Ian Saginor

White opalite glass with opalescence.

Opalite (for all you new fans of geology) is glass that has been made to resemble the opalescence or “play of color” found in natural opal. Sometimes, natural colorless opal is referred to as opalite. Either way, enjoy, but please do not pay a lot of money for it!

I like the updates they made to the original design.

Geologists assemble.

Looks like bivalve shells to me. The thin white curved ones are on edge, the others are parallel to the surface. They just look different depending on their orientation.

Mineral Collection 21362 | Ideas | Buy online at the Official LEGO® Shop US A beautiful gift for nature lovers

This is finally happening! Order your Lego Minerals set today. I think Lego is about to realize how much geologists love minerals.

www.lego.com/en-us/produc...

YouTube video by USGS [V3cam] Kīlauea volcano, Hawaii (south Halemaʻumaʻu crater)

The best volcanic fire fountain I’ve ever seen is happening right now! Live feed, Hawaii.

m.youtube.com/watch?v=Bqmp...

Congratulations to @volcanologist.bsky.social on the new book! What an absolutely stunning cover.

Garnet amphibolite, Gore Mountain, NY. My first ever field trip and the moment I decided to be a geologist.

Isla de Ometepe made up of volcanoes Concepcion and Maderas sitting in Lake Nicaragua. Eruptions, earthquakes, sharks.

Museums may have larger pyrite specimens composed of many crystals, but this is the largest single crystal of pyrite I have ever seen. I bought it years ago and never seen anything else like it.

Have all the geologists arrived at Bluesky yet? Let’s find out. Icelandic coast from helicopter.

Wow. What a great question. I’m going to say no. Volcanic material rises due to 1) Explosive force or 2) Convection in a rising column of ash and gas. No explosion is powerful enough to breach the upper atmosphere. Eruptive columns get closer, but eventually cool down enough to stop rising.

The Lego mineral set has been approved! No word yet on when it might be available. Congrats to the designer.

Amphibole in the center with pyroxene.

This is one of the thin section pictures. It had some garnets.

Who knows if it’s the same rock, but it sure does look like it.

My first thought was “I wonder if it’s from New Hampshire?”, because I collected a rock like that maybe 35 years ago. Years later, someone found another and asked what it was, so I made thin sections and had chemistry done. It was an amphibolite with a likely basaltic andesite protolith.