After five months, it's time for the sixth nature identification thread! Post pictures of plants, animals, rocks, or other cool stuff that you've photographed but can't identify, and I, along with anyone else who would like to help, will try and help you identify it. I'll be making some changes to it- most notably, I'll be using the SBD proceeds from this post to give out @steembasicincome memberships to people who post stuff to be identified or help me identify photos.
Pyrite, also known as fool's gold. Pyrite, or iron(2) disulfide, isn't just pretty, but has a number of industrial uses as well. [Image source]
![[Image source]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:2780M-pyrite1.jpg){kind=link}
Remember: The most important information you can give along with any photo to be identified is its geographical location. This narrows down the range of possibilities more than any other info you can provide.
Plants:
Along with the photo, add where you found it, the time of year, the approximate altitude, and any interesting scents or textures not caught in the photo.
Animals:
Along with the photo, add the location you found it, the time of year, the sounds it made, any interesting behaviors, and any other features not caught well in the photo.
Rocks:
Along with the photo, add the location you found it, a description of the terrain it was found in, whether it was attached to a rock outcrop or found loose on the ground or buried in the soil, a description of its texture (especially its grain size), and a description of its weight and density. Fossils are included in this category.
Fungi:
I will not be identifying mushrooms and fungi for the most part unless I can point to it and go "Yeah, that's poisonous." I will definitely not be identifying edible mushrooms. Mushrooms should really only be identified for foraging purposes in person and by an expert. If another contributor wishes to identify them, that's their call, but I encourage them to be similarly cautious. I might also identify a few fungi that are clearly not being looked at for the purposes of eating, but that'll be a case by case decision.
As the only submitter last week, @valth earned 2 Steem Basic Income memberships!
Ok, here's my ante for this post.
I found this duringy field camp in Northern New Mexico. It was in a tailings pile outside the Champion mine. Prospectors hoped to mine copper, but there was never a big enough deposit found to warrant opening a full mine.
I'm pretty sure I know what it is, but I want to see if you can guess it. The rock is massive, no discernable grain boundaries. It can scratch your hammer. It does not react to HCL. The colorful part appears teal (not turqouise). It was formed in an area known for regional metamorphism. High grade schist and folded terrain are common. What could it be?
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Quartzite with some copper mineral (based on the green color)? I've definitely seen both massive and non-massive quartzite, and the hammer scratching/ non-HCl reactivity seems indicative.
The green mineral is the tricky bit- if it were a copper mineral, I'd be hard-pressed to say whether it was a sulfide or oxide. The schists and the (what I think is quartzite) slightly bias me against the copper being a sulfide from a hydrothermal system, and make me think it's more likely disssolved copper oxides deposited in the sedimentary protoliths by water moving through the rock.
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Great guesses. This piece is very likely part of the copper-rich quartz vein they were hunting at the champion mine. So I would say its not quartzite, but quartz since it deposited in a vein rather than being metamorphosed into a quartzite.
As for the greenish blue mineral, the locals called it azurite. I doubt that, it's the wrong color. My guess is chrysocolla, which is a hydrous copper silicate. There were no sulfide minerals spotted in the area.
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It does look like chrysocolla, now that you mention it! And yeah, I totally forgot that copper silicates were an option too.
I guess I just automatically assumed that it was metamorphosed from the schist mentions.
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Very cool!
You earned a @steembasicincome sponsorship, once they process your registration you'll get an upvote from them on all of your posts. ($0.01 at first, but there are ways to grow it- for instance, by sponsoring others.) Visit their page to learn more.
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Thanks! I appreciate it. I'll sign up for the Steemit basic income. I also have plenty more rocks for you to look at in the future ;)
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What a great idea! I love it and will definitely be following and sharing. Thanks!
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I'm glad you like it!
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What do you think this is...? (snowyknight) #geology
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It's a Brunton compass! :D
I honestly can't tell from this photo, sorry- having trouble even telling if that's soil or sediment coated sandstone.
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And the winner is... @mountainwashere. Nice!
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it is sand, and the dark sand in the middle are well... something else. darker coloured, and...
lets see if anyone else gets it. but the Brunton is correct!!! :)
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Is there a rock underneath that sand? Or is it just darker sand, maybe clay rich?
It almost reminds me of dendritic pyrolusite, but pyrolusite looks more like fern leaves on sandstone. It's also microbe poop.
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Good observations!
There is no rock in this photo.
Everything you see are sediments. There is sand and there is darker sand. You are right.
There is also evidence of erosion. In this case fluid flow.
Darker sand is at the base of this "mini-channel" which means the lighter-coloured and lighter in weight sand was eroded away, leaving heavier minerals... I like the microbe poop too... thanks!
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Very cool!
You earned a @steembasicincome sponsorship, once they process your registration you'll get an upvote from them on all of your posts. ($0.01 at first, but there are ways to grow it- for instance, by sponsoring others.) Visit their page to learn more.
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Awesome! That is great news and I appreciate it. Thank you very much.
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