sign in sign up
<<
Home , Prasiolite

Bulletin of the New York Mineralogical Club Founded 1886 Ë New York City, New York Ë Incorporated 1937 Volume 129, No. 6 Celebrating the International Year of Light June 2015

June 10th Meeting: Annual Benefit Auction! Annual Benefit Auction to Additional Contributions Received Below is a partial list of additional auction contributions from members received since Occur on June 10, 2015 the Show. Thanks to everyone! By Mitch Portnoy copies available. This listing contains only on't miss this year’s auction! All those items that were received in time to members (and their friends and print; there will be even more (surprise!) Dguests) eagerly anticipate this event lots sold during the auction itself. Please each year and for good read the introduction on reason. There is always the top of the page for a wi d e v a r i e t y, additional auction impressive quality and g u i d e l i n e s a n d great prices for all sorts suggestions. of items than can In addition, for the e n h a n c e t h e i r first time, an illustrated collections. catalog of all the lots You have seen w a s c r e a t e d i n some of the donated advance. A PDF items listed in the version of this catalog bulletin during the past was emailed out to all few months; more are included here (left). members for whom we From Susan Rudich And even more contributions will likely have an active email address. The pages and ‚ Leather Jewelry Box come in on the evening of the auction! For their images of this will be projected ‚ Puka Bead newer members, you can look forward to during the auction to aid you in seeing what ‚ Blue in adding some great items to your collection. the lot actually looks like. ‚ , Prasiolite & etc. Bead Necklace For more established members, you know We will continue to offer the lots in the ‚ Multicolor “Heart Change” Necklace how exciting this auction can be. For same order as they are listed in the ‚ Glass Rhino Figurine everyone, expect terrific value! catalog/listing. Most people have reacted ‚ Onyx Elongated Bowl The auction is the primary fund favorably to this procedure so we decided to ‚ Jewelry Design Book raiser for the club. The money goes to continue it. In addition, we have again From Vivien Gornitz underwrite the ever-increasing costs of the “grouped” the lots into logical categories. ‚ Herkimer paper monthly newsletter production and You can see in the catalog/listing that ‚ Specimen mailing, meeting speaker and room rental there is a varied roster of lots to bid on. From Corinne Orr fees, banquet subsidy, administrative costs, However, we can never have too many ‚ Tiger Eye etc. (The yearly dues simply do not cover auction items. Don't be shy! Donations are From Mark Kucera all club expenses!) We rely on your still happily accepted. Your duplicate ‚ Weardale Specimen generosity to make this a successful event. mineral, gem, book, piece of jewelry can be From Arlene Joseph (of Somethings) Please plan to attend and bid! And bring a a treasure for someone else. ‚ Splendid Selection of Jewelry! friend or make a donation if you have not Issue Highlights already done so. A number of other members handed me The auction will be held from 6:15 to things and I admit I forgot who gave me President’s Message...... 2 9:00 p.m. in Mezzanine C at the Holiday what but we thank you just as sincerely! Meeting Minutes...... 2 Inn Midtown Manhattan. You may preview World of : Ice!...... 3 lots from about 5:00 until 6:15 when the Banquet Preview...... 6 Note: If you cannot attend the auction but activity begins. Make sure you arrive in Herkimer Book Review...... 7 would like to bid on any of the items listed time to view all the lots. The auction BEAC Results...... 7 in the bulletin, please let us know. We can proceedings cannot be interrupted to Benefit Auction Listing...... 8-9 act as your agent at the auction. — allow more “personal viewing.” After The 100: Rock-Forming Minerals. . 10 Executive Team some brief club business we will start the Topics in : Wine!...... 11 auction. Reminder: No personal selling is Rockhounds We Love...... 12 We regret the passing of our friend, allowed at this meeting! LHC Resumes...... 13 scholar, lawyer, artist and NYMC member A 2015 list of lots is on pages 8-9 for Earth’s New Layer?...... 13 Park McGinty in April. your benefit and on which to take notes. Mars Nitrogen...... 14 Please bring these pages with you to the Club & Show Calendars...... 15 auction since there will not be many extra 2 Bulletin of the New York Mineralogical Club June 2015

President’s Message Club Meeting Minutes for Sold at auction, the larger went for By Mitch Portnoy May 13, 2015 $105,000, the smaller one for $22,000, and By Vivien Gornitz, Secretary the for nearly $38,000. Cloudy, Springfield Show Bus? Attendance: 36 opaque, and full of fractures, these After several weeks of analysis, we have President Mitch Portnoy presided. “treasures” could have been acquired at any decided NOT to sponsor a bus for club Announcements: gem show for around $10 per . Some members and friends to this huge mineral ‚ After the regular monthly raffle, a brief clever piece of promotion! Lesson: don’t be show in August. The numbers simply do tribute to Park McGinty was made by fooled by the fancy name of the stone; look for transparency, freedom from visible cracks not work. In the next bulletin we will Mitch. or flaws, and a decent color. provide travel alternatives from NYC to ‚ After the usual historical meeting day , a truly exotic , from Springfield. notices, the #4 Minerals & Light game, about luster, was played. a far-away land and relatively rare (only one ‚ The usual items available (both free known mining locality—near Arusha, Bulletin Article Contest Winners Tanzania), is the deep-blue to purple gemmy Congratulations are in order to Diana and for pay) at the meeting were listed. ‚ Upcoming club events were previewed variety of the mineral zoisite. But tanzanite Jarrett, Branko Deljanin and Vivien occurs in other colors as well, including Gornitz, each of whose article, in the through December 2015. ‚ Banquet attendees will receive a 2016 , yellow, and pink. A heated debate advanced category in the EFMLS 2015 swirls around the green variety—should it be contest, was in the top 5! I think 3/5 for Club Calendar as a gift. ‚ called “green tanzanite” or the more one club at this level is astounding! The November NYC Mineral Show will have two lectures, one an accurate, but less appealing “green zoisite”? At any rate, green and blue hour-glass color- Benefit Auction Update introduction to mineral colleting (H. Heitner) and another about Upper zoned crystals are among the most interesting With this year’s Benefit Auction we will Manhattan mineral collecting (T. specimens of tanzanite. cut to go even deeper into the 21st Century’s Zirnite). exhibit the green and blue color zoning or cut digital age! We have sent to everyone with Special Lecture: Renée Newman — at an angle to expose contrasting pleochroic an email address on file a PDF version of “Exotic Gems Today” colors are truly unique. an illustrated benefit auction catalog. Imagine pairing bright red gem-quality Some high quality exotic gems rival rhodochrosite or neon aqua blue apatite diamond, , sapphire and emerald in with and high karat . price. Rare gems selling for over $5,000 per Unthinkable a mere generation ago, but just carat include Russian , California one of the unusual, non-traditional gemmy benitoite, haüyne from the Eiffel Mts., combinations used by top designers today. Germany, and hiddenite from North Renée Newman, gemologist and author of Carolina, among others. But many more many popular books on the subject unusual, yet affordable gemstones can be described, in a well-illustrated presentation, found at most gem and mineral shows. how “exotic” or unconventional gems were Happy hunting! increasingly being incorporated into fine Members in the News jewelry and eagerly sought by celebrities ‚ Branko Deljanin presented the lecture and well-heeled people. Provenance of Pink Diamonds in We will also project this file during the Ranging from fairly common minerals, Sydney, Australia on April 19, 2015. auction itself to better identify to everyone such as fluorite, , apatite, rhodonite, ‚ Dr. Oliver Sacks had an article about there what is being offered. At the same chryosocolla, feldspar (, actor Spalding Gray’s brain injury (“The time, Diane Beckman, our treasurer, will ), or prehnite to rarities such as Catastrophe”) in the April 27, 2015 use the auction management software that emerald-green chrome , benitoite, issue of The New Yorker. ‚ we used for the first time last year. haüyne, bixbite (red ), Paraiba (Cu- Marine Boy, the cartoon series Corinne bearing) , or phosphophyllite, the Orr starred in, has just been re-released key characteristics defining an exotic by Warner Bros. and Speed Racer – Receive Your Bulletin Electronically! gemstone include transparency, clarity, and where she played both Trixie and Spritle Advantages color. A low Mohs hardness need not be a – is now on Hulu, all 58 episodes. ‚ Early Arrival ‚ Pristine Condition deterrent with careful usage and in Alla Priceman – Larchmont, NY ‚ Full-Color Version protective settings. Renée pointed out how ‚ Electronic Storage amber (H 2-2.5) and (H 2.5-4.5) have ‚ Club Saves LOTS of Money been used in jewelry for centuries, despite ‚ Receive Special Mailings softness, sensitivity to acids and chemicals, ‚ Go Green! and a tendency to craze, in the case of Requires amber. ‚ Email Request to Mitch The “Fish Tank Treasure” rip-off ([email protected]) dramatically demonstrates the importance ‚ Adobe Reader (Free) Optional of transparency and clarity of colored ‚ Printer (B/W or Color) gemstones for true value. Three large “gems” were discovered while cleaning out a fish tank—a sapphire and two . June 2015 Bulletin of the New York Mineralogical Club 3

The World of Minerals The World of Minerals is a monthly column written by Dr. Vivien Gornitz on timely and interesting topics related to geology, gemology, mineralogy, mineral history, etc.

Ice: The Mineral that Shapes the Earth and degrees of water vapor saturation. Constantly in motion, the Ice—The Mineral crystals are exposed to similar conditions in all directions from Ice is a mineral—the solid, crystalline form of water. The moment to moment. This enables them to maintain the hexagonal world of ice occupies a vast realm—the cryosphere—that extends symmetry dictated by their atomic structure. However, the rapidly from the frigid poles to ice-laden polar seas, lofty mountain peaks, changing environmental conditions cause numerous alternations in and frozen tundra. Its realm encompasses snow, lake and river ice, crystal growth that ultimately generates complex and diverse floating ice (sea ice, icebergs, ice shelves), land ice (ice sheets, ice shapes. Thus, no two snowflakes are exactly alike. caps, and glaciers), and permafrost (frozen soil). Antarctica houses the vastest store of ice by far–a vast continental ice sheet comprising 87 per cent of the total by volume, followed by Greenland (10 percent), and ice shelves (2.3 percent), with smaller volumes in sea ice, permafrost, and mountain glaciers. However, permafrost and sea ice cover the largest area, followed by the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets, and ice shelves. Snowflakes form when water vapor condenses and solidifies onto nuclei of mineral dust (kaolinite, feldspar, , or volcanic ash), organic matter, soot, even artificial particles (dry ice, silver iodide) at temperatures below 0ºC (32ºF).

Figure 2. of ordinary ice. [Red (darker) balls are oxygen atoms; blue (lighter) are hydrogen atoms].

The Birth of a Glacier Randomly falling snowflakes mark the birth of a glacier. Individual snow crystals eventually grow large and heavy enough to fall. Several crystal can aggregate into pellets or partially melt, as sleet. Fresh snow is very porous. As more snow accumulates over time, the intricately branched shapes of snowflakes gradually grow rounder and larger; older snow compresses and recrystallizes. Figure 1. Snowflake showing 6-fold symmetry. Snow that survives the summer is called firn—the first step in (Source: Kenneth G. Libbrecht, Caltech, 1999. snow’s transition to ice. A growing succession of many years’ http://www.its.caltech.edu/~atomic/snowcrystals/primer/primer.htm). loosely-packed snowfalls gradually transforms firn into ice. After multiple freeze-thaw cycles, continued compaction and The hexagonal shape of a snowflake reveals the internal recrystallization, firn reaches the density of pure ice, completing arrangement of atoms within the ice crystal. In ice, oxygen and its transformation to ice. hydrogen atoms are linked to adjacent H2O molecules, forming Originally randomly-oriented, ice crystals adopt an tetrahedral bonds at 109.5º angles. The tetrahedra are stacked into increasingly non-random arrangement, or crystal fabric under the a three dimensional lattice with overall hexagonal symmetry (as in increasing weight of overlying ice at depth inside a glacier. The the snowflake)1. (Ice, however, exists in at least 15 separate glide planes in ice crystals begin to align in the direction of flow, polymorphs with different crystal structures, over a broad range of roughly parallel to the glacier’s bed2. Ice that has developed this low temperatures and high pressures). Because hydrogen bonds preferred orientation can slide many times faster than randomly that connect adjacent H2O molecules create an open structure, ice, oriented crystals. The arrangement of crystals therefore underpins unlike most solids, is less dense (0.917 g/cm3 at 0ºC) than its liquid the ability of ice to flow in glaciers and ice sheets3. phase—water (0.9998 g/cm3). Hence, ice floats on water. Ice is not only a mineral, but also a rock. Glaciers and ice The growth of a snowflake is extraordinarily sensitive to sheets are massive aggregates of millions and millions of minor variations in atmospheric temperature and water vapor individual crystals. Ice is also a metamorphic rock–one that has concentration. This creates a wide variety of crystal shapes that recrystallized and become deformed under the force of gravity. range from flat hexagonal plates, hexagonal prisms, hollow prisms, Contorted layers and stripes of rocky debris trapped in ice reveal to six-sided dendritic plates, and endless combinations of these. the stresses to which the glacier ice has been subjected during its More rapid growth along crystal edges and side branches under downward journey–not unlike the wavy and twisted bands and supersaturated conditions produces hollow, stepped crystals folds seen in schist outcrops in Central Park—stark remnants of (hoppers) or dendritic branches. The growing snowflakes, buffeted several episodes of mountain building, uplift, and subsequent by gusts of wind, encounter random fluctuations in temperature erosion hundreds of millions of years ago. 4 Bulletin of the New York Mineralogical Club June 2015

flowing rivers. Tributary glaciers remain stranded as hanging glaciers above the main glacier, which eroded a much deeper valley when the ice was more extensive. These glacial sculptures create the breathtaking scenery of the Alps, the northern Rockies, the Himalayas and other mountain chains. Meltwater emerging from a glacier’s snout collects in streams or in small milky greenish-blue glacial lakes, colored by the high number of finely suspended ice-pulverized particles, or “rock flour”.

Figure 3. Folded layers in glacier ice—clear signs of deformation. Crusoe Glacier,Alex Heiberg Island, Canadian Arctic Archipelago. http://www.swisseduc.ch/glaciers/alex_heiberg/crusoe_glacier/crusoe_fro nt_west/index-en.html?id=2/.

Glaciers slowly flow downslope under the pull of gravity. Glaciers and ice caps cover 0.73 million square kilometers of land Figure 4. Aletsch Glacier, Switzerland, largest glacier in the Alps. worldwide, occupying a volume of 0.15 million cubic kilometers. Dark wavy band in the middle are medial moraines. Over three quarters of glaciers (by area) lie in the Arctic, Alaska, http://en.wikipedia.org/Aletsch_Glacier#/media/File:Aletschgletscher_mit_ and the Himalayas. They blanket mountain tops on all continents, Pinus_cembra2.pdf. including the high peaks of the tropics. Small high altitude glaciers still whiten tropical peaks, such as on Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania. Glacier ice often glows a deep aqua blue because ice However, these are among the world’s most endangered glaciers, preferentially absorbs longer wavelengths (i.e., yellow and red), as the planet warms. scattering light mainly in the blue. The aquamarine glow shows up best in densely packed, well-crystallized ice with few included air bubbles, such as found in freshly exposed crevasses or calved Glaciers are one of nature’s most efficient landscape architects, icebergs. constantly reshaping their environments through the processes As recently as 20,000 years ago, a massive continental-scale of erosion, entrainment, transportation, and deposition. ice sheet covered much of Canada and the northern United States. R. D. Karpilo, Jr. (2009) As the ice sheet retreated, it left behind tell-tale signs of its former presence. Its signature may still be seen in New York City parks. Ice as a Land Sculptor Ice has streamlined exposed rocky outcrops into roche moutonnées Ice is a powerful land sculptor, creating rugged Alpine (Fr., literally “sheep-like rock”) that are smooth on the side facing mountain scenery and excavating valleys and fjord basins. the oncoming glacier, but shattered and jagged on the lee flank. Mountain glaciers confined to narrow valleys flow downhill like rivers of ice. As a thick mass of ice slowly descends down the mountainside into the valley and beyond, it abrades exposed rocks, smoothing and rounding their surfaces, plucks boulders and transports them, and quarries shattered rock fragments from valley walls. Laden with broken rocks, pebbles, soil, and meltwater, the relentlessly advancing ice scours the underlying surface, scraping and wearing down bedrock and loose sediment. It leaves evidence of its passage in distinctively-shaped landforms, rock outcrops, and debris that accumulates in characteristic deposits. Continual grinding by an advancing glacier reduces entrained rocks to fine flour that, like jewelers’ rouge4, polishes bare surfaces to a high luster, also producing scars, such as scratches, grooves, and linear striations parallel to its flow direction. Scraped by the ice sheets of the last Ice Age, these scratch marks, or striations are still visible on smoothed rock outcrops of Central Park and other city parks. Perched high on mountainsides, the heads of most glacial valleys occupy cirques, or bowl-shaped hollows. Sharp ridges, or arêtes, separate cirques between mountain slopes. Jagged Figure 5. Roche moutonnée in Central Park, Manhattan. Author’s photo. pyramidal peaks, such as the Matterhorn in Switzerland, form where several cirques intersect. A glacier bulldozing its way Ice overriding rock or sediments carved drumlins–streamlined downhill carves U-shaped valleys, in distinct contrast to the hills, steeper and wider on the up-glacier side and gentler, more characteristic steep-sloped V-shaped mountain valleys etched by June 2015 Bulletin of the New York Mineralogical Club 5 tapered on the lee side. Drumlins may occur alone or in swarms Andes, New Zealand, to name a few. Mountain glaciers and ice containing hundreds or thousands of mounds. The now-vanished caps are quickly wasting away, losing enough ice between 1993 ice sheets have also gouged out numerous lakes, such as the Great and 2010 to raise sea level by 0.8 mm/yr (0.031 in/yr), if spread Lakes, or the Finger Lakes in upstate New York. out evenly across the oceans. The two large ice sheets (Greenland However, the work of glaciers does not end with erosion. and Antarctica) are adding another 0.6 mm/yr (0.02 in) to the Glaciers and ice sheets transport and deposit enormous loads oceans. These still fairly small ice losses are poised to increase ranging from huge boulders, gravel, and silt to fine-grained clay substantially in the future, if global warming continues unabated. hundreds of kilometers from their source areas. They pile mounds Elsewhere, floating sea ice over the Arctic Ocean has declined of unsorted debris along valley walls (lateral moraines) and at since 1979. Sea ice reached its lowest late summer minimum their final advance (terminal moraine). The lateral moraines of two extent in September, 2012 and lowest winter maximum extent in converging glaciers create a medial moraine where they join. late February, 2015. Permafrost, or permanent frozen soil, is Recessional moraines mark successive stages in a glacier’s retreat. thawing, leaving myriad thaw lakes and “drunken” trees tilting at Ice leaves various types of deposits (collectively known as odd angles, as the ground beneath turns to mush. glacial drift) in its wake. Foreign rocks and boulders, or glacial Not to worry—just yet. Plenty of snow and ice still blanket erratics, dumped far from their sources populate glaciated terrains. mountain peaks in winter, although much less so than formerly in These exotic boulders—granite, metamorphic and sedimentary many places. The Greenland and Antarctic Ice sheets are still rocks from upstate New York, diabase from the Palisades across intact—for now. And while Anchorage, Alaska basked in record the Hudson River—lie scattered across New York City parkscapes. warmth this winter, the northeast U.S. experienced one of the Sands and gravels deposited in channels or tunnels beneath coldest and snowiest seasons on record. Enough snow for children stagnant or retreating ice form long, sinuous ridges, or eskers, to take time off from school to build snowmen, skiers and skaters when the ice melts. Streams or in ponds on the surface of a to enjoy winter sports, and for anyone to marvel at the beauty of stagnant glacier fill hollows or depressions with layered sand. freshly fallen snowflakes and ice crystals sparkling like gems in Once the ice melts, small mounds, knobs, or hummocks, called the sunlight. kames remain. Kettles form in depressions left by melting ice blocks. Outwash plains develop from sediments washed out by Further Reading streams emerging at the edge of a retreating ice sheet. Much of Balog, J., Williams, T.T. (foreward), 2012. Ice: Portraits of Long Island, New York consists of an outwash plain south of the Vanishing Glaciers. Rizzoli International Publications. terminal moraine which roughly divides the island in half along its IPCC (2013). Summary for Policymakers. Climatic Change: The length from west to east. In New York City, the terminal moraine, Physical Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fifth which forms a ridge, stretches across parts of Queens, Brooklyn Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate and into Staten Island. Change. Alexander, L., Allen, S., Bindoff, L., Church, J., and others, eds. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UK and New York, NY, USA. http://www.ipcc.ch/ (see section on cryosphere). Libbrecht, K., 2006. Ken Libbrecht’s Field Guide to Snowflakes. Libbrecht, K., 2003. The Snowflake: Winter’s Secret Beauty. Post, A. and Lachappelle, E.R., 2000. Glacier Ice. Toronto: U. of Toronto Press, with International Glaciological Society, Cambridge England.

Endnotes (1) The tetrahedral arrangement of oxygen and hydrogen atoms in ice resembles that of silicon and oxygen in quartz, and in silicate

minerals. O and H atoms in H2O molecules (connected by black lines) are linked to adjacent water molecules by H-bonds (white lines) (Fig. 2). The latter are weaker than the tight covalent bonds between atoms in a water molecule.

(2) In the hexagonal system, the c-axis (and the optical axis) Figure 6. Glacial Erratic in Central Park, Manhattan. Author’s photo. displays 6-fold symmetry. The main glide (basal) plane in ice (on which the crystals preferentially slide) is perpendicular to the c- axis. We build statues of snow, and weep to see them melt. Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832) (3) A thin layer of water at the base of the glacier also acts to lubricates it and facilitate flow.

Vanishing Ice (4) Jewelers’ rouge used to polish metals is finely powdered The world of ice is rapidly changing as the planet heats up. , or iron oxide, Fe2O3. Its hardness (5-6 on the Mohs scale, Almost half of the area once occupied by Alpine glaciers in 1850 where graphite =1 and diamond=10) is somewhat less than most had disappeared by 2000. The European Alps are not alone. typical rock-forming minerals (Mohs hardness ~6-7). Similar rollbacks have affected many widely separated glaciers across the globe: in southern Alaska, the Canadian Arctic, the 6 Bulletin of the New York Mineralogical Club June 2015

October Banquet Preview

Most people think that garnet is a red gemstone. However, garnet occurs in a wide variety of colors. Clockwise from the top left: red almandine (Madagascar), green tsavorite (Tanzania), yellow mali (Mali), orange spessartite (Mozambique), pink malaya (Tanzania), green merelani mint (Tanzania), red pyrope ( Coast), green demantoid (Namibia), purple rhodolite (Mozambique), and orange hessonite (Sri Lanka). Seven out of eight of the above are from Africa, the relatively new source of spectacular garnets. June 2015 Bulletin of the New York Mineralogical Club 7

Collector’s Guide to Herkimer Diamonds Beyond being a great book that is well worth the money, this By Michael R. Walter is an essential guide for every collector of the widely known and Reviewed by Johan Maertens desired quartz variety. The collecting techniques extend to other localities, adding to its value. The author writes from the heart and Written by Michael R. Walter from Geologic Desires, a from 35 years of experience of collecting minerals in the area. mineral dealership established in 1994. This 11 x 8½ inch The book opens with a short biographical sketch of Mr. softbound book has 96 pages, 210 color photos, 7 black and white Walter and closes with a list of references, and glossary. The book pictures, and tables and figures, including crystal sketches of is of good technical quality in terms of printing, illustration color, quartz crystals and maps crispness and paper. The pictorial soft cover of the book that I read showing several of the is of either poor print quality or out of focus. Mr. Walter can localities where Herkimer enhance the reader’s experience with internet supplements such as Diamonds have been pictures and collecting movies. collected. Published by Schiffer Publishing Company, Atglen, PA, December Another valued book by 2014for $19.99. ISBN13: 9780764347108 Michael Walter on regional A copy of this book (along with an actual Herkimer) collecting in New York is Field Collecting Minerals in will be offered at this year’s benefit auction! the Empire State: Stories of 2015 EFMLS Bulletin Article Contest Results Modern Day North Country The following 2014 works were submitted to the EFMLS for judging in Miners, published in 2010. the 2015 BEAC. Here are the results, which were announced at the 65th This a practical field Annual EFMLS Convention (March 28-29, 2015 in Hickory NC). collecting guide for ‚ Herkimer Diamonds, special Category: Advanced Articles formed quartz crystals, Uncovering Fabergé by Diana Jarrett Trophy! Argyle Mine Colored Diamonds by B. Deljanin 2nd Place collectable from several Diamonds: A Long Journey from the Deep by V. Gornitz 5th Place places in upstate New York State, USA. The guide includes topics of interest to anyone curious ‚ Category: Regular Articles about this unique form of quartz. The text is very readable from What Went Down in Tucson 2014 by Diana Jarrett 5th Place beginner to advanced hobby mineral collector. It avoids technical Famous That Aren’t by Mitch Portnoy 10th Place information for those who want to understand quartz in greater Braggite by Mitch Portnoy Certificate depth. Full color photos are spread throughout the book, along with ‚ Category: Poetry first hand experiences collecting many of the specimens featured. th Field photographs illustrate the informative text and enhance True Story by Otis Kidwell Burger 4 Place the reader’s experience. The text includes scientific information ‚ Category: Written Features regarding Herkimer Diamonds’ geological and mineralogical A Dazzling Display (Bulgari Exhibit) by Diana Jarrett 3rd Place history, where they can be collected, and descriptions of important A Cursed Specimen by Mitch Portnoy 4th Place historic locations. This book delves in collecting and locations in Dioptase, Hemimorphite & Wulfenite by Bill Shelton 8th Place a way that scientific texts cannot do. The author details specific methods used to effectively field collect Herkimer quartz crystals, ‚ Category: Special Publications with photos of mining methods and a discussion of collecting Stamp Album of the New York Mineralogical Club by Mitch Portnoy approaches. Current collecting mines are specified and the gear Introduction to Mineral Crystallography by Vivien Gornitz collectors need is detailed. Specimen preparation, mineral Both of these publications were in the “top 3” and were transferred to the collections, and associated minerals are recounted. AFMS for national judging. (Results announced in late October.) 8 Bulletin of the New York Mineralogical Club June 2015 2015 New York Mineralogical Club Benefit Auction Catalog Wednesday, June 10, 2015, Holiday Inn Midtown Manhattan, New York City Auction Procedures & Guidelines This catalog contains short descriptions of the items being offered. Fuller descriptions are on the labels included with the items themselves. In addition, more items will be donated after this catalog is printed, including on the evening of the auction itself. Please allow yourself enough time to see all the lots. The auction proceedings will not be interrupted to allow additional “personal” viewing. Each bidder will be assigned a number. This allows the club to keep track of the transactions, winning bids and successful bidders. Arrive early to sign up for one. The order of the items offered will be determined by the auctioneer although the auction will proceed primarily in the numerical lot order of this listing. Each lot will be offered with either a minimum bid or a starting bid determined by the auctioneer. Minimum bids may be determined by the auctioneer. Bids will be: in $1.00 increments to $10.00; in $2.00 increments to $20.00; in $5.00 increments thereafter. Some lots have a reserved price. Each lot will be distributed to the successful bidder immediately. Only after the auction is finished should the successful bidder reconcile with the club volunteers. (They are recording bids during the auction.) Cash or personal check only. No credit allowed. There are no consignment lots. All monies go to the club to support lectures, publications, prizes, the banquet, meeting room expenses, etc. Items of unusual quality, size or rarity are in bold. Have fun! Remember to Bring: Checkbook/Cash ! Auction Catalog ! Pen / Pencil ! Packing Materials ! Tote Bag(s) If you have any specific questions about any of the lots below, please contact Mitch.

22. and Bead Necklace Section 1: Desirable Collector Minerals 23. Blue Beaded 1. (Quartz)...... 24. Bendable & Wire Bracelet 2. Orange Quartz...... Orange River, South Africa 25. Pearl & Red Serpentine Necklace 3. Dolomite & Mimetite...... Tsumeb, Namibia 26. Crystal & Silver Chain Necklace 4. Schulenburgite (Rare!)...... Germany 27. Heavy Multibead Necklace 5. Mimetite...... Tsumeb, Namibia 28. & Silver Chain 6. Dolomite on Mottramite...... Tsumeb, Namibia 29. Mother-of-Pearl Pendant 7. Smithsonite...... Tsumeb, Namibia 30. Mother-of-Pearl Earrings 8. Calcite...... Tsumeb, Namibia 31. in Silver Ring 9. Gemmy Cerussite...... Tsumeb, Namibia 32. Lapis and Silver Earrings 10. Cerussite...... Tsumeb, Namibia 33. Earrings 11. Heulandite...... Poona, India 34. Multi-Gemstone Earrings 12. Dolomite...... Tsumeb, Namibia 35. Interchangeable Glass Heart Necklace 13. Calcite...... Tsumeb, Namibia

14. Calcite...... Joplin, Missouri Section 3: Gemstones, Cabs, Faceted Stones

15. Prehnite...... Paterson, New Jersey 36. (2) Faceted Pink/Orange ...... Brazil

16. Descloizite...... Nevada 37. (3) Faceted Multicolor Sapphires...... Brazil

17. Red & Apophyllite...... India 38. Polished Rhodonite (!)...... Russia

18. (1) Quartz & (1) Amethyst Crystal...... Misc 39. Ruby (!) in Feldspar...... India

40. (2) Tumbled Charoites (!)...... Russia Section 2: Jewelry 41. Large Pink Moonstone...... India 19. Gemstone Bead Necklace 42. Medium Pink Moonstone...... India 20. Amethyst Bead Necklace 43. Iridescent Moonstone...... India 21. Botswana Agate Necklace 44. Cat’s Eye Moonstone...... India June 2015 Bulletin of the New York Mineralogical Club 9

72. Mounted Thunderegg...... Oregon Section 4: Arts & Carvings 73. Volborthite & ...... Chile 45. Colorful Onyx Dish...... NA 74. Stilbite...... India 46. Carved Turtle...... NA 75. Muscovite...... Minas Gerais, Brazil 47. “Picture” Dendrites in Limestone...... China 76. HUGE Feldspar/Aquamarine...... Pakistan 48. “Picture” Dendrites in Limestone...... China 77. Duftite, Mottramite, Mimetite...... Tsumeb, Namibia 49. Carved & Polished Fluorite Obelisk...... NA 78. Quartz Cluster...... Rhinebeck, New York 50. Sliced Polished Amethyst Stalactite...... Uruguay 79. Shungite & Pyrite Cabochon...... Russia 51. Sliced Polished Amethyst Stalactite...... Uruguay 80. Tourmaline and Sphene Thumbnails...... Pakistan 52. Pyramids...... Misc 81. Ruby and Anapaite Thumbnails...... Russia Section 5: Books & Ephemera 82. Herkimer, Pyrite, Apatite Thumbnails...... Misc 53. Book & Specimens Section 8: Miscellaneous 54. (4) Mineralogical Record Collector Cards 83. Green Leather Jewelry Box 55. Rare and Beautiful Minerals by Hoffman 84. Glass Rhinoceros Figurine 56. Minerals and Gems by John S. White 85. 3D Laser Etched Crystal Paperweight 57. Minerals by George Robinson (signed) 86. Full Sheet Mineral Stamps (10¢) 58. Vintage Jewelry Design by Caroline Cox 87. Full Sheet Mineral Stamps (29¢) Section 6: Fossils, Meteorites, Science 88. Southwestern USA Fetish (Pipestone & )

59. Fossil Fish Plate...... Wyoming 89. Southwestern USA Fetish (Tagua Nut & Turquoise) 60. Enchodus Tooth...... NA Section 9: Late Arrivals 61. Meteorite...... Russia 90. 62. Amber Specimen...... Baltic 91. 63. ps. after Aragonite...... Bolivia 92. 64. Limonite ps. after Marcasite...... Egypt 93. 65. Trilobite Fossil...... NA 94. 66. Calcite Stalactite...... Mexico 95. 67. Florescent Fluorite...... Weardale, England 96. Section 7: Larger (& Smaller) Lots 97.

68. Celestite...... Madagascar 98.

69. ...... Madagascar 99.

70. Serpentine...... Pakistan/Afghanistan 100. 71. Scolecite...... India 10 Bulletin of the New York Mineralogical Club June 2015

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

Some Rock-Formers Scapolite, on the other hand, can be found not too far afield Using the terms olivine, scapolite and sphene (now titanite), from NYC. Bolton, Mass. and New York counties Lewis, Orange we find that they are all mineral groups. Further, titanite is still a and St. Lawrence have been documented as sources for scapolite. proper species name while the rest are not. Today, much olivine is At Franklin and Orange County, New Jersey you may find properly named forsterite or fayalite while scapolite is generally scapolite crystals. In the vicinity of Mt. Adam and Eve, we marialite or meionite. Here, we will be less strict and use the older collected some modestly good crystals embedded in marble – also, terminology. Crystal form lends itself to the names of scapolite and and chondrodite. Classic and fine examples are noted from sphene. Titanite hints of composition and olivine suggests the Brazil, Tanzania, Burma and Madagascar. Some are sufficient to color green. In any event, they are all major rock-forming minerals provide excellent gemstones that can be a beautiful shade of and sometimes we find nice specimens that end up gracing our yellow; white and pink are also known. Yellowish stones up to 100 collections. Titanite is easily found in good crystals while olivine carats or so occur as do white examples to nearly 300 carats. Pink is relatively rare as such. Scapolite is modestly available but good stones to 70 carats are recorded; a few cats-eye stones occur – they crystals are not very common. can be up to 50 carats or so. There are lots of localities: 787 just for forsterite, 817 for scapolite and 3,820 for titanite. Hence, really good crystal localities are both important to know about and few in number. Most olivine is in massive or granular form; some scapolite is massive while much titanite is in crystals albeit good or less so in quality. One would be wise to consult Rock Forming Minerals by Deer, Howie and Zusssman for a detailed account. A modern label would indicate forsterite (not olivine or peridot) as the species for a crystal from St. John’s Island which is the most famous classic locality. More recent localities that produce even larger, fine crystals include Sri Lanka, Myanmar and, most recent, Pakistan. I have seen wonderful forsterites with hairlike black inclusions of ludwigite that would be a great asset to most any collection from Pakistan. Very well-known gemmy Titanite (aka Sphene) from Arondu, Basha Valley, Baltistan, Pakistan nodules are seen from the San Carlos area in Arizona but I don’t think any decent crystals occur there. Large, altered crystals occur Titanite (formerly sphene) amongst this trio is most frequently in the Kovdor (Russia) and are similar to older pieces from found in decent crystals. Not too long ago, chrome-green examples Snarum, Norway. appeared from Russia and were widely accepted and sought after by collectors. When associated with pure white calcite or purplish amesite, they can be spectacular. Classic examples are noted from the Tilly Foster mine and Rossie, Gouvernor and Oxbow (all New York). The Grenville marble in Canada (i.e., Eganville) produces fine crystals. Franklin, New Jersey and adjacent Orange County, New York also yield fine samples. Mexico, Switzerland and the Urals (Russia) also have been productive for good specimens. I find titanite to be a minor but interesting gemstone. Colors range from colorless, red, yellow, green, blue, and brown to black – quite a variety. While infrequently seen above 10 carats, a few notable stones are documented. One stone, over 100 carats and a beautiful green, is known from India. Brazil yielded at least one stone over 50 carats. Rare red stones occur up to about 5 carats and chrome green examples are known up to about 3 carats. Pakistan has been a source in the last 20 years or so for some good stones as has Brazil and most recently Madagascar. Peridot, St John's Island (Zagbargad; Zabargad; Zebirget) Egypt , mostly yellow/white or white, is known in forsterite from New York and California; most forsterite does not Peridot as a gem. fluoresce. Scapolite is well-known to fluorescent collectors, This is a major colored gem – it is found in a lot of places but (especially as wernerite). It is found in New York, New Jersey the best are from Burma, Egypt and Arizona. The largest stones are (Franklin), Canada and Brazil. Expect yellow to orange responses about 300 carats or so; Arizona has occasional stones to 35 carats to UV light. Titanite from Franklin, Maine and Brazil will likely but anything over 10 carats is extraordinary. Yellowish examples exhibit a yellowish fluorescence; there are numerous other sources may be called chrysolite. The richest green I have seen is in certain of course. As we find with most minerals. SW is more likely to Burmese stones. Close, but not as lovely to my eye, we find cause a bright reaction – here we note scapolite as one of the few greenish stones from Pakistan. bright examples responsive to LW fluorescence. June 2015 Bulletin of the New York Mineralogical Club 11

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

Something to Wine About director, Pantone Color Institute, “Marsala is a subtly seductive Every year, lifestyle experts in the fields of jewelry, , shade, one that draws us in to its embracing warmth.” interior design and more anticipate the pronouncement of Pantone Expert Viewpoint Color Institute’s Color of the Year. Since 2000, this analyst has Gem cutters, designers and retailers have actually been offering been designating specific colors which express a sort of global a range of intense deep toned wine red colors for years. So they zeitgeist; colors that are resonating around the world and reflect have a cultivated sensibility on why Marsala resonates with their what people are looking for. But which came first, the prediction customers. Experts believe some of the reasons the Marsala hued or the trend? While the jury still debates those finer points, jewelry stones have continued to garner fans over time is due to their manufacturers and retailers are particularly keen to convert this flattering versatility. Most skin tones are complemented by this annual forecast into an inventory that sells. deep burgundy. According to award-winning custom gemstone For 2015, the color to is Marsala – a deeply robust wine cutter Lisa Elser, “I’ve found that the rich, dark Marsala tones can hue that brings an appealing accompaniment to in both be underwhelming in the case, but for many clients it comes alive fashion and accessories. Since manufacturers and retailers buy out on their skin. If I can get them to try it, they often fall in love.” for the next season, it’s critical to know where the color trend winds are blowing. No retailer wants to get caught with customers looking for goods they cannot deliver.

10.5ct Tanzanian rhodolite garnet; Courtesy Lisa Elser - Custom Cut Gems. Photo - Karlyn Bennett.

Elser’s prowess in cutting similar wine-red stones has landed Handcrafted pink tourmaline earrings with brilliant round diamonds in 18K rose gold. her in good company. In 2013, her 3rd Place winner in AGTA’s Courtesy Omi Privé. Cutting Edge competition, a 14.24 carat deep red tourmaline ended up in the Smithsonian National Gem and Mineral Interpret the Trends Collection alongside such luminaries as the Hope Diamond. As retailers, how do we interpret the Marsala hue that Pantone Imaginative designers consider 2015's Color of the Year as a praises? According to the institute, Marsala is “a naturally robust launching point for creativity. Niveet Nagpal, president and head and earthy wine red . . . enriching our minds, bodies and souls.” designer of Omi Privé is celebrated for creating timeless designs That’s a great place to start since there’s a strong emotional using a variety of well thought out colors. “I don’t like to be component to jewelry we sell. After all, jewelry was created to boxed in by one “Color of the Year” when creating my designs. connect the wearer to the piece, even the giver to the fortunate I prefer to craft pieces with bold and vibrant , blues and recipient. We like to say that a piece of jewelry or even a gemstone pinks set in warmer metals including yellow and rose gold. Not ‘speaks’ to someone; creating a highly mesmeric attraction between only do they stand on their own, but they complement the 2015 a jewelry item and the consumer. Color of the Year as well.” a broad glance around the natural world, we discover Allen Dolberg, principal at Zoma Color, views Marsala as a countless instances where a version of the Marsala color creates a fashion forward choice well suited to other popular colored potent draw for people. Besides the rich fortified wine bearing the stones. “Continuing the earth-tone trend that features morganite Marsala moniker, we see pomegranates, deep-toned berries, roses, and peach sapphire, our design palette is shifting to a richer and warm spices and so on. According to Leatrice Eiseman, executive more robust hue of reddish brown, in line with Pantone’s Color of 12 Bulletin of the New York Mineralogical Club June 2015 the Year - Marsala.” So retailers like Zoma Color believe Marsala’s Rockhounds We Love hue supports other good sellers that their customers already favor. The Grand Poobah of international gem bazaars occurs every “Marsala is a pleasant complement to the peachy tones we have winter in Tucson AZ. Dealers, designers, retailers and collectors focused on these last few seasons,” he reveals. from around the world descend upon this dusty desert town for a few weeks of raucous finagling and just plain stone love. What happens in Tucson . . . well it doesn't stay there, that's for sure. What happens there portends the next season's trends in designer jewelry everywhere. And this year it was all about the exotic gemstones. Imaginative Florida based jewelry artist Pamela Huizenga loves those quirky baubles too and she also knows what sophisticated gem enthusiasts crave. Picky, Picky. Picky How does she select the stones destined for her alluring collections? "Most of the time I see something that I become absolutely obsessed with, like fossilized coral or dendrite agate, and I know that I must own as much of it as I can find," she tells us. And on occasion, the creative spirit flows another way. "There are times when I design something and simply know ... I must find a perfect spinel. Or I wonder, where can I find an amazing carved Burmese red spinel and diamonds in 18K yellow gold; Courtesy Zoma Color. aquamarine? I am a bonafide rock hound, picking up pebbles on mountain hikes and wondering what can I do with this?" A Seasonless Choice Complex and charismatic, the Marsala vibe is not a one-season wonder. Your customers can experience its versatility by pairing it with white, off white, cream and many pastels for year-round enjoyment. The unifying Marsala tone finds its place as a natural earthy color seen in the most casual of styles. But its bold full- bodied tint also creates a sophisticated vibe with designer wear. Omi Privé president Nagpal elaborates. “Because Marsala can be considered almost a “neutral” like grey or black, it pairs well with any bright color year for round utility. For example, we see it as the 18K yellow gold bracelet with turritella, aquamarine, diamond framed fossilized coral, perfect complement to bright blues in the summer or intense pinks freshwater baroque pearl, Trilobite fossil, Alaskan fossilized coral, and cameo; and reds in fall.” Courtesy Pamela Huizenga Don’t overlook the compatibility this color provides for the re- Collectors & the Stones they Adore emergence of yellow gold as a favored metal choice, and the white- Savvy collectors are drawn to Huizenga’s exquisite design hot trend for rose gold. “Our focus is on deep, scarlet-red spinel sense, the original voice she expresses in each piece, and the and rusty-rose in rose gold in our newest quality inherent in every Made in the USA item. collection,” explained Dolberg. The winning combination of chic style and unusual Your gemstone choices are legion with this elegant color. gemstones has created devotees of Huizenga’s work. "I have Tourmaline, spinel, , garnet, , and saturated sunstone collectors who have been buying from me for several years. When provide exciting options for your style conscious clientele. Let the I see one of them at a trunk show wearing several pieces of my cultivated taste for deep wine colors known as Marsala find their jewelry, I'm humbled." Discover Pamela Huizenga's original way into your customers’ collection in 2015. Cheers! pieces at Shannon Green Collection–one of our town's most elegant destinations with artful jewelry for trendsetting collectors.

8.45 Square cushion Tanzanian zircon, slightly heated low temperature; Courtesy Tairona Co. Pamela Huizenga’s multicolor gemstone bracelet June 2015 Bulletin of the New York Mineralogical Club 13

The World's Biggest Scientific Instrument Model. Scientists were both elated and a little let down by this Resumes discovery: elated because they confirmed that the Standard Model By Don Lincoln worked very well, but a little let down because not it would We live in a land of false superlatives, with advertisements have been even more exciting. It would have meant that we’d have constantly hyping this product or that as bigger, more powerful and to rewrite our theories and, in doing so, we’d have learned a bit somehow better. It’s easy to get jaded and ignore anyone who is more about the rules that govern the cosmos. However, the making a claim that something is utterly amazing. universe isn’t concerned with the opinion of scientists. It simply is what it is and we must discover its secrets. While the Standard Model is an extraordinary theory, it is clearly incomplete. There are still mysteries to solve. For instance, our familiar world made of atoms needs only two quarks and one lepton, yet we’ve discovered three times what is needed. Why? Nobody knows. Another mystery invokes Einstein’s equation E = mc2, which is sometimes misstated as saying that energy can convert into matter and back. While that statement is true in spirit, when we convert energy into matter, we also make an equal quantity of an antagonistic substance called antimatter. Touch matter and antimatter together, and it annihilates back into energy. The mystery of antimatter is that we believe that when the However, in a rare turn of truth in advertising, we live in a universe was just formed, it was full of energy. As it expanded and time in which scientists are about to embark on a journey that cooled, the energy should have converted into matter and actually really is utterly amazing. Beginning in just a few days, antimatter in equal quantities. Yet when you look throughout the physicists working at the CERN laboratory in Switzerland will cosmos as far as our most powerful accelerators can look you see start commissioning the largest and most powerful particle nothing but matter. So where did the antimatter go? Again, nobody accelerator ever built – the Large Hadron Collider or LHC. This knows. facility will shed light on some of the oldest questions ever asked A third mystery comes from astronomy. When we turn our by mankind, questions of the deepest fabric of reality and the very eyes to the heavens, we see that galaxies spin faster than can be origins of the universe itself. These are very impressive claims accounted for by the observed matter and the known laws of indeed and it is fair to wonder if the machine can deliver on it. gravity. The most popular idea to solve this curiosity invokes a So what is the LHC? It is a huge ring, 17 miles (27 km) in hitherto-unseen kind of matter called dark matter. While dark circumference. In it, two beams of protons are accelerated in matter remains an unproven hypothesis, if it exists, the LHC might opposite directions until they are traveling at nearly the speed of be able to make it. In a very real sense, the LHC research program light, which is 186,000 miles per second (300,000 km/s). These might explain the night sky. beams are then made to collide inside four huge detectors. The These are but a few of the unsolved mysteries that the LHC temperatures in these collisions are mind-boggling, well over can investigate. During the first running period (2010 - 2012), the 100,000 times hotter than the center of the sun. These temperatures LHC studied these big questions and, with the discovery of the were last prevalent throughout the universe about a tenth of a Higgs boson, made possible its first Nobel Prize. When the trillionth of a second after the Big Bang. In a very real sense, machine is fully operational early this summer, it will collide scientists are recreating the conditions of the very birth of the beams with 62 percent more energy and many more times per universe itself and studying it using the most sophisticated second. We scientists can’t wait. The summer of 2015 will be detection equipment ever devised. This is simply the first when we launch off into the unknown, studying realms never superlative on which this equipment can deliver. before explored by mankind. We will tease out a few more of By accelerating protons to collide at the outrageous energy of nature’s elusive mysteries and perhaps learn the answers to 13 trillion electron volts, scientists can study objects smaller than timeless questions. one ten thousandth the size of a proton. Matter consists of a series No hype. Just fact. of structures, ever decreasing in size: from our familiar world, to Don Lincoln is a LHC physics researcher and science popularizer. molecules and then atoms. Peering at smaller structures still, we He writes books and magazines, makes videos, and uses all media have established that atoms are made of protons, neutrons and to bring science to the public. electrons. Over the last few decades, we have demonstrated that Source: Huffington Post Science March 21, 2015 protons and neutrons are made of even smaller particles called Geologists May Have Just Discovered a New quarks. In fact, the last several decades, scientists have thoroughly Layer of Earth's Mantle studied the quarks and their cousins the leptons (of which the By Jacqueline Howard electron is the most familiar). The theory that describes the nature Have geologists just discovered a new layer of Earth's of these tiny building blocks is called the Standard Model of interior? Particle physics and it is the most successful description of the A new study suggests that a previously unknown rocky layer underpinnings of the universe . . . the very fabric of reality . . . ever may be lurking about 930 miles beneath our feet – and evidence devised. And the LHC is poised to dig deeper, looking for even suggests that it's significantly stiffer than similar layers, which smaller structures and even more fundamental rules that govern could help explain earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. them. So we see that a second superlative also applies. “The Earth has many layers, like an onion,” study co-author The LHC has run before, albeit at only about sixty percent of Dr. Lowell Miyagi, an assistant professor of geology and the energy it is about to achieve. During that time, it discovered the geophysics at the University of Utah, said in a written statement. Higgs boson, which was the last missing piece of the Standard “Most layers are defined by the minerals that are present. 14 Bulletin of the New York Mineralogical Club June 2015

Essentially, we have discovered a new layer in the Earth. This America’s Pacific coast. This observation has puzzled layer isn’t defined by the minerals present, but by the strength of seismologists for quite some time, but in the last year, there is new these minerals.” consensus from seismologists that most slabs pool.”

An illustration of Earth's interior structure, showing geological layers according to scale - including the mantle, located beneath Earth's thin crust and above the core. | Johan Swanepoel via Getty Images

The Pressure Is On For the study, the researchers used a device known as a diamond anvil to simulate how the mineral ferropericlase reacts to high pressure. Ferropericlase is abundant in the Earth's mantle, the layer that's sandwiched between our planet's core and the thin crust An illustration of a slab of rock sinking through the upper mantle above, on which we live. through the boundary between the upper and lower mantle at 410 miles depth, then stalling and pooling at a depth of 930 miles. The finding also suggests that the Earth's interior is hotter than previously believed at that depth below the planet's surface. Miyagi said in the statement that he had calculated that the average temperature at the boundary of the upper and lower mantle is about 2,800 º Fahrenheit – and a scorching 3,900º F at the deeper, more viscous layer. “If you decrease the ability of the rock in the mantle to mix, it’s also harder for heat to get out of the Earth, which could mean Earth’s interior is hotter than we think,” he said. The study was published online in the journal Nature Geoscience on March 23, 2015. Source: The Huffington Post 03/24/2015

Curiosity Rover Finds Nitrogen on Mars Further Evidence That the Red Planet was “Habitable for Life” By Dominique Mosbergen Another ingredient for life has been found on Mars. Miyagi holding a press that houses the diamond anvil, in which minerals can be squeezed at pressures akin to those deep within the Earth. NASA announced this week that the Curiosity rover has discovered life-sustaining nitrogen on the Red Planet for the first What did the researchers find? The stiffness, or viscosity, of time. the mineral increased threefold by the time it was subjected to By drilling into Martian rocks, the rover is said to have located pressure equal to what's found in the lower mantle (930 miles evidence of nitrates – compounds that contain nitrogen “in a form below Earth's surface) compared to the pressure at the boundary of that can be used by living organisms.” Nitrogen, as Discovery the upper and lower mantle (410 miles beneath the surface). When News notes, is essential for life, as it’s a building block of RNA the researchers mixed ferropericlase with bridgmanite (another and DNA. mineral found in the lower mantle), the simulation showed that its The finding, NASA said, “adds to the evidence that ancient stiffness at 930 miles was 300 times greater than at 410 miles. Mars was habitable for life.” The viscosity increase came as a surprise, since it was The space agency was quick to note that "there is no evidence previously thought that viscosity varied only slightly at different to suggest that the fixed nitrogen molecules found by the team pressures and temperatures in the planet’s interior. were created by life.” The Earthquake Connection “The surface of Mars is inhospitable for known forms of life,” The new finding may help explain why many slabs of rock NASA said. that move and shift beneath Earth's surface stall or temporarily get Instead, the agency believe the nitrates are ancient and “likely stuck at around 930 miles underground – a phenomenon thought came from non-biological processes like meteorite impacts and to cause earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, The Salt Lake lightning in Mars’ distant past.” Tribune reported. Curiosity has previously found evidence of the other key “The result was exciting,” Miyagi said in the statement. “In ingredients for life, including organic molecules and liquid water. fact, previous seismic images show that many slabs appear to Source: The Huffington Post 03/25/2015 ‘pool’ around 930 miles, including under Indonesia and South June 2015 Bulletin of the New York Mineralogical Club 15

2015-16 Club Calendar Date Event Location Remarks & Information

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

July ? Officers’ Planning Meeting TBD Details to Follow

Open House August ? Details to Follow Alla Priceman, Larchmont, NY

Special Lecture: Steve Okulewicz – “Digging September 9 Meeting at 6:45 Holiday Inn Midtown Gold in Alaska”

Theme: NYC Subway / Garnet October 7 Annual Banquet Holiday Inn Midtown Lots More Details to Follow

Special Lecture: Fluorescence ( H. Heitner ) & November 11 Meeting at 6:45 Holiday Inn Midtown Related Special Demo ( R. Bostwick )

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

Special Lecture: Mitch Portnoy– “Pretty in January 2016 Meeting at 6:45 Holiday Inn Midtown Pink - The Joys of Tennessee Marble”

February Meeting at 6:45 Holiday Inn Midtown Annual Members’ Show & Tell 2015-16 Show or Event Calendar Date Event Location Remarks & Information

Mineral, Gem, Jewelry & Museum Village, 1010 Rt. 17M, Info: George Gardianos, Show Chairman at June 6-7 Fossil Sell & Swap Monroe, Orange Co., NY (845) 683-1167

United Methodist Church, New Show! Info: (315) 717-4664 or July 18-19 Herkimer Gem Show 2015 Herkimer, NY [email protected]

Cutchogue East Elementary July 25-26 LIMAGS Mineral Show New Location! School, Cutchogue, NY

East Coast Gem, Mineral & Immense show with 200 dealers, wholesale August 7-9 West Springfield, Massachusetts Fossil Show section, lectures, train/bus access from NYC

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

Fall New York City Gem, Grand Ballroom, Holiday Inn 20+ diverse dealers; lectures; wholesale November 14-15 Mineral & Fossil Show Midtown, New York City section (with credentials); Club Booth

July 27- Aug 1, 2016 AFMS Convention/Show Albany, Oregon Details to Follow

October 21-23 EFMLS Convention/Show Rochester, New York Article Contest Results; Details to Follow Mineral Clubs & Other Institutions If you would like your mineral show included here, please let us know at least 2-3 months in advance! Also, for more extensive national and regional show information check online: AFMS Website: http://www.amfed.org and/or the EFMLS Website: http://www.amfed.org/efmls The New York Mineralogical Club, Inc. Founded in 1886 for the purpose of increasing interest in the science of mineralogy through the collecting, describing and displaying of minerals and associated gemstones. P.O. Box 77, Planetarium Station, New York City, New York, 10024-0077, http://www.nymineralclub.org 2015 Executive 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, 57th Street 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 open at 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 Mineralogical Club, 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 usage only 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 Mineralogical Club are not responsible for the accuracy or authenticity of information or information in articles accepted for publication, nor are the expressed opinions necessarily those of the officers of the New York Mineralogical Club, Inc.

Annual Benefit Auction: Wednesday Evening, June 10, 2015 Mezzanine C, Holiday Inn Midtown Manhattan (57th St. & Tenth Avenue), New York City Auction Lot Viewing from 5:00 - 6:00 p.m. — Auction Proceedings from 6:15 - 9:00 p.m.

New York Mineralogical Club, Inc. Mitchell Portnoy, Bulletin Editor P.O. Box 77, Planetarium Station New York City, New York 10024-0077

FIRST CLASS

George F. Kunz Founder