Zum Inhalt der Seite gehen

Suche

Beiträge, die mit MinCup23 getaggt sind


What’s that? #MinCup23 Round 1 Match 4 already??

It’s the soft dark beauty of #Stibnite vs the vibrant blue of #Sodalite. Both are bewitching, but only one can continue!

Vote: https://www.mineralcup.org/2023/campaigns/round-1-match-4

Results: https://www.mineralcup.org/results/round-1-match-4


#MinCup23 Asparagus has a special place in the heart of us Germans, so I was happy to learn that there is a greenish variety of #fluoroapatite that is called Spargelstein (asparagus stone). Also it shows luminescence under UV light. Very pretty, but...#Zircon is a colorful gemstone which is host matrix for e.g. rare earth elements and uranium and thorium, which makes zircons extremely useful for geochronology. And it can be produced synthetically e.g. for jewellery.
📷 Apatite: Didier Descouens



Tick-took, tick-tick, it’s time to break your heart with #MinCup23 Round 1 Match 3: #Fluorapatite v #Zircon!

It’s shiny shark teeth vs the Time Lord. You have 24 hours.

Vote: https://www.mineralcup.org/2023/campaigns/round-1-match-3

Check results: https://www.mineralcup.org/results/round-1-match-3


There is a "Greek myth" going around in esoteric circles about Dionysus and Amethyst, but it's actually a 17th century fakelore invention. Probably based on this belief.

Fun fact, the Hungarian version of D&D had gemstone-based magic, and lucky characters got to use amethyst to purify alcoholic drinks 😄

#ttrpg #DnD #folklore #minerals #MinCup23 #mythology


Amethyst is a purple variety of quartz whose colour is caused by iron replacing silicon and then exposure to gamma radiation. Its name comes from the Greek amethystos (not drunk) - it was thought that amethyst could cure drunkenness 🥴 #TeamQuartz #MinCup23 #minerals #mineral @MineralCup 10/?
A cluster of shiny purple amethyst crystals.

Label text: Quartz var. amethyst SiO2. South America. BIRUG 29432.


Quartz often contains inclusions of other minerals, such as this rutilated quartz glowing in the morning sunshine in the NHM London Mineral Gallery 🌟

Support quartz and vote for it here: https://mineralcup.org/2023/campaigns/round-1-match-2

#TeamQuartz #MinCup23 #mineral #minerals @MineralCup 9/?
A hexagonal crystal of quartz filled with golden needles of rutile. There are so many rutile needles inside, it almost looks like a mass of golden hair.

Label text: Fine bronze needles in quartz (Venus hair stone). Piz Aul, Switzerland.


This is a pretty close matchup! Whether you are #TeamCinnabar or #TeamQuartz, campaign and VOTE! It could go either way at this point! Your team is counting on you! #MinCup23

Vote here: https://www.mineralcup.org/2023/campaigns/round-1-match-2

View results here: https://www.mineralcup.org/results/round-1-match-2


There is a lovely Hungarian poem about a family of clocks. The great-granddad was an hourglass, then there are clock towers, and alarm clocks, and finally the great-granddaughter is a quartz clock, and the line is "she has a grain of old sand in her heart." 🥰
#MinCup23 #quartz #poetry


This website provides a great summary of how quartz clocks work: http://explainthatstuff.com/quartzclockwatch.html

So remember, whenever you check the time, you should thank the tiny little quartz crystal vibrating thousands of times a second!

Show your appreciation for quartz by voting here: https://www.mineralcup.org/2023/campaigns/round-1-match-2

#TeamQuartz #MinCup23 #minerals #mineral 8/?


A quartz oscillator is used to regulate time inside most watches and clocks. This is because quartz is piezoelectric, which means that when it’s squeezed, it generates an electric current. This also works the other way round too: when an electric current passes through it, it vibrates at a certain frequency. The quartz oscillator is circled in the picture below

Original photo © Garitzko: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Armbanduhr_Rueckseite.jpg
#TeamQuartz #MinCup23 #minerals #mineral @MineralCup 6/?
The inside of a basic ISA K63 low priced quartz wristwatch movement. Bottom right quartz crystal oscillator (circled in red). Bottom left button cell watch battery. Top right oscillator counter. Top left the coil of the stepper motor that powers the watch hands.


Just look at all the detail you can carve into quartz! This is the Lothair Crystal, a 11.5cm wide piece of rock crystal engraved with scenes from a biblical story

© Ashley Van Haeften: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lothair_Crystal

Make sure you vote for quartz here: https://www.mineralcup.org/2023/campaigns/round-1-match-2

#TeamQuartz #MinCup23 #minerals #mineral @MineralCup 5/?
A circular piece of colourless quartz mounted in an ornate golden frame. There are several scenes carved into the quartz showing people interacting with each other.


Art lovers! Vote quartz! There's a long history of quartz being carved into beautiful pieces.

Have you ever visited a museum or gallery and seen something carved out of rock crystal? Well that's just a colourless variety of quartz. This is a Fatimid (#Egyptian) jug carved from quartz, late 10th to early 11th century

Photo © Dallas Museum of Art

#TeamQuartz #MinCup23 #art #minerals #mineral @MineralCup 4/?
A jug carved from colourless quartz. There are various animals and floral patterns carved into the quartz. The base, handle and lid/spout are made of gold with colourful enamelling.


I know many people are upset ice didn't make it into #MinCup23. Well, why not vote #TeamQuartz? The oldest name for quartz is the Greek word κρύσταλλος (kristallos) which was first used 300-325 BCE. Kristallos means cold - it was believed that crystals were a type of ice that couldn't melt because it was made by the gods ❄❄❄

Vote for quartz here! https://www.mineralcup.org/2023/campaigns/round-1-match-2

#geology #mineral #minerals @MineralCup 3/?


A fact for the #etymology nerds! The word quartz describes one of its physical properties. It comes from the German word "Quarz" which has origins in various Slavic words for "hard" (e.g., Czech "tvrdý", Polish "twardy", Serbian/Croatian "tvrd"). Quartz is a pretty hard mineral as it's 7 on the Mohs hardness scale

#mineral #minerals #MinCup23 #TeamQuartz @MineralCup 2/?
The Mohs hardness scale. The left column shows the hardness of minerals: Talc is 1, gypsum is 2, calcite is 3, fluorite is 4, apatite is 5, orthoclase is 6, quartz is 7, topaz is 8, corundum is 9, diamond is 10.

The right hand column shows the hardness of various everyday objects: A fingernail is 2.5, a copper penny is 3.5, a knife/glass plate is 5.5, a steel nail is 6.5, a masonry drill bit is 8.5.


Cinnabar has a slight lead over quartz and I'm not happy about that! This is the start of a *long* thread for #TeamQuartz which I'll be updating throughout the day.

Quartz is my all time favourite mineral. Despite its simple formula (SiO2), it can be found in a variety of colours and morphologies 1/?

Vote for quartz here: https://www.mineralcup.org/2023/campaigns/round-1-match-2

#MinCup23 #minerals #mineral #quartz @MineralCup
A big, round hollow rock (geode). The vanity is filled with white quartz crystals, and around the outer rims are grey coloured bands of agate.
Several crystals of pale purple amethyst rising out of a groundmass. The crystals are hexagonal prisms with pointed pyramidal tips.
A lump of colourless and transparent quartz filled with black needles of tourmaline. Label text: Quartz enclosing long needle-like tourmaline crystals. Locality unknown.
A brown polished slab of tiger's eye showing an optical effect called chatoyancy, where there are bands of gold which appear to glow.


C'mon folks, go to #MineralCup at https://www.mineralcup.org/2023/campaigns/round-1-match-2 and put your vote in for #Quartz! Quartz is the working stiff of #Minerals, the everyman, it's the Joad family of minerals, basically. Sure #cinnabar is pretty, it's splashy, and is an important mercury ore mineral, it's worthy, but can you count on it when the chips are down and you need to build a road, or make a sandcastle? Why do these people hate #sandcastles? That's like hating #kittens. #MinCup23 #TeamQuartz


As for quartz, here is a Mansi legend about the origin of rock crystals in the Urals. It tells of a chief who built a tower of clear crystal, which a horde of giants shattered, trying to kidnap the chief's daughter. With the help of spirits, the attackers were turned into pillars of stone.

I blogged about the story here
https://multicoloreddiary.blogspot.com/2022/04/q-is-for-quartz-crystals-gemstone.html?m=1

#folklore #folktales #MinCup23 #quartz


Cinnabar in Chinese folklore was associated with the Vermilion Bird of the South, and one of the main ingredients of immortality pills in Chinese alchemy (ironically, since it's toxic, and if you eat it you'll get the opposite of immortal...)

#folklore #cinnabar #MinCup23


There is an Oroqen folktale about a hero named Silteken, who goes out to avenge his father's death on a 100-eyed monster. He loses the first fight and dies.

However, his clever horse goes on a quest to kidnap a (willing) princess from her wedding along with her dowry of cinnabar, which can be used to bring the dead back to life.

Revived with cinnabar by his beloved, Silteken defeats the monster.

#folktales #folklore #cinnabar #MinCup23


There is a Japanese folktale about two brothers who go out to gather cinnabar every day from a pond.
The cruel younger brother decides he wants to keep all the valuable cinnabar to himself. He constructs a fake dragon from lacquered bowls to scare his elder brother away from the pond.

However, one day as he goes to collect cinnabar again, the dragon comes to life and swallows him.

#folktales #cinnabar #MinCup23


Today's #MinCup23 vote is between cinnabar and quartz. This is a tough one! Going on folklore, both have a whole lot to offer.

I'll make this a thread and share some stories.

🧵

#folklore #folktales #mythology #minerals


It’s #MinCup23 Round 1 Match 2!

It’s heavy-hitters #Cinnabar v #Quartz. We know you love them both, but you need to decide. One moves to Round 2. The other is eliminated, never to be seen in #MinCup again (unless it wins a future play-in round).

VOTE! https://www.mineralcup.org/2023/campaigns/round-1-match-2


It looks like #Kaolinite fans are #MinCup veterans who started their campaign strong (some even early to recruit support over the last few days!), while #MinCup23 newbie #moissanite took longer to find fans outside those who have worked with it before


We're into the final few hours of voting in the first match of #MinCup23

Who will be the first mineral to go through to Round 2? It's looking close at the moment. Cast your vote here: https://www.mineralcup.org/2023/campaigns/campaigns/campaigns/round-1-match

Check which mineral is in the lead here: https://www.mineralcup.org/results/round-1-match-1
#moissanite #kaolinite


We have #Moissanite crystals that formed in other stars! Dissolve some meteorites almost completely, and some of the residue is SiC -these grains have carbon and silicon isotopes produced in red giant stars and supernova; from before our solar system formed. See Larry Nittler's (now at Arizona State University #ASU) presentation:
https://www.oca.eu/images/LAGRANGE/EcolesThematiques/Houches_2017/pdf/5a_Presolar_grains_Nittler.pdf
#MinCup23 #Cosmochemistry #Stardust


It’s September somewhere! (ie, in Greenwich, the arbitrary start of time). That means it’s MINERAL CUP!!!!

32 minerals enter, but only one can be #MinCup23 Champion.

Round 1 Match 1 starts now:

https://www.mineralcup.org/2023/campaigns/campaigns/campaigns/round-1-match


Ta-dah! Our test-vote now has live-updating results! https://www.mineralcup.org/results/test-vote

This year is going to be chaotic and a bit ugly, but #MinCup23 is coming together. First match starts 00:00 GMT on September 1st


Sapphirine's type locality is in western Greenland, south of Nuuk, which is where the mineral was discovered in 1809 by Karl Giesecke.

It was named due to its blue color being similar to sapphire, a different, associated mineral (#corundum, aluminum oxide).

An amazing amount of information can be found about #sapphirine at MinDat:
https://www.mindat.org/min-3531.html
a non-profit mineral data base founded in 2000 by Jolyon Ralph (who is on Mastodon at @jolyon).

#MinCup23 #Minerals #Greenland
A crop of a photo of a rock containing blue sapphirine (along with muscovite and quartz). From near Nuuk, Greenland.
https://www.mindat.org/photo-1122517.html
copyright Harold Moritz


Honestly I don't even have strong allegiances for #MinCup23. I am just looking forward to geologists and mineral enthusiasts telling me cool stuff to convince me about the votes 😄 I love seeing people geek out about things.

#minerals #geology #CoolStuff


We have a bracket!!

#MinCup23 is coming fast and we’re scrambling to get ready. Our website has this year’s mineral list, starting bracket, and even a test vote if you want to warm up your polling muscles: https://www.mineralcup.org/
A 32-mineral elimination bracket for Mineral Cup 2023. From top to bottom in pairs alternating from left to right, the competitors are Moissanite vs Kaolinite, Cinnabar vs Quartz, Fluorapatite vs Zircon, Stibnite vs Sodalite, Dioptase vs Crocoite, Topaz vs Goethite, Vivianite vs Cavansite, Corundum vs Lawsonite, Mercury vs Sepiolite, Ammineite vs Adamite, Calcite vs Opal, Galena vs Perovskite, Cacoxenite vs Bischofite, Arsenuranospathite vs Neptunite, Sapphirine vs Kyanite, and Rhodochrosite vs Lizardite.


Social media’s hottest competition, Mineral Cup, is coming September 1st. No mineral knowledge is necessary, just a desire to learn and to have fun while doing so. We ❤️ newbies! Follow @MineralCup and use the hashtag #MinCup23 when you campaign. Below is last year’s champion - fluorite! Please boost to reach new players across the Fediverse.

Mineral list for 2023 to be released soon! 2023 Mineral Cup bracket to be released by Monday.
Rainbow colored cubic zoned fluorite, Mineral Cup 2022 Champion!
Mineral Cup 2022 bracket. Fluorite is the winner!