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Post by 150FromFundy on Apr 19, 2014 13:43:08 GMT -5
Good Friday rock hounding at Partridge Island, Parrsboro turned out to be just that. I planned on a few hours of collecting agates and jaspers for cabs and tumbling but stumbled over something a little bit better than that. The area is also a famous collecting ground for a number of zeolites. Problem is, between falling a few hundred feet from a cliff face and then being subjected to the tide cycles along the beach, the zeolites are usually severely damaged. They tend to be soft (Mohs 3.5), tend to be brittle, and are easily damaged. I noticed a half buried piece in the basalt rubble at the base of the cliff and started digging with my pick and paws. What I though was a loose piece turned out to be a highly fractured vug, so I dug like a beach goffer and extacted what I could. I pulled out a dozen hand sized specimens and two “killer” pieces. These are the hand sized pieces photographed under less than perfect light. This is hydrous calcium, sodium, aluminium silicate (Ca,Na) 3Al 5(Al,Si)Si 14O 40•15H 2O – a.k.a. Stilbite, which is Nova Scotia’s provincial mineral. Darryl.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Apr 19, 2014 15:35:59 GMT -5
wow, that is cool. This is a new one for me. Nice specimens.
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Post by jakesrocks on Apr 19, 2014 15:47:02 GMT -5
Very nice Stilbite specimens.
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quartz
Cave Dweller
breakin' rocks in the hot sun
Member since February 2010
Posts: 3,341
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Post by quartz on Apr 19, 2014 22:28:28 GMT -5
Great find, and sounds like a very fortunate one too. Thanks for the show.
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jollyrockhound
spending too much on rocks
Member since March 2013
Posts: 409
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Post by jollyrockhound on Apr 21, 2014 11:31:19 GMT -5
Very nice Stilbite specimens. yes love how those crystals are arranged!
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Post by Hard Rock Cafe on Apr 21, 2014 12:43:54 GMT -5
Congrats Darryl! It's so much more fun to find something like that than quartz...
Chuck
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Post by jakesrocks on Apr 21, 2014 13:13:48 GMT -5
Darryl, would you consider selling one of your smaller specimens ? It's something I don't have in my collection yet.
Don
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Post by 150FromFundy on Apr 21, 2014 20:11:32 GMT -5
Don: I PM'ed you. Darryl.
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Post by gingerkid on Apr 23, 2014 12:02:50 GMT -5
150FromFundy, do any of your stilbites have calcite and/or heulandite with them?
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Post by 150FromFundy on Apr 23, 2014 15:50:01 GMT -5
gingerkid:
Most of the zeolites here occurr along with other family memebrs. It is actually somewhat rare to find a specimen of just one mineral as I have posted. We have several members of the zeolite family along the Bay. Some of the more common finds include Stilbite, Heulandite, Chabazite, Apophylite, Gmelinite, Analcime, Mordenite, Celadonite, etc. Often it is difficult to definatively put a label on them without laboratory analysis. Stilbite, Heulandite/Chabazite and Calcite are a common combination around Parrsboro shores.
My other post on Partridge Island has a photo of a vug containing (I think) the combination in your question.
Darryl.
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