary of the test approaches in July, interestin Trinity Site has surged, bringing more visitors to places — testsites, bunkers, museums — connected to the weapons. InWyoming, state officials are proceeding with plans to turn a relicof the Cold War, a boarded-up missile facility, into a touristattraction.

“We’re in a period where it’s now becoming nostalgia,” saidSharon Weinberger, a co-author of “A Nuclear Family Vacation,”who has visited sites in the Marshall Islands and Iran.

Trinity Site, declared a national historic landmark in 1975, hasessentially become a monument. A black obelisk made of lavarock marks where the bomb was detonated. An old ranch house,about two miles away, is where scientists assembled the weapon.

(The name Trinity Site is believed to be derived from a JohnDonne poem, delivered by J. Robert Oppenheimer, a leader ofthe Manhattan Project and a father of the atomic bomb as well asa member of the New York Mineralogical Club.)

The site bears few visible scars from the explosion: Aglasslike material called trinitite, made by sand melted in the heatof the blast, is still scattered on the grounds (and was being sold bya vendor outside the gate for $20 a piece). But there is no crater toclimb into or scorched earth visible.

“You just see some good pasture,” said Merle Burton, 79, whodrove up from Deming, N.M. “That’s not what you expect.”

The appeal of the site is linked largely to its history as thebirthplace of nuclear weapons and the debate generated by thetechnology. The nuclear hysteria of the Cold War and even therecent agreement over Iran’s nuclear program can be traced toTrinity Site. “The atomic age started right here,” Mr. Simpsonsaid.

“This is kind of the mecca,” said Cammy Montoya, aspokeswoman for the White Sands Missile Range. “This is thefirst. This is the marking point.”

Many approached the site with a kind of reverence,acknowledging a conflict between being impressed by theingenuity required to create the technology and the fear of itsdestructive power. As home to the testing site and the laboratoryin Los Alamos, New Mexico also takes considerable state pride inthe nuclear program.

“It felt, for me, like a pilgrimage,” said Janet Gagliano, 54,from Albuquerque. “It was the beginning of something thatchanged the history of mankind. It’s humbling, overwhelming, andthe whole landscape is so amazing — the vastness of the space. Ican see why they picked here.”

Lon Burnam, who traveled from Fort Worth, Tex., is adifferent kind of nuclear tourist. Over the years, Mr. Burnam, anactivist, has taken part in demonstrations at the Nevada test site, ata nuclear plant in Kansas and in Oak Ridge, Tenn., the home of anational laboratory. “We’ve certainly not been good stewards ofwhat we’ve created,” said Mr. Burnam, 61, a former statelegislator in Texas.

“You wonder how many people are out here out of curiosity,”he added, taking stock of the crowd, “and how many willinternalize the fact we have the capability to destroy our species.”

Outside the missile range, a group of local residents led asmall protest, claiming they are living with, and dying from, thehealth effects of the tests decades later.

Chris Morgan, who had traveled from San Luis Obispo, Calif.,sat on the ground near the perimeter of the site, jotting down hisobservations in a notebook. From his vantage point, he took in the

A couple were among the 5,534 tourists at the Trinity Site on Saturday,one of the few days — typically two a year — the nuclear proving groundadmits the public. Credit Ivan Pierre Aguirre for The New York Times

A visitor tested the ground for radiation.


groups waiting for their turn for a picture next to the obelisk andthe few who were roaming around, bent at the waist, scouring theground for trinitite.

“It’s young and old — all races and generations. It’s neat tosee, really, a cross section come out,” he said. “They want to behere to experience the history.”

He has visited hundreds of national parks, collecting stampsfrom each one and filling stacks of Moleskine notebooks, but thiswas more significant. Mr. Morgan, 42, has wanted to visit TrinitySite for 15 years.

“It’s nice to sit back and let it sink in, and really get a sense ofwhere you’re at — you get to feel the wind, feel the sun and seethe mountains,” he said. “It’s so important for people to get hereand touch and feel a place like this.”Source: New York Times April 5, 2015

TrinititeTrinitite, also known as atomsite or Alamogordo glass, is the

glassy residue left on the desert floor after the plutonium-basedTrinity nuclear bomb test on July 16, 1945, near Alamogordo, NewMexico. The glass is primarily composed of arkosic sandcomposed of quartz grains and feldspar (both microcline andsmaller amount of plagioclase with small amount of calcite,hornblende and augite in a matrix of sandy clay) that was meltedby the atomic blast. It is usually a light green, although color canvary. It is mildly radioactive but safe to handle.

In the late 1940s and early 1950s, samples were gathered andsold to mineral collectors as a novelty. Traces of the material maybe found at the Trinity Site today, although most of it wasbulldozed and buried by the United States Atomic EnergyCommission in 1953.[6] It is now illegal to take the remainingmaterial from the site; however, material that was taken prior tothis prohibition is still in the hands of collectors.Source: Wikipedia

Geologist Discovers Plant That May Only Growon Top of DiamondsBy Nick Visser

There she grows!A picky plant found in West Africa may grow only on top of

mineral deposits often loaded with diamonds, according toresearch soon to be published in the journal Economic Geology.Stephen Haggerty, a professor at Florida International Universityin Miami and the chief exploration officer of Youssef DiamondMining Company, said the discovery could be a game changer forthe region.

The thorny plant, Pandanus candelabrum, only grows atopdeposits of kimberlite, a type of volcanic rock found in giantunderground “columns” around the world. Diamonds, formedhundreds of kilometers deep by intense heat and pressure, arepushed upward with the kimberlite during subterranean volcanicactivity, resulting in gem-rich veins of rock.

Until recently, there was no reliable way to locate theseconcentrated deposits of diamonds, which can be just a few acresin size and buried in thick, remote parts of the jungle.

Haggerty made the discovery in the bush of Liberia afterventuring to the country in 2010 to continue research he began inthe 1970s. He told The Huffington Post that Liberia, infamous forits trade in so-called “blood diamonds,” had extensive miningoperations in place, but the miners had no real way of knowingwhere to look for the gems. The region is covered in dense forest“so inaccessible, you can’t see more than 10 feet in front of you,”he said.

Moving through the jungle and taking soil samples with an8-foot steel rod, Haggerty eventually discovered a kimberlite“pipe” about 500 by 50 meters, or 1640 by 164 feet. Fourdiamonds, two of them around 20 carats apiece, have already beenfound in the soil above the pipe, according to Science magazine.

Aside from the pipe itself, Haggerty’s most interestingobservation was the discovery of Pandanus candelabrum, whichthrives on a unique mixture of minerals found in the kimberlitesoil. “For reasons that we don’t yet know,” he said, P. candelabrumappears to grow only atop these diamond-rich deposits.

Various plants have been used as discovery elements for othermetal-laden soils, Haggerty said. Scientists uncovered someeucalyptus trees in 2013 that contained gold in their leaves, havingtapped into mineral deposits deep underground with theirfar-reaching roots.

Haggerty said he hopes to use satellite mapping of the plants(via their spectral signatures) to help unearth new pipes ofkimberlite throughout Liberia.

“That’s the way geology works. We don’t operate insingularities,” Haggerty said. “If there’s one pipe, there have to beothers.”

Still, not all kimberlite deposits contain diamonds – in fact,only about 1 percent of the world’s known kimberlite pipes “arerich enough in quality diamonds to be worth mining,” writes EricHand at Science.

But if the mapping goes as hoped, it could pave the way fornew diamond exploration in the country that could help boost localeconomies without harming the environment. Whereas a lot ofcurrent diamond mining involves unearthing and discarding allkinds of substances, some of them terrible for the environment, themain by-product of mining at kimberlite sites would be thekimberlite itself – which is basically composed of the samenutrients as garden fertilizer. In a country still battling Ebola andmalaria, Haggerty said, that could be a saving grace.

“That’s what Liberia needs, and that’s what West Africaneeds,” he said.Source: The Huffington Post May 7, 2015

Pandanus candelabrum, left, is seen in the Liberian jungle.


Scientists Have Discovered a New State ofMatter, Called ‘Jahn-Teller Metals’

An international team of scientists has announced thediscovery of a new state of matter in a material that appears to bean insulator, superconductor, metal and magnet all rolled into one,saying that it could lead to the development of more effectivehigh-temperature superconductors.

Why is this so exciting? Well, if these properties areconfirmed, this new state of matter will allow scientists to betterunderstand why some materials have the potential to achievesuperconductivity at a relativity high critical temperature (Tc) -“high” as in -135 °C as opposed to -243.2 °C. Becausesuperconductivity allows a material to conduct electricity withoutresistance, which means no heat, sound, or any other form ofenergy release, achieving this would revolutionise how we use andproduce energy, but it’s only feasible if we can achieve it atso-called high temperatures.

As Michael Byrne explains at Motherboard, when we talkabout states of matter, it’s not just solids, liquids, gases, and maybeplasmas that we have to think about. We also have to consider themore obscure states that don’t occur in nature, but are rathercreated in the lab – Bose–Einstein condensate, degenerate matter,supersolids and superfluids, and quark-gluon plasma, for example.

By introducing rubidium into carbon-60 molecules - morecommonly known as ‘buckyballs’ - a team led by chemist KosmasPrassides from Tokohu University in Japan was able to change thedistance between them, which forced them into a new, crystallinestructure. When put through an array of tests, this structuredisplayed a combination of insulating, superconducting, metallic,and magnetic phases, including a brand new one, which theresearchers have named ‘Jahn-Teller metals’.

Named after the Jahn-Teller effect, which is used in chemistryto describe how at low pressures, the geometric arrangement ofmolecules and ions in an electronic state can become distorted, thisnew state of matter allows scientists to transform an insulator -which can’t conduct electricity - into a conductor by simplyapplying pressure. Byrne explains at Motherboard:

“This is what the rubidium atoms do: apply pressure.Usually when we think about adding pressure, we thinkin terms of squeezing something, forcing its moleculescloser together by brute force. But it’s possible to do thesame thing chemically, tweaking the distances betweenmolecules by adding or subtracting some sort of barrierbetween them - sneaking in some extra atoms, perhaps.

What happens in a Jahn-Teller metal is that as pressureis applied, and as what was previously an insulator -thanks to the electrically-distorting Jahn-Teller effect -becomes a metal, the effect persists for a while. The

molecules hang on to their old shapes. So, there is anoverlap of sorts, where the material still looks an awfullot like an insulator, but the electrons also manage to hoparound as freely as if the material were a conductor.”

And it’s this transition phase between insulator and conductorthat, until now, scientists have never seen before, and hints at thepossibility of transforming insulating materials into super-valuablesuperconducting materials. And this buckyball crystalline structureappears to be able to do it at a relatively high TC. “Therelationship between the parent insulator, the normal metallic stateabove TC, and the superconducting pairing mechanism is a keyquestion in understanding all unconventional superconductors,” theteam writes in Science Advances.

There’s a whole lot of lab-work to be done before thisdiscovery will mean anything for practical energy production inthe real world, but that’s science for you. And it’s got peopleexcited already, as chemist Elisabeth Nicol from the University ofGuelph in Canada told Hamish Johnston at PhysicsWorld:“Understanding the mechanisms at play and how they can bemanipulated to change the Tc surely will inspire the developmentof new [superconducting] materials”.Source: Sciencealert.com May 12, 2015

Why You Can’t Remember Anyone’s NameBy Leigh Weingus

Meeting someone new and remembering their name is no easyfeat for the brain.

As a new AsapSCIENCE video explains, rememberingpeople’s jobs and faces isn’tquite as hard. That’s becauseindividual brain cells are firedin response to faces, andfinding out what someonedoes with their time isinteresting for the brain.Names, on the other hand, arerelatively meaningless.

Another reason it’s hard to remember names? The “next in lifeeffect.” This is when someone is introducing themselves to you,but you’re more focused on going through the motions ofintroducing yourself. Or, as the video so gently puts it:

You may just not care. Honestly, you may be at a party inwhich you’ll never see this person again, or just generallyuninterested in forming a new relationship. Simply put, themore interest you have in something, the more likely your brainis to make new connections. As a result, people who enjoymaking new relationships are tuned in and focused and barelyfeel as if their memory is being used or tested.

The Atlantic brings up another good point: A lot of peoplehave the same name, which makes names even more meaninglessfor the brain.

“[A name] is both completely arbitrary and somewhat familiar(for common names) and ends up neither connecting to what youalready know nor standing out as unusual,” NorthwesternUniversity psychology professor Paul Reber told The Atlantic. “Soyou get this funny phenomenon where you can remember lotsabout a person you recently met – everything except their name(this happens to me all the time).”Source: Huffington Post May 15, 2015

High temperature superconductor levitating above a ring magnet. Credit:Julian Litzel/Wikimedia


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 of experienceas a mineral collector, educator, author, appraiser, philanthropist and dealer. Comments as well as suggestions for new topicsare most welcome. Contact him at [email protected].

Garnet ReduxMy early collecting experiences in Connecticut led me to find

three out of the six common species in the garnet group. Roxburyyielded innumerable almandines, West Redding producedgrossular (var. hessonite) and spessartineswere found in Haddam as well as somesamples in various local pegmatites.

New York has the Barton mine wheregarnet was found and used for abrasivesand occasionally for gems. Rough crystalsto 24 inches occur. Franklin, New Jerseyhas the variety polyadelphite which isactually manganoan andradite. A huge,very well-formed 10 pound garnet,currently at the AMNH, was collectedwithin the confines of New York City.The beach sands in the Northeast veryoften contain tiny bits of garnet (probably almandine). I have seengarnet in the outcroppings of Central Park.

Locality data from over 6,000 places is very interesting for thegarnet group. About 32% of the noted localities are for almandine;about 22% is andradite and 21% is grossular. Pyrope is a mere 5%;spessartine is 16% and uvarovite is only 3%: see mindat.org fordetails. Due to probable errors in identification, uvarovite andpyrope may be far less common that the data given here suggests.In any case, they are frequently offered for sale but will not standup to scrutiny. Certain spessartines also fail testing but, to the bestof my knowledge, bright orange samples generally turn out to benearly pure spessartine.

Color can be very deceptive with some minerals but garnetcan be very confusing. Among the six common species, all butuvarovite can be red. While all uvarovite is green, some andraditeand grossular can be green. Pure pyrope, a rarity in nature, issurprisingly, white – but occasional grossular can also be white orcolorless. Melanite, a black andradite, can be deceptive. Andraditeand grossular are both known to exhibit a wide range of colors.Spesartines can be bright orange. Rhodolite, varying from pink to

purple, is a mixture of pyrope and almandine – if one is dominant,that will be its proper mineral name. Gems have innumerablevarietal names; for more information, see a gem data book.

All colors seem to occur in one garnet or another and evenblue, once thought not to exist, has beenrecenlty found. But even then and then itis a very dark shade that may occur incolor-change samples. They are probablyspessartines. Gems are important itemsand can reach the following sizes.Almandine sets the size record in star-stones; one from Idaho weighs 174 carats.Andradites seem to be mostly modest –one of 18 carats is known. Grossulars upto several hundred carats are known fromSri Lanka. Pyrope is usually small but aBohemian stone of approximately 20 mm

is documented; it’s less than 40 carats, I believe. Spessartine canexceed 100 carats (Brazil). Uvarovite may be up to 1 carat, butthey are rare.

Garnetiferous gneiss and schist of the Manhattan Formationexposed at Inwood Hill Park. Note garnets next to hammerhandle (hammer handle is 1 foot for scale - not for collecting!).


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

Wittel AwayRecutting a Famous Blue RockDiamonds–either ancient ones or poorly cut modern stones areroutinely re-cut to improve clarity and color. No biggie. But whenit’s an historical gemstone people are bound to have strongopinions.

Family ConnectionThe famed Golconda origin blue Wittelsbach Diamond was

once called the most famous diamond you never saw because theelusive diamond with a pedigree this long was the finial to theBavarian crown until the 1920's. It still remained in the royalWittelsbach family until 1951. Depending on which provenanceyou like, the paper trail for this early diamond commenced in the17th or 18th century. The 35.56 carat Fancy Deep Grayish BlueVS2 diamond was kept secluded in a private collection since 1964.Cut that Out!

But in 2008 the famous stone once thought to be linked to theHope Diamond, was sold to diamond dealer Lawrence Graff for$23.4 million US. Right after the sale, Graff decided to re-cut thehistorical stone “to remove damage to the girdle and enhance thecolor.” That’s hunky dory for ‘normal’ diamonds, but verboten fora legendary stone protested numerous experts–some comparing itsrenovation to over-painting a Rembrandt.

Well, they re-cut it in early 2010 modifying the original shapepolished centuries ago. So now it’s a modern stone, renamedWittelsbach-Graff. It was slimmed it down to 31.06 carats losing4.45 carats in the transaction. The cut warranted a revisedlaboratory report and it got one from GIA. The new color is the

preferred Fancy Deep Blue, the same color grade given to theHope Diamond. The clarity rose from VS2 (very slightlyincluded) to IF (internally flawless).Kissin’ Cousins?

The famed Wittelsbach diamond with its near-look-a-like theHope diamond went on display at the Smithsonian’s NationalMuseum of Natural History in Washington D.C a few years ago.

Gary Roskin, GG, FGA had the distinct honor with otherleading authorities of personally examining both the Hopediamond and the Wittelsbach. The purpose of this rare event wasto compare the two renowned blue diamonds to determine if isplausible that the two stones originated from the same crystal.Ever since their discovery by legendary 17th century gemstonetrader Jeanne Baptist Tavernier, gemologists have been eager toexamine the two diamonds side by side.

The examination included infrared and phosphorescentspectroscopy, plus the use of a polarizing microscope forcomparing any internal growth patterns. A similarphosphorescence of the two blue sparklers lent hope that the twostones might be chips off the same block. The Wittelsbach-Graffphosphoresced longer than the Hope it turned out. Yet the stone’shues were so close, they certainly could have been related.Despite initial promising similarities, it eventually became clear– especially with regards to the internal growth patterns that thetwo blue beauties could not have originated from the same crystal.Viewpoints Vary

But not all diamantiers are chagrined with the Wittelsbach’soverhaul. Respected diamond cutter Maarten de Witte, an expertat cutting important diamonds is also a strong proponent of welldesigned specialty cut diamonds. “The stone itself (Wittelsbach)is famous for its history, and for being a large blue diamond, notfor its cut,” he makes clear. That said, de Witte would neverrecommend a massive re-cutting which renders a renowneddiamond unrecognizable.

The Hope diamond was re-cut at various stages, and couldbenefit today from a cut which further unlocks its lightperformance and elegance, de Witt believes. “By thoroughlydocumenting the history of the important Wittelsbach, and byimproving its beauty with a modern cut, you also exhibit theadvances made in cutting.”

The Wittelsbach (left) and the Hope (right) diamonds.

Golconda, India -the site of the world's first diamond deposits producing both theHope and Wittelsbach diamonds.

Wittelsbach diamond with its distinct large open culet.


Met Collects:Brooch with Carved Emeralds and Sapphires

This large, carved emerald from Mughal India is set in ajeweled platinum mount produced in the early twentieth century byCartier in New York. The octagonal gem is decorated with a centralrosette from which four blooms project in the cardinal directions.Although emeralds form naturally in hexagons, this one has beenrecut and sliced laterally, perhaps by Cartier, in the course ofturning it into a brooch. The piece exemplifies the significant roleIndia played in international trade in the modern era. Muchadmired by the Mughal emperors, wealthy courtiers, and themaharajas and nawabs of the later courts of India, emeralds werelargely imported from Colombia in the seventeenth century. Sizablecarved stones served as the centerpieces of turban ornaments, beltfittings, and bazubands, worn on the upper arm. Mughal womendid wear jewelry, but larger-scale gems were mostly reserved formen, a projection of their wealth and power.

Over the course of the nineteenth century, during the BritishRaj, Indian tastes in jewelry changed to reflect Victorian styles.White gold, silver, and platinum settings grew in popularity, andstones that had been considered inauspicious, such as sapphires,now joined emeralds, diamonds, rubies, and spinels in elegantpendants, brooches, and other ornaments. In 1911, Jacques Cartiermade his first trip to India to collect gems, many of which, like thisbrooch, were removed from earlier settings and remounted toconform to the latest Art Deco fashion. Some of the Cartier-setgems were sold back to Indian clients, particularly royalty; othersfound their way to jewel boxes of American and Europeanheiresses. The journey of the emerald in this brooch fromColombia, where it originated in its natural state, toseventeenth-century India and back to New York underscores theabiding and universal attraction of great gems.Sheila CanbyCurator in Charge, Department of Islamic ArtSource: http://www.metmuseum.org/collection/metcollects/

This “Google Doodle” is from January 11, 2012, Nicolas Steno’s 374th birthday. Heis known as the father of stratigraphy and geology, Nicholas Steno worked to

understand history by what he could find in the ground.

By Cartier ca. 1920; Gift of Her Highness Sheikha Amna bint MohammedAl-Thani, 2015


Bring an additional friend or loved one!129th Anniversary New York Mineralogical Club Banquet

Date: October 14, 2015 [Wednesday Evening]Time: 6:00 p.m. - 11:00 p.m. [Social Hour & Silent Auction from 6 p.m. - 7 p.m.]Place: Holiday Inn Midtown Manhattan, 57 Street Between Ninth & Tenth Avenues, NYCth

Cost: $30 for Members/Guests (Advance Payment); $35 for Non-Members (or Payment at the Door)

Gala Dinner Menu (tentative)Salad

Choice of Entree:chicken • fish • beef

Potatoes & VegetablesSelection of Breads & Rolls

Red & White WineSoft Drink Assortment

“Garnet” Dessert SelectionCoffee & Tea

Special Guest Lecturer

Dr. Charles Merguerian, Renowned Geologist & Educator“Geology and Mineralogy of the Second Avenue Subway”

Amount

Please reserve _______ seat(s) for me at the Banquet @ $30.00 ($35.00) each.I will probably be ordering G Salmon G Chicken G Beef for my dinner entree(s).

Also included are my 2016 New York Mineralogical Club membership dues ($25 Individual, $35 Family).

I am adding a wine/dessert donation to help make the banquet an affair to remember. (Each bottle costs about $25.)

Please reserve a set of the following boxed Note Card Sets for me (Includes Envelopes for $6.00 each):G Garnet! G Mineral & Gem Bookplates G Jade G Native Elements G Crystallography G Thin SectionsG Diamonds G Birthday Mineral Cards G Malachite G Quasicrystals G Lapis Lazuli G ____________________

I wish to make an additional donation as a sponsor to help support the Banquet & the NYMC.

» Total Included Comments:

Name(s)

Street Address Apt. No.

City State Zip

Phone Email

Send in the reply order form below by October 12, 2015. We must receive this RSVP in order to guarantee your reservation(s).Make your check payable to the “New York Mineralogical Club” and send it to: New York Mineralogical Club Banquet, P.O. Box 77,Planetarium Station, NYC, NY 10024-0077. Or call Mitch Portnoy (212) 580-1343 or email him at [email protected] to place your

reservations.


2015 Garnet Banquet Silent Auction ListingThe following is a listing of the silent auction choices that will beavailable for your bidding at the Gala Banquet on Wednesday,October 14, 2015. (Expect more to be offered on the evening!)

Thanks to all contributors!

Remember: we are still happy to accept items, especiallyrelated to garnet or the subway, for this year’s silent auction!

Special Garnet Section1. Gemmy Spessartine. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . China2. Andradite (var. Melanite). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kazakhstan3. Grossular. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mexico4. Andradite (Green via Chromium). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Iran5. Andradite (Green - Very Pure). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Korea6. Garnet & Pearl Bracelet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . NA7. (1) Natural & (1) Polished Garnet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . China8. (1) Natural & (1) Polished Garnet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . China9. Bag of Garnet “Raw Beads”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . NA10. Tumbled Garnet Bangle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . NA11. Faceted Strand of Garnet Beads. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . NA12. Polished Garnet Wand and Pyramid.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . NA13. Large Garnets in Matrix. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . NA14. Large Glass “Garnet” on “Garnet” Glass Beads. . . . . . . . . . . . . NA15. Gemmy Garnets on Matrix. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HondurasJewelry Section16. Blue Bead Multi-Strand Choker.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . NA17. Long Iridescent Bead Necklace. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . NA18. Carved “Classical” Cameo.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . NA19. Pearls & Red Serpentine Bead Necklace. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . NA20. Pearl & Shell Necklace.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . NA21. Neon Blue Apatite Multi-Strand Necklace. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . NA22. Silver, Gemstone, Mother-of-Pearl Pendant.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . NA23. Opalite, Pearl & Mixed Bead Necklace. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . NA24. Pearl, Jasper, & etc. Necklace. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . NA25. Kyanite & Pearl Necklace. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . NA26. Faceted Fluorite Bead Bangle.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . NA27. Faceted Rutilated Quartz Pendant. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . NA28. Tiger-Eye Round Cab Earrings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . NA29. Pearl & Sterling Silver “Flower Petal” Earrings.. . . . . . . . . . . . NA30. Pearl & Sterling Silver “Open Flower” Earrings. . . . . . . . . . . . NA31. Small Hoop & B/W Glass Bead Earrings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . NA32. Simple Pearl and Silver Earrings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . NA33. Simple Round Hematite Bead Earrings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . NA34. Multicolor Ceramic (Flower Decoration) Earrings.. . . . . . . . . . NA35. Engraved Copper Earrings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . NA36. Hematite Bead & Yellow Glass “Bone” Necklace. . . . . . . . . . . NA37. Spectacular Shell Pendant & Silver Chain Necklace. . . . . . . . . NACollector Minerals, Thumbnails & Crystals Section38. (3) Unopened geodes with Opened Specimens. . . . . . . . . . . USA39. (3) Unopened geodes with Opened Specimens. . . . . . . . . . . USA40. Lazurite Crystal in Marble & Lapis Specimen. . . Afghanistan41. Small Ruby in Feldspar Sphere. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . India42. Polished Ruby in Feldspar Nugget. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . India43. Uvarovite Thumbnail. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Russia44. Getchellite, Orpiment, Realgar Thumbnail. . . . . . . . . . Nevada45. Chalcotrichite. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Arizona46. Rubellite Tourmaline in Quartz. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Brazil47. Epidote. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Honduras48. Epidote “Fan”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Honduras49. Autunite.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . France50. Fabulous Complex Quartz “Point”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Honduras51. Goethite. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Germany52. Covellite. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Colorado53. Pyrite in Shale. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Vermont54. Smokey Quartz & Black Tourmaline. . . . . . . . . . . . . Paris, Maine55. Schorl (Tourmaline) Crystals in Matrix. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Maine56. Jamesonite, Pyrite & etc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mexico57. Strontianite & etc. and Williamsite. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pennsylvania

58. Calcite on Dolomite.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . New York59. Large Citrine (Quartz) Crystal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Colombia60. Corundum Crystal Thumbnail. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sri Lanka61. Conglomerate Nodule Sliced. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . NA62. Tetrahedrite & Sphalerite. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Peru63. (2) Gemmy Zircons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tanzania (?)64. (3) Gemmy Green Tourmaline Rough. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Brazil65. Jasper Rough. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Honduras66. Quartz Crystal Thumbnail. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Honduras67. Labradorite. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Labrador, CanadaPublications & Other Section68. Arizona Mineralogical Record. . . . . . . . . . . . . NEW! July 201569. (3) Rocks & Minerals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (2) are New York State70. (2) Gems & Geology. . . . . . . . . . . . Summer 2013, Summer 201471. Jade Figurine. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Asia72. (3) Tektites. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . NA73. MTA Subway Line Umbrella. . . . . . . . . . . (2015 Banquet Theme)74. Full Sheet USA 10¢ Mineral Stamps. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . From 1974

75. Musicophilia by Oliver Sacks & (2) Scheelites. . . . . . . . Misc

76. Amethyst & Agate Slice Oil Lamp. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . NA

NYMC October 2015 Garnet Banquet Gifts

Cards Available at the Banquet – $5.00/Box

Garnet! NYMC in the Subway


Large Hadron Collider Discovers NewPentaquark ParticleBy Paul Rincon, Science Editor

Scientists at the Large Hadron Collider have announced thediscovery of a new particle called the pentaquark.

It was first predicted to exist in the 1960s but, much like theHiggs boson particle before it, the pentaquark eluded science fordecades until its detection at the LHC.

The discovery, which amounts to a new form of matter, wasmade by the Hadron Collider’s LHCb experiment.

The findings have been submitted to the journal PhysicalReview Letters.

In 1964, two physicists - Murray Gell Mann and GeorgeZweig - independently proposed the existence of the subatomicparticles known as quarks.

They theorized that key properties of the particles known asbaryons and mesons were best explained if they were in turn madeup of other constituent particles. Zweig coined the term “aces” forthe three new hypothesised building blocks, but it wasGell-Mann’s name “quark” that stuck.

This model also allowed for other quark states, such as thepentaquark. This purely theoretical particle was composed of fourquarks and an antiquark (the anti-matter equivalent of an ordinaryquark).

New StatesDuring the mid-2000s, several teams claimed to have detected

pentaquarks, but their discoveries were subsequently underminedby other experiments.

“There is quite a history with pentaquarks, which is also whywe were very careful in putting this paper forward,” PatrickKoppenburg, physics co-ordinator for LHCb at Cern, told BBCNews.

“It’s just the word ‘pentaquark’ which seems to be cursedsomehow because there have been many discoveries that were thensuperseded by new results that showed that previous ones wereactually fluctuations and not real signals.”

Physicists studied the way a sub-atomic particle calledLambda b decayed - or transformed - into three other particlesinside LHCb. The analysis revealed that intermediate states weresometimes involved in the production of the three particles.

These intermediate states have been named Pc(4450)+ andPc(4380)+.

“We have examined all possibilities for these signals, andconclude that they can only be explained by pentaquark states,”said LHCb physicist Tomasz Skwarnicki of Syracuse University,US.

Previous experiments had measured only the so-called massdistribution where a statistical peak may appear against thebackground “noise” - the possible signature of a novel particle.

But the collider enabled researchers to look at the data fromadditional perspectives, namely the four angles defined by thedifferent directions of travel taken by particles within LHCb.

“We are transforming this problem from a one-dimensional toa five dimensional one... we are able to describe everything thathappens in the decay,” said Dr Koppenburg who first saw a signalbegin to emerge in 2012.

“There is no way that what we see could be due to somethingelse other than the addition of a new particle that was not observedbefore.”

LHCb spokesperson Guy Wilkinson commented: “Thepentaquark is not just any new particle… It represents a way toaggregate quarks, namely the fundamental constituents of ordinaryprotons and neutrons, in a pattern that has never been observedbefore in over fifty years of experimental searches.

“Studying its properties may allow us to understand betterhow ordinary matter, the protons and neutrons from which we'reall made, is constituted.”

An illustration of one possible layout of quarks in a pentaquark particle such asthose seen at LHCb (showing five tightly-bonded quarks)

“There is no way that what we see could be due tosomething else other than the addition of a new particle.”

Dr Patrick Koppenburg, LHCb physics co-ordinator

Scientists used precision measurements at the LHCb experiment to unmask thenew pentaquark particle

An alternative layout for the pentaquark, showing a meson particle (one quark andone antiquark) and a baryon (three quarks) weakly bonded together


The LHC powered up again in April following a two-yearshutdown to complete a program of repairs and upgrades.

Source: BBC News website 14 July 2015

Strange Gold Spirals Dating Back to BronzeAge Unearthed in DenmarkBy Jacqueline Howard

A trove of 2,000 delicate gold spirals that date back to theBronze Age was recently discovered in Denmark -- andarchaeologists are trying to figure out what the ancient coils wereused for.

The 3,000-year-old spirals are made of thin, flattened goldwire and were found during an excavation in the town ofBoeslunde, on the Danish island of Zealand.

Each tightly wound coil is about one inch long. All together,the gold spirals weigh more than half a pound.

Remnants of a wooden box were also found at the site.“Maybe the spirals have been attached to cords which have

served as a small fringe on a hat or a parasol,” Dr. Flemming Kaul,curator at the National Museum of Denmark and one of thediscoverers of the gold spirals, said in a written statement.“Perhaps they have been braided into the hair or been embroideredon the suit. The fact is that we do not know, but I tend to believethey were part of a priest king’s costume or headwear.”

Whether or not the spirals were part of a costume, evidencesuggests that the Boeslunde site might have been a sacred placewhere people offered gold to their gods, Live Science reported.

Boeslunde has long been a rich source of Bronze Age goldartifacts, BBC News reported. Previous excavations there yieldedseveral gold cups and rings.

Since there may be more gold to be found, archaeologists atthe Museum Vestsjælland in Denmark plan to continue examiningthe area with metal detectors.

Source: Huffington Post 07/14/2015

Mystery of Bizarre, Balancing Rocks Just MayBe SolvedThe rocks shed new light on earthquakes and fault lines.By Jacqueline Howard

In southern California, giant boulders have naturally stackedon top of each other in gravity-defying arrangements. Despite themany earthquakes that shake the nearby San Andreas fault, theserocks haven't yet toppled over. Why?

A new, decade-long study suggests that the earthquakes in theregion can stop or “jump” due to interactions between the SanAndreas and nearby San Jacinto fault, allowing for the strongshaking to move around the rocks and not hit them head on, BBCNews reported.

The ways in which these fault lines interact may helpseismologists better understand not only big tremors but also howto better prepare for them.

“It was a real scientific puzzle, a real head-scratcher,” Dr. LisaGrant Ludwig, professor of public health at the University ofCalifornia, Irvine, and lead author of the study, said in a writtenstatement. “How can you have these rocks right next to the SanAndreas Fault? It’s an interesting scientific question, but it also haspractical implications, because we want our seismic hazard mapsto be as good as possible.”

For the study, the researchers analyzed 36 of the rocks, calledprecariously balanced rocks (or PBRs), located only about four tosix miles from the San Andreas and San Jacinto faults. The rocksdate back at least 10,000 years and were left balancing on top ofeach other after meteorological and geological forces washed awaythe material around them, according to Live Science.

The researchers compared the fragility of the rocks'positioning with the ground-shaking that magnitude-7.8,magnitude-7.4, and magnitude-7.9 quakes would cause. What didthe researchers find?

It turns out that the rocks should have fallen over a long timeago since quakes of that magnitude had hit the area before, such asin 1812 and 1857, Science magazine reported.

The researchers concluded that only interaction between theSan Jacinto and San Andreas faults could have produced theearthquakes’ “jumping” to preserve the balanced rocks.

“These faults influence each other, and it looks like sometimesthey have probably ruptured together in the past,” Grant Ludwigsaid in the statement. “We can’t say so for sure, but that’s what ourdata point toward, and it’s an important possibility that we shouldthink about in doing our earthquake planning.”

The study was published online in the journal SeismologicalResearch Letters on August 5, 2015.

Source: Huffington Post 08/08/2015

The first new data in two years began flowing from the LHC last month


Peter Rona, Renowned Explorer of the DeepOcean, Dies at 79Discovered hydrothermal vents in the Atlantic; helped makeIMAX film ‘Volcanoes of the Deep Sea’By Ken Branson

Peter Rona, renowned for his deep-sea exploration, died onFebruary 20, 2014 of complications of multiple myeloma. He was79 years old.

Rona, professor of marine science and earth and planetarysciences at Rutgers since 1994, spent 25 years as a scientist for theNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration before he cameto Rutgers. During his time at NOAA, Rona led the expedition thatfirst discovered deep-sea hot springs and their associated life formsin the Atlantic Ocean. He discovered that the Mid-Atlantic Ridge,the great tectonic boundary that runs from north of Iceland to theSouthern Ocean contains hydrothermal vents which hostcommunities of animals unknown to science until then.

Between 1999 and 2003, Rona and his Rutgers colleagueRichard Lutz, now director of the Institute of Marine and CoastalSciences in the School of Environmental and Biological Sciencesat Rutgers, served as science directors of Volcanoes of the DeepSea, an IMAX film that took viewers down to deep-sea vents in theAtlantic and Pacific oceans. “We brought Hollywood lighting andcamera technology to the deep sea-floor to clearly illuminate forthe first time the spectacular hot springs and their strangeecosystems for the public to see, from school children to thedelegates to the United Nations Convention on the Law of theSea,” Rona said. The film has since been seen by 165 millionpeople around the world.

“Peter was a treasured friend of over 40 years and one of thefinest and most honorable gentlemen I have known,” Lutz said.“His contributions to deep-sea science have been immense. We’velost one of the true giants in the field and he will be missed.”

Peter Arnold Rona was born in Trenton on August 17, 1934.“I was one of those kids who collected rocks and minerals,climbed mountains, loved the outdoors and identified with geologyfrom early on,” Rona told a Rutgers publication in 2006. “Ipursued a path to explore the oceans, the last frontier on Earth,

starting as an apprentice in a laboratory at Columbia Universitythat studied the physics of sound in the sea. Going to sea for ninemonths of the year, I was hooked.”

Rona once reckoned he might have spent more time insubmersibles on the bottom of the ocean than any other marinescientist. Asked what a trip in a submersible was like, he answered,“Cramped and cold – butwonderful, just the same.” Theexperience was so fascinating,however, Rona said, that heusually forgot how cramped andcold he was.

Throughout his teachingcareer, Rona acted as a talentspotter for future marinescientists and engineers. Heconvinced many bright butundecided young people tofollow his path to sea -- amongthem, Donglai Gong, nowassistant professor of marinescience at the Virginia Instituteof Marine Science. In 2004,sitting in on Rona’s class onhydrothermal vents after gettinga master’s degree in physics,Gong asked what Rona thoughtwere particularly intelligentquestions, and found himself the object of a full-court press to gointo marine science. “He encouraged me to contact the people atIMCS and think about doing a Ph.D. in marine sciences,” Gongrecalled. “I did. And that’s made all the difference.”

Rona published more than 250 scientific papers in his careerand edited five books. He was the recipient of the Shepard Medalfor Excellence in Marine Geology, the Petterson Bronze Medal ofthe Swedish Academy of Sciences and the U.S. Department ofCommerce Gold Medal for exceptional scientific contributions tothe nation.

Peter Rona’s wife of more than 40 years, Donna Rona, died in2013. He leaves his daughter, Jessica.

Source: news.rutgers.edu on February 24, 2014

Peter Rona, about to descend to the ocean bottom in the submersible Alvin. Ronaonce reckoned he may have spent more time on the ocean bottom in suchsubmersibles than any other marine scientist. Photo: Peter Rona

From 1999 to 2003, Peter Rona and hiscolleague, Richard Lutz, were technicaladvisers to the makers of Volcanoes of theDeep Sea, which took audiences to thebottom of the Atlantic with Rona and hiscolleagues. Worldwide, 165 million peoplehave seen this IMAX film.

Peter Rona with an autonomous underwater vehicle he used for his studies of theHudson Canyon, off the coast of New Jersey, in 2009 and 2011. Photo: Donglai Gong


Who's the Fool? There is much more to pyrite than its seductive glitter, findsJonathon Keats

Pyrite: A natural history of fool’s gold by David Rickard,Oxford University Press USA, $29.95 / ^17.99

“BY NO mineral substance have men been more deceivedthan by iron pyrites; which is very appropriately denominated

fool’s gold.” With these harshwords in a bestselling19th-century textbook theeminent geologist EdwardHitchcock summed up the shady

2reputation of FeS a shinygolden crystal that is commonthroughout the world.

Hitchcock had a point.Pyrite was a favorite ofalchemists, who sought totransmute it into gold. It waspopular with explorers, too, whoused pyrite “treasure” tobamboozle investors. Yet thereare also myriad admirable facetsto fool’s gold, and in Pyrite,geologist David Rickard puts

himself forward as the mineral’s foremost advocate.Rickard’s esteem is boundless: “Pyrite has had a

disproportionate and hitherto unrecognized influence ondeveloping the world as we know it today . . . This influenceextends from human evolution and culture, through science andindustry, to ancient, modern, and future Earth environments andthe origins and evolution of early life.”

That’s a big claim for any substance. To Rickard’s credit, helargely justifies it. The importance of pyrite to prehistoric andancient peoples is preserved in its name: pyrite means “fire stone”in ancient Greek. Fires were set by striking pyrite against a flint,producing a spark hot enough to ignite dried twigs. The mineralwas also a source of pigments such as red ochre, which is producedwhen pyrite oxidizes in aerated water. Pyrite may even have beenthe first non-herbal medicine: when burned, it emits sulfur oxidegases that can clear sinuses when inhaled.

Based on these worthy uses, Rickard provocatively observesthat the first mineral sought by ancient prospectors may not havebeen the “exotic” gold and silver of later civilizations but pyrite.It is pure speculation, but plausible.

The mineral is certainly sought after by modern scientists. Oneof pyrite’s remarkable attributes is its sheer variety of crystals. Byone count, there are nearly 700 different shapes, or “habits” –possibly the greatest range in any common substance.

“Pyrite was popular with explorers, who used it as ‘treasure’to bamboozle investors”

Because different crystal habits are caused by differentgeological conditions, and because microscopic pyrite crystals arenearly ubiquitous, Rickard argues that much of what we knowabout the history of Earth has come from investigating ancientpyrite. He gives many examples, and his first-hand knowledgemakes this the strongest part of his book. For instance, he describeshow pyrite crystals that formed around ancient deep-sea vents havebeen used to map volcanism and to measure planetary cooling

His own research has been key here. In particular, his teamhas studied variables such as hydrodynamics and pH, that affectcrystals in the field and then used them to create “designer pyrite“ in the lab. And Rickard makes a forceful case for the importanceof this science for environmental prediction.

He also notes the part that pyrite may play in greentechnology, especially solar power. Like the silicon used inconventional solar cells, pyrite is a semiconductor but, he says, it“absorbs 100 times as much light.” And it is ultra-cheap, too.

Such claims astound – even Hitchcock would be impressed –but Rickard gets carried away. The mineral, he asserts more thanonce, “made the modern world,” and improved our “quality oflife.” He adds: “Pyrite is the universal common ancestor oftechnology.”

A touch too close to his subject perhaps? An equally goodcase could be made for oxygen or water.

That said, Rickard’s book is an essential corrective to pyrite’sfool’s-gold reputation. In fact, pyrite has even begun to show itsworth to gold prospectors. Most gold mined today is in the form ofmicroscopic blobs trapped inside minerals. Ironically, pyritic oresare the richest source.Jonathon Keats is a conceptual artist and philosopher.

Dr. Charles Merguerian Banquet Lecture(Continued from page 1)

Largely, due to his scientific and technical prominence in thegeologic arena, Dr. Merguerian has been invited and featured inongoing national and international broadcasts distributed by theBBC, National Geographic, The History Channel and TheDiscovery Channel.

Charles, who is also one of the nicest and most generouspeople you will ever meet, is one of the most popular speakers atmeetings of the New York Mineralogical Club. In the past he haslectured to us about the geology and mineralogy of Hawaii,Inwood (Manhattan Area), the Water Tunnels of New York City,the World Trade Center Area, Central Park, and many otherrelevant and important topics.

Come to the banquet and enjoy Charles’ engaging manner andlearn something about the City in which you live.

Pyrite power: did it help beget the modern technological world?


September Meeting Alaska Gold Lecture bySteve Okulewicz(Continued from page 2)

Steve also described various mining techniques, such asclassic gold panning by swishing stream sand and gravel in largeround pans with water, which removes the lighter material andconcentrates the heavy minerals (such as garnet, magnetite,ilmenite, rutile, or zircon), and hopefully, gold. The best places tolook for gold are on the inside bends of the river, where the currentslows down and deposits its load of sediment. Other good spots tolook are where submerged rocks or other underwater obstaclesslow also down the river current. Sluice boxes are long, narrowartificial channels. Promising sand or gravel is introduced, flushedby a steady flow of water. Gold flakes or nuggets are caught insmall interspersed obstructing traps, while the light material iswashed away. In dredging, a miner in scuba diving gear“vacuums” up sediment from the streambed with a hose attachedto a sluice box. Now thankfully banned, hydraulic mining oncecreated much environmental damage by blasting soft sedimentsalong stream banks and hills with high-pressure water flows.Modern mining operations use arrays of dynamite or otherexplosives to break up the ore, which is then crushed and brokendown further, and subjected to the cyanide process.

In spite of the gold still mined in Alaska, and major goldmining along the Carlin trend in Nevada, the U.S. ranks only 4thin world gold production, behind China, Australia, and Russia. Themain use of gold in the U.S. is in jewelry (41%); electronics(35%); coins (18%); dentistry (4%); and misc. (2%).

Ending on a lighter note, Steve asked a Club member to initiala small card with a map of Alaska on it. Steve then proceeded todemonstrate “plate tectonics” by folding the card in half and inquarters and tearing it to pieces. Abracadabra--he handed back anintact card-all the pieces were attached but now in the wrongplaces! In a nutshell, that's what's happened to Alaska-consistingof a mélange of small tectonic plates.

In November: Light Game #6(About Pleochroism)

Members in the News! Elise Skalwold (Cornell Gem Collection lecturer from 2014)

has had several articles published (or about to be published)in both Rocks and Minerals and Gems & Gemology.

! Naomi Sarna was made the Member of the Month for theSeptember 2015 MJSA Journal Online. The link is:

www.mjsa.org/publicationsmedia/mjsa_journal/member_of_the_month/

Welcome New Members!! Matt & Abbey Stolle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . NYC, NY! Gail Billig and Mark Lowenthal. . . . . . . . . . Englewood, NJGail & Mark are the first members in the history of the NYMCwho (re)joined using the information and application found on

our new website!

NASA’s Curiosity Rover Discovers Bedrockwith High Levels of Silica

After almost three years on Mars, NASA’s Curiosity Mars Rovercontinues to amaze. This time Curiosity has discovered a targetunlike anything it has studied before – bedrock with surprisingly

high levels of silica. Silica is a rock-forming compound containingsilicon and oxygen, commonly found on Earth as quartz.

This area lies just downhill from a geological contact zone therover has been studying near “Marias Pass” on lower Mount Sharp.

In fact, the Curiosity team decided to back up the rover 46meters (151 feet) from the geological contact zone to investigatethe high-silica target dubbed “Elk.” The decision was made afterthey analyzed data from two instruments, the laser-firingChemistry & Camera (ChemCam) and Dynamic Albedo ofNeutrons (DAN), which show elevated amounts of silicon andhydrogen, respectively. High levels of silica in the rock couldindicate ideal conditions for preserving ancient organic material,if present, so the science team wants to take a closer look.

“One never knows what to expect on Mars, but the Elk targetwas interesting enough to go back and investigate,” said RogerWiens, the principal investigator of the ChemCam instrument fromthe Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. ChemCamis coming up on its 1,000th target, having already fired its lasermore than 260,000 times since Curiosity landed on Mars Aug. 6,2012, Universal Time (evening of Aug. 5, Pacific Time).

In other news, an engineering test on the rover’ssample-collecting drill on July 18 is aiding analysis of intermittentshort circuits in the drill’s percussion mechanism, in preparationfor using the drill in the area where the rover has been working forthe past two months. The latest test did not result in any shortcircuits, so the team plans to continue with more tests, performedon the science targets themselves.

Before Curiosity began further investigating the high-silicaarea, it was busy scrutinizing the geological contact zone nearMarias Pass, where a pale mudstone meets darker sandstone.

(Continues on next page)

A rock outcrop dubbed “Missoula,” near Marias Pass on Mars, is seen in this imagemosaic taken by the Mars Hand Lens Imager on NASA’s Curiosity rover. Palemudstone (bottom of outcrop) meets coarser sandstone (top) in this geologicalcontact zone, which has piqued the interest of Mars scientists. Credits:NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS


“We found an outcrop named Missoula where the two rocktypes came together, but it was quite small and close to the ground.We used the robotic arm to capture a dog’s-eye view with theMAHLI camera, getting our nose right in there,” said AshwinVasavada, the mission’s project scientist at NASA’s Jet PropulsionLaboratory in Pasadena, California. MAHLI is short for MarsHand Lens Imager.

The rover had reached this area after a steep climb up a20-foot (6-meter) hill. Near the top of the climb, the ChemCaminstrument fired its laser at the target Elk, and took a spectralreading of its composition.

“ChemCam acts like eyes and ears of the rover for nearbyobjects,” said Wiens.

The rover had moved on before the Elk data were analyzed, soa U-turn was required to obtain more data. Upon its return, therover was able to study a similar target, “Lamoose,” up close withthe MAHLI camera and the arm-mounted Alpha Particle X-raySpectrometer (APXS).

Curiosity has been working on Mars since early August 2012.It reached the base of Mount Sharp last year after fruitfullyinvestigating outcrops closer to its landing site and then trekkingto the mountain. The main mission objective now is to examinesuccessively higher layers of Mount Sharp.Source: scitechdaily.com July 24, 2015

LHC Finds Particles Defying Standard ModelBy Amy Lynn

With the help of CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC), aninternational team of researchers have found evidence ofsomething physicists have spent decades hoping for – subatomicparticles behaving in a way that defies the Standard Model. Inparticle physics, the Standard Model is the best theory we have forexplaining how particles behave and interact; however, it isincomplete as it does not account for gravity. By using the LHC,researchers hope to observe conditions that violate the standardrules of particle physics.

The team of physicists looked at data collected from theLHC’s first run from 2011-2012 – a run made famous for thediscovery of the Higgs boson – and found the evidence they werelooking for: Leptons defying the Standard Model. Leptons are a

group of subatomic particles comprised of three different varieties:the tau, the electron, and the muon. Electrons are very stable,whereas both the tau and muon decay very rapidly.

In the new study, the researchers combed through data lookingfor evidence of B mesons decaying into lighter particles such asthe tau lepton and the muon. The Standard Model dictates that allleptons shall be treated by all the fundamental forces, a conceptknown as “lepton universality.” This means both the tau and themuon should decay at the same rate, once the difference in massis accounted for. However the team discovered a minuscule, albeitnoticeable, difference in the rates of decay which could indicatethe presence of potentially unknown forces or particles interferingwith the rates of decay.

“The Standard Model says the world interacts with all leptonsin the same way. There is a democracy there. But there is noguarantee that this will hold true if we discover new particles ornew forces,” one of the lead researchers, Hassan Jawahery, fromthe University of Maryland in the US, said in a statement. “Leptonuniversality is truly enshrined in the Standard Model. If thisuniversality is broken, we can say that we’ve found evidence fornon-standard physics.”

These results compliment a similar discovery from the 2012BaBar experiment conducted at Stanford’s Linear AcceleratorCenter (SLAC). The BaBar experiment also focused on B mesondecay; however, unlike the LHC which smashes protons together,the SLAC used colliding electrons to drive their experiment.Despite the different methods, having two experiments withsimilar results is key, and suggestive of real physics.

Further experimentation is needed to confirm the latestfindings. In April of this year, the LHC reopened following a twoyear hiatus for upgrades. Since the LHC came back online,researchers have observed record-breaking energy levels, and theteam is confident that they will have a better chance of observingmore particle behavior that defies the Standard Model andcorroborates these findings.

“We are planning a range of other measurements. The LHCbexperiment is taking more data during the second run right now,”Jawahery stated in a statement. “Any knowledge from here onhelps us learn more about how the universe evolved to this point.For example, we know that dark matter and dark energy exist, butwe don’t yet know what they are or how to explain them. Ourresult could be a part of that puzzle [...] If we can demonstrate thatthere are missing particles and interactions beyond the StandardModel, it could help complete the picture.”

The findings will be published in the September 4 issue ofPhysical Review Letters.Source: iflscience.com Aug. 30, 2015

A rock fragment dubbed “Lamoose” is shown in this picture taken by the Mars HandLens Imager (MAHLI) on NASA’s Curiosity rover. Like other nearby rocks in a portionof the “Marias Pass” area of Mt. Sharp, Mars, it has unusually high concentrations ofsilica. The high silica was first detected in the area by the Chemistry & Camera(ChemCam) laser spectrometer. This rock was targeted for follow-up study by theMAHLI and the arm-mounted Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS). Credits:NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS


2015-16 Club Calendar

Date Event Location Remarks & Information

October 14 Annual Gala BanquetHoliday Inn Midtown

ManhattanTheme: NYC Subway / Garnet; Lecture;Silent Auction; Awards; Garnet Game

November 11 Meeting at 6:45 Holiday Inn Midtown ManhattanSpecial Lecture: Fluorescence (H. Heitner) &IYL Special Demo (R. Bostwick / T. Hecht)

December 9 Meeting at 6:45 Holiday Inn Midtown ManhattanSpecial Lecture: John Sanfaçon – “Synthetic Minerals”

January 13, 2016 Meeting at 6:45 Holiday Inn Midtown ManhattanSpecial Lecture: Mitch Portnoy – “Pretty inPink - The Joys of Tennessee Marble”;2 Annual Chinese Auction!nd

February 10 Meeting at 6:45 Holiday Inn Midtown Manhattan Annual Members’ Show & Tell

March 9 Meeting at 6:45 Holiday Inn Midtown ManhattanSpecial Lecture: Alfredo Petrov – “Flint from the Netherlands”

April 13 Meeting at 6:45 Holiday Inn Midtown ManhattanSpecial Lecture: Dr. Roland Scal –“Microscopy of Gemstones”

May 11 Meeting at 6:45 Holiday Inn Midtown Manhattan TBD

2015-16 Show or Event Calendar

Date Event Location Remarks & Information

October 17-18Annual Gem & MineralShow

Beals Community Cent., StaffordAve., Bristol, Connecticut

Hosted by the Bristol Gem & Mineral Club;www.Bristolgem.org for information

October 23-25 AFMS Convention/Show Austin, Texas Bulletin Article Contest Results

November 7-8Stamford Society Gem,Mineral & Fossil Show

Eastern Greenwich Civic Center,Old Greenwich, Connecticut

Kids Activities, Door Prizes, Train Accessfrom NYC

November 14-15Fall New York City Gem,Mineral & Fossil Show

Grand Ballroom, Holiday InnMidtown, New York City

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

March 5-6, 2016Spring New York City Gem,Mineral & Fossil Show



April 8-10NY/NJ Mineral, Gem &Fossil Show

New Jersey Expo Center, Edison,New Jersey

Exhibits, dealers, lectures, specialty area

July 27- Aug 1 AFMS Convention/Show Albany, Oregon Article Contest Results; Details to Follow

October 21-23 EFMLS Convention/Show Rochester, New York Article Contest Results; Details to Follow

November 12-13Fall New York City Gem,Mineral & Fossil Show



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.

* * * Website: http://www.newyorkmineralogicalclub.org * * *P.O. Box 77, Planetarium Station, New York City, New York, 10024-0077

2015 Executive Committee

President 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 Club Event – 129 Anniversary Banquet – Wednesday, October 14, 2015th

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

Special Lecture: Dr. Charles Merguerian — “Geology and Mineralogy of the Second Avenue Subway”

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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October 2015 Bulletin of the New York Mineralogical ClubGeology at Hofstra University (1981-2014), Visiting Research Fellow at Yale University and has a broad range of expert consulting