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Beiträge, die mit MinCup23 getaggt sind


They just announced Mineral and Fossil of the Year 2024 in Hungary! Mineral is corundum, and fossil is the woolly mammoth.
Also, Mineral Resource of the Year will be copper.

Yay!

#minerals #MinCup23 #fossils #gems


After an intense match with 3757 votes, perpetual runner-up #Zircon takes the #MinCup23 Championship by just 61 votes over #Perovskite!
Updated bracket with Zircon winning the 2023 Mineral Cup championship title


I can't believe we already got to the #MinCup23 finals! Zircon gets my folklore vote, strengthened by excellent campaigning by the Time Lord team 😄

What the heck am I gonna read campaigns about for the next 11 months?...

Thank you, MinCup team, you are the best! 😊


And one more story from Timelord #zircon for the #MinCup23 Grand Final – one I just learnt last year thanks to the Mineral Cup and Caroline Thaler (https://blog.eag.eu.com/news/caroline-thaler-climate-tech-project-entrepreneur/). This one blew me away because it was such an unexpected link to #zircon and has some intriguing implications…

This story has us diving into the Adriatic Sea to look at some very small creatures called foraminifera. Foraminifera are these amazing single-celled organisms that feed with strands of ectoplasm from their cell wall and often build a small shell around themselves from various materials. The microscopic shells can be important markers in the sedimentary record for time and environmental conditions. (I still fondly remember a University undergrad assignment being amazed by the diversity of shell types while spending hours picking through a collection of foraminifera shells under a microscope. It was also a very Zen exercise and pretty everyone in the class spent extra time doing it…).

Somewhere, right now, in the Adriatic Sea there is a species of benthic foraminifera called Psammophaga zirconia that are literally surrounding themselves with #zircon grains. P. zirconia’s specialty is picking zircon grains in the sediment to make it’s shell (see the Sabbatini et al 2016 paper at https://www.researchgate.net/publication/299381635_Selective_zircon_accumulation_in_a_new_benthic_foraminifer_Psammophaga_zircona_sp_nov). Not quite sure why, perhaps it’s a buoyancy thing to pick denser minerals stay anchored on the sea floor, but P. zirconia is going to a lot of trouble to select #zircon in particular which isn’t common in the surrounding sediment.

It also has interesting implications for the microfossil record because foraminifera like P. zirconia may have been here since the Precambrian and may have left little accumulations of zircon in ancient sedimentary rocks if we know to look for them. I also think there may be some interesting implications in understanding *how* a single-celled organism is able to differentiate minerals…

So, if Psammophaga zirconia is working hard to pick #zircon, so can you! Vote #zircon in the #MinCup23 final

https://www.mineralcup.org/2023/campaigns/round-5-match-1
Picture on the left is shows a oval-shaped accumulation of sand grains with a glowing margin due to the microscopic lighting. The scale bar if 100 microns (on tenth of a millimetre). This is a living P. zirconia; intracellular mineral inclusions are visible. 
Picture on the right shows a roughly oval-shaped accumulation of sand, but in different shades of colour. Most of the grains are shaded red with prominent blue and green grains. This is an electron microscope imaging that has also measured the elemental composition of the grains. Minerals in pink are zircons, in green titanium oxides, in blue silicates and quartz.
(from Figure 3 and Figure 5 of Sabbatini et al 2016: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/299381635_Selective_zircon_accumulation_in_a_new_benthic_foraminifer_Psammophaga_zircona_sp_nov


It's the #MinCup23 FINAL ROUND!!

32 minerals have battled for your hearts, but only one can claim the Championship. Will it be #Zircon, the eternal timekeeper, or #Perovskite, the cubical rain on brown dwarf stars?

Vote: https://www.mineralcup.org/2023/campaigns/round-5-match-1

Results: https://www.mineralcup.org/2023/campaigns/round-5-match-1


#MinCup23 SF2 is a clash between two mysterious minerals!

Ancient eyeliner & antimony ore #Stibnite bewitches with its iridescent blades, while futuristic #Perovskite rains on stars & tantalizes technological possibilities.

Every vote counts in which makes the Finals!

Vote: https://www.mineralcup.org/2023/campaigns/campaigns/campaigns/round-4-match-2

Results:
https://www.mineralcup.org/results/round-4-match-2


So dumb #MinCup23 question, the mineral that wins this week will be Mineral of the Year 2023 or 2024?...


Fun fact, zircon is also in the running for Mineral of the Year for 2024 in Hungary. 😄 Seems popular...

#MinCup23


#MinCup23 Semi-final 1

It’s a semi-final match for the ages! #Zircon is the undisputed Time Lord of geochronology and #Calcite whispers secrets of ancient climate hidden in the matte part of seashells. Which will it be?

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

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


Despite a strong and long early lead by #Rhodochrosite, #Perovskite started closing the gap in the last few hours to seal its #MinCup23 semifinal slot with 129 votes.

By IP addresses, we saw on-campus door-to-door campaigns. Nice hustle!
Updated bracket with perovskite winning over rhodochrosite


Timelord #Zircon has made to the #MinCup23 semi, so a new #zircon story… a story about how the whispers of one of Earth’s biggest mountain ranges – a mountain range that no-one has ever seen – can be found on nearly every beach in Australia…

Every #zircon fan knows it has remarkable resilience. It forms as molten magma cools to form igneous rocks and can survive the subsequent exhumation and erosion of that rock to become sand grains to be carried thousands of kilometres down streams and rivers to the oceans.

You may have even seen some. Ever noticed a streak of darker sand on a pale beach? Sometimes it can just be a wisp, sometimes a deep and well-defined layer. This is a placer deposit of resistant minerals like #zircon and companions rutile, magnetite, tourmaline and others. Because these minerals have a higher density (‘heavier’) than the bulk quartz and carbonate sand grains with them, in the right wave conditions they become concentrated as lighter minerals are washed away (think of it like a giant naturally occurring gold pan). In parts of Australia these concentrations of minerals are large enough to be mined as a source of zirconium and titanium oxide.
A white sand beach with water on the left and trees and houses in the middle distance on the right. In the middle foreground a darker streak can be seen running up the beach. This is a strandline of darker, more dense minerals including #zircon. This is beach on a bend in the Swan River in Perth, Western Australia.


Please don't let rhodochrosite lose

That's it that's the toot

#MinCup23


#MinCup23 QF 4
Simple formula have striking results in this match. Are you cheering for the Borg cubes of #Perovskite (CaTiO3) or indulging in the vibrant pink and red roses of #Rhodochrosite (MnCO3)?

Vote:
https://www.mineralcup.org/2023/campaigns/round-3-match-4

Results:
https://www.mineralcup.org/results/round-3-match-4


#MinCup23 Quarter-final 3:
Will you dribble acid on bubbly #Calcite or test for directional hardness scratching #Kyanite? Both can't wait to whisper stories of their past, but only one will tell its tale in the semi-finals!

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

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


By a margin of just SIX VOTES, #Stibnite defeated #Corundum to continue on to the #MinCup23 semifinals.

Every vote counts, especially as we get closer to the finals!
Updated bracket with stibnite defeating Corundum


#MinCup23 QUARTER-FINALS 2:
Giant-killer #Stibnite grinds against the Mohs hardness 9 #Corundum. Will your love of beauty lead you to the original kohl or the colourful gem?

Vote: https://www.mineralcup.org/2023/campaigns/round-3-match-2

Results: https://www.mineralcup.org/results/round-3-match-2


Here is the Telluric Tarot card for zircon. It's the Knight of Pentacles, standing for hard work and determination (along with dandelions).

#MinCup23 #zircon #minerals #tarot #image
Watercolor tarot card showing an orange colored zircon crystal against a background of dandelions.


Today's vote is hard. I love the color of dioptase, and I kinda wanna vote for the underdog. But zircon has better folklore... 🤷‍♀️ Reading all other toots to see if they sway my opinion one way or another 😄

#MinCup23


It's the #MinCup23 QUARTER-FINALS as the Time Lord goes against the Emerald Queen of Desert! Can resilient timekeeper #Zircon outlast its competition, or will the striking beauty of #Dioptase make it a clear winner?

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

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


Also, rhodochrosite has its own card in the Telluric Tarot too 😊 It's the Knight of Cups.

#minerals #MinCup23 #tarot #image
Tarot card featuring a watercolor image of a rhodochrosite crystal surrounded by fir branches with reddish cones on them.


Today in #MinCup23 I am hoping rhodochrosite will win.
I posted about the Roses in the Mountains legends here in the last round:
https://ohai.social/@TarkabarkaHolgy/111073175038609971

Vote for underground rose gardens full of rhodochrosite flowers, and legendary Dwarf kingdoms 😄

#folklore #folktales #legends #minerals


#MinCup23 R2M8 Barbenheimer showdown!

Arsenuranospathite has radioactive uranium nestled in a deadly cocktail of arsenic, while Rhodochrosite is a brilliantly-pink carbonate gem.

Vote: https://www.mineralcup.org/2023/campaigns/round-2-match-8

Results: https://www.mineralcup.org/results/round-2-match-8


#MinCup23 Round 2 Match 7 is a dance-off as bad guest #Cacoxenite crashes the party while metamorphic index mineral #Kyanite sings the blues of formation conditions!

Vote: https://www.mineralcup.org/2023/campaigns/round-2-match-7

Results: https://www.mineralcup.org/results/round-2-match-7


#MinCup23 Round 2 Match 6: Which delights you more: the unique incorporation of guano-born #Ammineite, or the technological potential of #Perovskite’s unusual crystalline structure?

Vote: https://www.mineralcup.org/2023/campaigns/campaigns/campaigns/round-2-match-6

Results: https://www.mineralcup.org/results/round-2-match-6


#MinCup23 Round 2 Match 5:
It’s a legendary pair of minerals with a unique set of properties: quicksilver Mercury that tests the definition of a mineral, and double-refracting effervescent Calcite. One is found within thermometers, the other can be used to track the temperatures of ancient seas. Which will rise to the occasion?

Vote:
https://www.mineralcup.org/2023/campaigns/campaigns/campaigns/round-2-match-5

Results:
https://www.mineralcup.org/results/round-2-match-5


Congratulations, #Corundum, for bringing the sparkle of rubies and sapphire with the utility of emery into #MinCup23 Round 3!

Nice showing for your first year, #Topaz, and sorry you got scratched. We’ll see you in 2024!
Updated bracket with Corundum winning over Topaz


For today's #MinCup23 match I already posted folklore (see retoots), but I just wanted to add that topaz is also a card in the Telluric Tarot deck, and I will never stop gushing about this deck 😄 Topaz is the Strength card, by the way.

#tarot #TarotCards #minerals #art #witchy #image
A tarot card depicting a watercolor image of a topaz crystal surrounded by aloe vera leafs and flowers. The card has a yellow-orange color palette. The text says IX - Topaz & Aloe Vera


After a close race that flipped back and forth many times over, congratulations to #Dioptase the Desert Emerald for making it into #MinCup23 Round 3!

Better luck next year to the spooky yet charming #Vivianite
Updated bracket with dioptase winning over Vivianite


#MinCup23 Round 2 Match 4

If you thought last round featured some hard battles, we were just getting started! Who wins in the battle of beauty and brawn between #Topaz (Mohs 8) and #Corundum (Mohs 9)?

Vote: https://www.mineralcup.org/2023/campaigns/campaigns/campaigns/round-2-match-4

Results: https://www.mineralcup.org/results/round-2-match-4


#MinCup23 Round 2 Match 2 featured an upset as after a strong early lead by #Quartz, #Stibnite slowly gained momentum for an explosive win!

Congratulations to the sparkle ore and better luck in 2024 to the reliable & relatable quartz.
Updated bracket with Stibnite winning over Quartz


Today in #MinCup23 I'm voting for quartz.

I already shared one legend about it (read here: http://multicoloreddiary.blogspot.com/2022/04/q-is-for-quartz-crystals-gemstone.html ) but there is also the legend from the Cairngorms about a giant, brilliant smokey quartz crystal on a cliff over Loch Avon. People can see it from afar, but no one can locate it...

#folklore #folktales


1/ Timelord #Zircon has many stories, this is one of them… (regenerated from the 𝔅𝚒🆁ⓓ𝚜𝑖🅃𝐞 for #MinCup23).

It’s a tale involving bear-driven serendipity and some really old #zircon

Geological mapping in northern Canada is challenging. There are no roads. No coverage. Only a few summer months free of snow and ice. Lots of lakes. 𝙇𝙤𝙩𝙨 of bugs. And bears. They need to fatten up quickly to get through the winter so are always looking for food.
This is a problem for geologists because…
A large grizzly bear in a wild area with lots of shrubs and grass is sitting on haunches and eating bright red berries from a small bush it is pulling toward its mouth. A yellow tag with numbers is just visible on the bear’s right ear.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/grizzly-bears-encroaching-bc-1.3782144


The story is quite long, and it is part of the King Dietrich legend cycle. I blogged about it extensively:
http://multicoloreddiary.blogspot.com/2016/10/epic-lovers-reunite.html

Basically it is a story of cultures clashing, prejudice, revenge, regret, and reconciliation. The human knights trample King Laurin's rose garden, and get into a battle with the king defending his honor and his property. The story unfolds from here, but the point is, I always imagined King Laurin's kingdom full of rhodochrosite roses...

#MinCup23 #folktales
Photo of a rhodochrosite specimen from Romania. The pink crystals are clustered in a way that the specimen resembles a bouquet of pink roses.


It’s the final vote of #MinCup23 Round 1.

Match 16 pits unashamedly pink #Rhodochrosite against scaly green #Lizardite. Even if the rose-tinted glasses make the grass look greener, you can only pick one!

Vote: https://www.mineralcup.org/2023/campaigns/round-1-match-16

Results: https://www.mineralcup.org/results/round-1-match-16


Lizardite, a green serpentine-subgroup mineral is surprisingly not named for lizards, but for The Lizard, in Cornwall, also strangely not named for lizards but rather for “Lys Ardh” the Cornish High Court.

I will give Rhodochrosite the art vote. It does appear in jewelry, but really it’s for strictly aesthetic “forbidden bacon” reasons. I mean look at it! #MinCup23
Lizardite (green) with Magnesite (white) and Hematite (black) from Uppland (Sweden) in a photo of a mineral specimen via Wikipedia
A hand holds a long thin piece of rhodochrosite which looks remarkably like a piece of bacon. In the background is a breakfast table, complete with two fried eggs on a plate and assorted fruit.


I'm so happy to see that #rhodochrosite is leading as of now. This has been my son's favorite mineral since his preschool days, when I would take him to the Gem and Mineral Hall at the Los Angeles Natural History Museum. Twenty years later, and he's still psyched that rhodochrosite was an entry in the bracket! 💕
#MinCup23


#MinCup23 Round 1 Match 15 is blue. Very blue. Metamorphically blue.

Pick one: newbie #Sapphirine vs returning #Kyanite.

Vote: https://www.mineralcup.org/2023/campaigns/round-1-match-15

Results: https://www.mineralcup.org/results/round-1-match-15


I've been falling behind with my #MinCup23 tweets 😬 Today's match is arsenuranospathite vs neptunite and the latter is getting my vote. It's a silicate #mineral named after Neptune, the Roman god of the sea. It's often found together with white natrolite, and they look so good together! Here's one on display in the NHM London

Vote for your favourite here: https://www.mineralcup.org/2023/campaigns/round-1-match-14
An elongate slab of rock with a bumpy coating of white natrolite which resembles snow. There are black pointy crystals of neptunite of varying sizes spread across the natrolite.


We’ve almost finished the first round! #MinCup23 R1 Match 14:

It’s the glowing party of dangerous elements #Arsenuranospathite against the dark & opaque #Neptunite. You only get one.

Vote: https://www.mineralcup.org/2023/campaigns/round-1-match-14

Results: https://www.mineralcup.org/results/round-1-match-14