Amazing mineral Chalcedony (5 photos). It turns out these minerals were created by nature: Amazing photos The heaviest mineral in the world

Dense forests and picturesque lakes, rocky mountains and winding rivers - all these are the generous gifts of our Earth. But not all beauty is on the earth's surface. No less amazing treasures of our planet are stored in the bowels - minerals.

mineral world

Humanity has been using stones since ancient times. Their indescribable diversity and beauty, created by nature itself, won the hearts of people. Even in the IV century. BC e. the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle divided the whole world around. All living beings and representatives of the plant world entered living nature, and he attributed everything else, including stones, to inanimate nature. With the accumulation of knowledge, the concept of "mineral" has narrowed significantly.

A mineral is a homogeneous substance of inorganic origin, which is in a solid state and formed due to geological processes. Most have a crystalline structure and a certain chemical composition. Today, more than 6 thousand species are known, and every year dozens of new, previously unknown minerals are discovered. Moreover, just as there are no two identical animals or plants in the world, so among a large variety of minerals similar in crystal lattice and composition, there are no two identical. This is due to the different physicochemical conditions of their formation, the duration of the crystallization process, as well as the influence of other substances. We will talk about the most amazing minerals - wonderful examples of frozen natural harmony, which you can admire endlessly.

Opals

Deservedly considered one of the most beautiful minerals that have a unique amorphous structure and consist of the smallest spherical particles of silica. The name is derived from lat. "oralus", which means a bewitching look. Depending on the properties, a fairly large number of varieties are distinguished, which fascinate with delightful overflows of bright colors with ideal spectral purity. Gems are widely used in modern jewelry. Opals are found on all continents.

According to some reports, 97% of all opals entering the world market are mined in Australia. At the same time, the oldest mines in the world are located in the Czech Republic. In Russia, opals are found in Kamchatka.

Some species, such as the "Universe" or "Ocean" blue opal, amaze with their transparency and inclusions, reminiscent of the vast world of the Cosmos or the enchanting depths of the sea. In addition, real masterpieces of nature are often found - petrified wood with opal veins harmoniously located in it.

It belongs to precious stones and is the most valuable noble opal. Black opal was first introduced to the world at the end of the 19th century. Despite the name, in fact, the color can be dominated by various tones from dark blue to golden and red. The beauty of gems lies in the play of their colors, which are observed in the veins - multi-colored flashes sparkle like lightning in a thunderstorm.

Opal "Fire of Troy" is perhaps the most famous. It was presented by Napoleon to his wife Josephine. The gem was kept in the Vienna Museum of Art, and then disappeared without a trace under mysterious circumstances.

Visually similar to black opal. It is characterized by bright blotches on a matte background. Boulder is usually found on large boulders of iron ore, found in cracks and depressions, so a thin opal layer often has an intricate shape that follows the outline of a crevice.

A translucent or transparent stone, the color range of which varies from rich orange-red to wine-yellow. You can meet him in the cavities and cracks of volcanic rocks. The gem is perhaps the only variety of opals that can be cut.

It is a popular collectible mineral with a vitreous luster, smooth edges and rich sky blue and azure hues, as evidenced by its name (from the French "azur" - azure). It is formed in near-surface oxidation zones of copper deposits. Azurite is fragile and not resistant to external factors, therefore, when weathered, it is replaced by green malachite. The largest azurite weighing 4.5 tons is stored in the New York Museum of Natural History.

Magic crystals delight not only with their appearance, but, according to some beliefs, help a person become happier.

One of the most mysterious ornamental semi-precious stones. Its magical properties were known even before Christ. e. ancient Egyptians and Greeks. Many legends and tales are associated with it. The name comes from other Greek. malakos (mallow). The mineral is a product of the weathering of copper ores and fascinates with bizarre patterns in the form of thin concentric circles, star placers, and chaotic ribbon patterns. It also has a rich palette of colors from light turquoise to deep dark green. The shape is also quite diverse - lamellar, needle-shaped and the most common - rounded.

Among the varieties of malachites are distinguished:

turquoise - a stone of the highest grade, has a solid structure, is easily processed and is highly valued by craftsmen;
velvet - characterized by large graininess and visually resembles a fabric with a smooth, thick pile;
curly - has interesting patterns, reminiscent of birch swaying in the wind, spreading its foliage.

Malachite can rightly be called a "Russian stone", because it was in Russia in the Urals that giant malachite deposits were discovered. The stone was very expensive, therefore it was the prerogative of the upper classes and was considered a symbol of wealth. Masters of malachite craft made truly amazingly beautiful jewelry filled with majestic and magical aesthetics.

This rare small crystal is named after the Englishman J. Baildon. Occurs in oxidation zones of polymetallic deposits. In most cases, it has the appearance of mastoid crusts with a fibrous structure or dusty masses. The color varies from apple to deep green.

It received its name from the name of its discoverer, the mineralogist F. Wulfen, who, back in the middle of the 19th century. discovered unusual deposits of "yellow ore" in Australia. This translucent crystal can be orange, olive, yellow, silver, brown with a beautiful sheen. It is rather difficult to find wulfenite suitable for cutting, as it is very fragile. Although due to the high content of lead, it is not recommended to use it for the manufacture of body jewelry. At the same time, wulfenite intergrowths of lamellar crystals, which form plexuses of stone petals, are popular among stone lovers.

It is a rare copper mineral that derives its name from two words of Greek origin: klineis, meaning slope, and klas, splitting. It was first discovered in the 30s. XIX Art. in an old English mine. It has the appearance of elongated tabular, prismatic or rhombic crystals, which in most cases form rosettes and fan-shaped intergrowths. The color is a pleasant bluish-blue with a greenish tint. When you change the angle of view of the crystal in the same light, it changes color from bluish to dark green. Surprisingly, this elegant mineral, when heated, begins to emit a bright garlic smell. On Russian territory, it occurs near Nizhny Tagil.

A golden-colored mineral with a metallic luster is visually very similar to gold. The crystal has a cuboid shape with often mirror-like, ideally smooth edges. It has been used to make jewelry since ancient Egypt. The name "pyrites lithos" from the Greek. means "stone that strikes fire." And indeed, when struck, pyrite strikes sparks, so a person used it as a flint and steel. Although it is also called in a different way - "fool's gold", since illiterate gold diggers very often mistook it for a noble metal.

The most beautiful representative of the zeolite group. Under natural conditions, it is mainly found in the form of drusen, which consist of long needle-like crystals. Thin prisms and fragile needles, like rays of light, diverge from a common center. Color - white or colorless, although it may have a greenish, yellowish or pink tint. Due to the unique properties of twisting and wriggling under the influence of fire, the crystal was called "skoles", which in Greek means "worm".

The many-sided mineral, whose name comes from the word "turamali", which among the locals of Sri Lanka, where its most famous deposits are located, means "precious stone". Tourmaline can become electrified when heated. Crystals usually have a prismatic elongated shape, but there are several dozen color varieties.

The most famous:

achroite - colorless tourmaline from the island of Elba;
verdelite - a delightful green color, while the stones found in different areas also differ in shades;
rubelite - has a range of shades from pale pink to bright red;
indicolite - painted in colors with an admixture of a blue-blue hue;
schorl is a rich black stone with a matte or glassy sheen.

The color of tourmalines depends on the chemical composition, and some can be painted in several tones at once. Polychrome representatives are incredibly good and resemble a sparkling piece of the rainbow.

One of the most interesting types - Paraiba tourmaline is mined in Brazil and is characterized by a neon glow of cold tones from the color of a spring sky to rich emerald. It was found relatively recently, about 30 years ago, but immediately gained recognition in the global jewelry market. And every year its value is growing rapidly.

This is the "Ural emerald" - the rarest transparent mineral with a beautiful glassy luster from the pomegranate family. Discovered in the 19th century. on the territory of the Saranovskoye field on the western slope of the Urals and is named after Count S. Uvarov. In nature, the crystal originates in rocks rich in iron and manganese. The specimens found are very modest in size, up to 3 mm in diameter, although there are also larger uvarovites suitable for cutting. Exquisite jewelry made of emerald green crystal was worn with pleasure by Catherine the Great.

Known for more than five centuries. The formation of a crystal of the original cubic shape is associated with hydrothermal ore veins, limestones, and dolomites. There is probably no mineral on the planet that has such a wide color spectrum. Pure fluorite is colorless, but in nature such samples are very rare. Various impurities of Cl, Fe and other elements give the crystal a wide range of shades: pink, yellow, blue, purple, all shades of green. In the dark, the stone emits a slight glow. It is used to make lenses. The largest deposits in the Russian Federation are found in Transbaikalia.

Sometimes new mineral species are found in meteorites that have fallen from the sky. So, in the Krasnoyarsk Territory in the middle of the XVIII century. local residents found a meteorite - pallasite, of extraterrestrial origin. It was an iron-nickel base interspersed with olivine crystals.

This is a deep high-temperature mineral that is found throughout the world in placers of destroyed rocks and in volcanic formations. The color depends on the depth of penetration of impurities and varies from golden to green-brown. Amazing beaches of green olivine sand are formed when volcanoes are destroyed by the surf. It is also common in pallasite meteorites, which have become desirable exhibits for collectors, despite the astronomical price of up to 40 thousand dollars per kg. It is believed that olivine is filled with the energy of the entire universe and brings good luck to its owner in all endeavors.

The bowels of our planet conceal countless treasures - minerals. Their indescribable diversity and beauty have always conquered human hearts. We invite you to admire a selection of these beautiful examples of frozen natural harmony.‎

Petrified wood with opal veins

Under certain conditions, fragments of a fallen tree do not rot, but mineralize, turning into real stones of a bizarre shape. This requires hundreds of years and lack of air access to the material, resulting in a unique mineral that resembles fragments of an iced tree, dotted with sparkling inclusions of opal or chalcedony.‎

Uvarovite

Discovered in the 19th century in Siberia, a stone related to garnets was nicknamed by the people "Ural emerald". Chromium gives the mineral its bewitching green color. In nature, it is extremely rare, and a few finds are of very modest size. ‎By the way, it was this mineral that Alexander Kuprin meant in his work ‎‎“Garnet Bracelet.”‎

This mineral, which has long been used for decorative purposes and delighted the views of high society with graceful translucent vases and figurines glowing in the dark, has now found a more applied application in optics, becoming an excellent material for creating lenses.

Kemmererite

A very fragile fuchsia-colored stone - kemmererite - is considered a collector's item. To make a piece of jewelry out of it, the master needs to apply all his scrupulousness and precision. ‎For this reason, the cost of the processed mineral is extremely high.‎

Hematite, rutile and feldspar

The ability of the black mineral hematite, when processed, to color water in a blood-red color has caused many ineradicable superstitions regarding this stone. But it is popular not only for this reason - hematite is very common in nature and is used in addition to decorative in many applied areas.

Thorbernite

As bewitchingly beautiful this mineral is, it is just as deadly. Prisms of torbernite crystals contain uranium and can cause cancer in humans. In addition, when heated, these stones begin to slowly emit the most dangerous gas, radon.‎

Clinoclase‎

A rare clinoclase crystal has one small secret - when heated, this exquisitely beautiful mineral emits a garlic smell.‎

White barite studded with vanadinite crystals

Vanadinite got its name in honor of the Scandinavian goddess of beauty Vanadis. This mineral is one of the heaviest on the planet due to its high lead content. ‎Keep vanadinite crystals away from sunlight, as they tend to darken under their influence.‎

Fossil egg? No - opal core geode

In places rich in minerals, you can find geodes - geological formations, which are cavities that conceal various minerals inside. On cuts and chips, geodes can look extremely outlandish and attractive.‎

Silver stibnite with barite

Stibnite is an antimony sulfide, but appears to be high grade silver. Thanks to this similarity, one day someone decided to make elite cutlery from this material. And it was a very bad idea… Antimony crystals cause severe poisoning, even after contact with the skin it is necessary to wash it thoroughly with soap.‎

chalcanthite

The enchanting beauty of these crystals hides a mortal danger: once in a liquid environment, the copper contained in this mineral begins to rapidly dissolve, threatening all living things that get in its way. Just one small blue pebble is capable of destroying an entire pond with all its flora and fauna, so you should be extremely careful with it.

Cacoxenite

Acting as an inclusion, this rare mineral is able to give quartz and amethyst a unique color and higher value. As a representative of needle-like crystals, cacoxenite is incredibly fragile.‎

labradorite

Mined in the northern regions, the mineral seems to reflect the sky under which it was found: colored overflows against the background of the darkness of the stone dotted with sparkling stars resemble the northern lights blazing on a long polar night.‎

black opal

The most valuable variety of opals. Despite the word "black" in the name, this mineral gets the highest value if it has a multi-colored sparkle against a dark background. ‎The more varied the shades of its radiance, the higher the price.‎

Kuprosklodovskite

Needle-like crystals of kuprosklodovskite attract admiring attention with the depth and variety of their green coloring, as well as their interesting shape. However, this mineral is mined in uranium deposits and is highly radioactive and should be kept away not only from living beings, but even from other minerals.‎

Blue halite and sylvite

Milky white or whitish sylvite is often found in volcanoes, and blue halite (sodium chloride) is often found in sedimentary rocks.‎

Artificially grown bismuth crystals have a recognizable iridescent sheen on their dark surface. This effect occurs due to the oxide film covering it. By the way, bismuth oxide-chloride is used in the creation of nail polishes as a means to give them shine. ‎

The noble gemstone opal is demanding on the humidity surrounding it: if it stays in excessively dry conditions for a long time, it can fade and even crack. For this reason, opals should occasionally be "bathed" in clean water, and also worn more often if they are presented in the form of jewelry, so that the stones are saturated with moisture emanating from the human body. ‎

Tourmaline

Juicy red and pink colors, smooth transitions of shades with the most unexpected ranges make tourmaline one of the most popular collectible minerals. According to historians, it was these stones that crowned many decorations and accessories of members of royal families and eminent persons: from Catherine II to Tamerlane. ‎

Baildonite

The rare baildonite crystal owes its color to the copper contained in its composition, and its brilliance to a high percentage of lead.‎

Having the status of the densest natural substance, osmium is extremely difficult to process. The widespread use of this metal in medicine, manufacturing and the defense industry makes the demand for it incredibly high. And given the rarity of osmium in nature, the cost of one gram of its isotope is currently twenty thousand dollars.

The whimsical arrangement of copper layers in the voids of karst caves, where malachite is born, determines the future structure of its patterns. They can be represented by concentric circles, star-shaped placers or chaotic ribbon patterns. ‎The age of malachite beads found in the ancient city of Jericho is determined by archaeologists to be 9,000 years old.‎

Emmonsite

A rather rare mineral emmonsite, presented in the form of small needle-like crystals with a glassy sheen, is found in the mines of North and South America.‎

Aquamarine on potassium mica

For the similarity of the edges to the purest sea waves, the Roman thinker Pliny the Elder gave this noble stone the name "aquamarine". More blue aquamarines are valued more than greenish ones. This mineral is very popular among designers and jewelry lovers, and its highest strength helps to create jewelry of any configuration.

meteorite pallasite

In 1777, the German scientist Pallas delivered to the Kunstkamera Museum samples of a rare metal found in Krasnoyarsk at the site of a meteorite fall. Soon, the entire block of extraterrestrial origin weighing 687 kg was transported to St. Petersburg. This material was called "pallas iron" or pallasite. A similar substance from those that are mined on our planet has not been found. According to experts, this meteorite is an iron-nickel base with numerous inclusions of olivine crystals. ‎

Small cubic crystals of blue color - boleites - are especially valued in the countries of South and North America. So far, this rare mineral has not been seen in circulation in Russia.‎

Crocoite‎

The name "crocoite" comes from the ancient Greek word meaning "saffron", since the similarity of the crystal surface with this spice is noticeable to the naked eye. The red lead ore, which this mineral is, is of particular value to collectors and connoisseurs.

VERMICULITE

The tale of the Great Poloz in the masterful interpretation of Pavel Bazhov, other references to a huge snake, supposedly pointing to a gold deposit, are based on the superstitions of the ancient Khanty and Mansi, Ural legends and signs of miners and miners. The belief of local residents that a wondrous treasure is hidden in the mountain, but some otherworldly forces guard it - this is what served as the folklore basis of the wonderful Bazhov tales.

But there is also a scientific explanation for the existence of the Great Snake. Mineral vermiculite- This is a scaly clay mica of golden yellow or bronze-yellow color, which is quite widespread in the Urals and Siberia. Vermiculite has an interesting property: when heated, it swells strongly.

Pieces of vermiculite placed in a fire, swollen up, resemble golden Christmas balls, surprisingly beautiful and light. Unfortunately, heated vermiculite is not stable - a light touch or even a gust of wind is enough, and the ball crumbles into tiny flakes, literally turning into dust.

Lamellar vermiculite sometimes in the process of swelling takes the form not of a ball, but of a large (20-30 times larger than before heating) wriggling column (worm, snake). During this process, a slight crackle is heard. Now imagine how a Mansi hunter, sitting in the deaf Siberian taiga near a fire, sees: a huge snake crawls out of the fire, wriggling, with a crash.

Here, probably, even a modern tourist would feel uncomfortable. And if subsequently placer or native gold was found not far from this terrible place (and, as you know, it is found both in Siberia and the Urals), then most likely this fact was overgrown with legends and superstitions.

POISONOUS CINNEAR

At the beginning of the 19th century, a young Russian artist died under unclear circumstances in the Aktash tract in the Altai Mountains. Delusional, incoherent speech, convulsions, epileptic seizures - these are the symptoms of the disease that preceded death. The oral cavity of the deceased was a strange copper-red color...

The paintings left after the death of the artist suggested a serious mental illness of their creator. The opinion of the highlanders, local residents, was unanimous: the deceased visited a place forbidden for mortals - the Lake of Mountain Spirits. And the spirits took revenge on the daredevil.

A hundred years later, a remarkable geologist, paleontologist, ethnographer and writer Ivan Efremov visited these lands. He learned about the death of the artist and about the spirits, the forces of evil guarding the lake. Then a young writer carefully studied all these reports, in fact, already the legends of the past century, and then undertook a trip to the forbidden area. Soon, Efremov published a short story about this lake and the tragically deceased artist. The story was published in a collection dedicated to adventure and fantasy, and therefore was not taken seriously by specialists. But in vain.

Powerful thermal phenomena are observed in the area of the Aktash basin, and the rocks themselves are composed of the mineral cinnabar. Cinnabar, a frighteningly red mineral, contains up to 86% mercury. Heated by the summer sun from above, hot springs from below, cinnabar begins to release mercury in the form of vapor (in chemistry, this phenomenon is called sublimation).

Then the mercury vapor condenses and settles in patches of a heavy silver-lead color. The accumulation of these spots was taken for the mysterious Lake of Mountain Spirits. Everything else is the toxic effect of mercury vapor on the human body.

In the Middle Ages and in the late 1700s, being sent to work in the Spanish mines containing cinnabar formations was considered almost a death sentence. Cinnabar has been used extensively in Chinese history to make decorative dishes for food, and pieces of it have also been made into oddly shaped carvings, sometimes at the expense of the artisans' lives. Even more incredible is that some of the ancient physicians believed that cinnabar contained healing properties and prescribed it to treat certain ailments.

OIL... IN STONE

Geodes- crystalline nodules-minerals with a cavity in the center - are highly valued by stone collectors, since quite beautiful formations are often found inside them.

But whatever crystals are found in the cores of gray geodes, they are overshadowed by the second component: fetid balls of crude oil and tar. Oil-bearing geodes, of course, have no economic value. But on the other hand, they baffle geologists, who are not yet able to explain this mineralogical phenomenon.

Geodes are formed by minerals that crystallize in closed rock cavities. They grow inwards, and their hollow core is thought to be hermetically sealed from the environment. Oil and tar, for their part, are formed from organic matter at high pressures and temperatures.

But, as geology teaches, these two processes do not occur simultaneously. But, nevertheless, geodes still exist. It was they, according to scientists, who collected and contained oil from the environment.

FLEXIBLE STONES

Although the stones are usually considered a symbol of inflexible hardness, some rocks are nevertheless so pliable that a thin strip cut from them sags under its own weight.

The most common of these stones is a specific type of sandstone called itacolumite. Its name comes from Italokumi, a mountain in Brazil where this stone is found in large quantities. It is also found in the Ural Mountains and in India.

It is believed that the stones bend due to the cavities that exist between the grains of sand. It is this structure that allows italokumite to show a special flexibility that is not characteristic of most stones.

CRYSTAL CROSS

A stone cross growing from the ground was noticed by the population of the Belarusian city of Turov a long time ago. Exactly when, no one remembers. At first, they noticed a small cobblestone, tried to lift it, but could not. Leave the stone alone. A few years later, it was discovered that it had risen several centimeters above the ground and had the shape of a cross, unusual for a simple field stone.

Of course, the amazing stone attracted the attention of Orthodox people, who saw in it a supernatural sign. And soon the Borisovo-Glebsky cemetery became a place of pilgrimage.

However, there is nothing unusual in the Turov stone. The fact is that an opaque, reddish mineral acquires the shape of a cross. staurolite. And if it were not for the tendency of the crystals of this mineral to take on cruciform shapes, non-specialists would hardly have paid attention to it.

Similar stones are found in many places. And wherever they were found, legends followed them everywhere. So, in the north-west of France they say that these stones fell from heaven. In the US state of Virginia, they are called sorceress stones.

The name of the mineral comes from the Greek word "stavros", that is, "cross".

JEWISH STONE

In the century before last, in the Urals, in the Ilmensky mountains, one of the scientists discovered a mysterious stone. On a relatively smooth plate the size of a plate, he saw mysterious writing. The inscription on the stone was surprisingly similar to the Hebrew. Individual letters were easy to guess. They could even be folded into syllables.

Did Jews inhabit the Urals in the distant past? Science has established with indisputable accuracy that the Hebrew tribes inhabited Syria, Babylon and other areas of the Middle East. It seemed to scientists that they had made the greatest discovery. Only, however, it was not possible to decipher the inscription on the stone. Some of the squiggles looked like letters, but most of them didn't look like anything.

The news of the discovery of scientists in the Urals became known to many. Attempts to decipher the mysterious letters did not stop, although they did not give the desired result.

But then another miracle happened: many, many stones with "Hebrew" inscriptions were found in the Urals. On some, these inscriptions were applied in large type, on others - in surprisingly small, beaded handwriting. But neither one nor the other could be deciphered.

Scientists-chemists examined the stones in the laboratory. It was granite in composition. The stone was called "written granite"(scientific name graphic pegmatite) because of the clear inscriptions on it. They also call it a Jewish stone, because it seems to everyone that the writing on it is of Hebrew origin.

The answer to written granite was given not by philologists, not by chemists, but by mineralogists. The strange stone was studied very carefully by academician Alexander Evgenievich Fersman. He, like other scientists, was initially struck by the fact that the mysterious inscriptions were applied not only to the surface of the stone, but also go deep into it. And if written granite is cut, then the letters will be equally well visible both on the upper and on the lower side.

To learn the secret of written granite, I had to delve not only into those distant times when the ancient Hebrew tribes lived, but also those prehistoric eras when the earth was being formed and when molten magma pierced the earth's thickness here and there.

It was then, probably, that quartz played its joke. It penetrated into the mass of light and greenish feldspar in millions of thin dark gray streams and froze together with the spar. If we now cut written granite along the frozen streams of gray quartz, these streams will look like sticks as thick as a match or a pencil. And with a transverse fracture, the streams of quartz look like the letters of the Hebrew alphabet. And what is surprising: often these letters go in even lines, as if a human hand really brought them out!

The mystery of quartz is solved. But even now people are looking with unflagging curiosity at the amazing "writing" of the so-called Jewish stone.

PERLITE - FLOATING STONE

It turns out that there are stones in nature that do not sink in water. It is perlite, a heavy volcanic glass. But he acquires his unusual properties after he is calcined on fire. After that, it becomes like a loose gray mass, resembling a frozen foam.

The word "pearl" means pearl. Perlite really looks like pearls. Its color is bluish-gray with a small silvery tint.

This stone is found where volcanoes have been active for a very long time. It was the red-hot lava of volcanoes that fused the sand lying on the surface into huge blocks. In Buryatia, for example, they found a layer of perlite thirty meters thick. This layer of "pearl stone" is not deep, but stretches for tens of kilometers. The hot lava of a long-vanished volcano spread so widely here.

Of course, it is curious to throw a piece of perlite into a fire and watch how it begins to crack and swell from heating, like dough. From strong heat, perlite increases in volume by ten to fifteen times. Pieces of it really become so light that they do not sink.

TEMPORARY MINERALS

In the deserts you can sometimes see an amazing sight. Here is how the famous Soviet scientist Academician A.E. Fersman describes it:

“Here, in the wild conditions of the Karakum, I had to meet with an absolutely fantastic appearance of salts. After a heavy night rain, in the morning the clay surfaces of the shors are suddenly covered with a continuous snow cover of salts - they grow in the form of twigs, needles and films, rustle underfoot .... But this continues only until noon, - a hot desert wind rises, and its gusts blow for several hours, salt flowers.

However, the most wonderful stone flowers appear in the polar regions. Let us turn again to A.E. Fersman.

“Here, during six cold months,” the academician writes, “mineralogist P. L. Dravert observed remarkable formations in the salt brines of Yakutia. In cold salt springs, the temperature of which dropped 25 degrees below zero, large hexagonal crystals of the rare mineral hydrohalite appeared on the walls. By spring, they crumbled into a powder of simple table salt, and by winter they began to grow again.

It turns out that there are minerals in nature that can change their appearance within just one year. They are called periodic.

MOSS MINERALS

Sometimes, when splitting layered rocks, mineralogists find special formations in them, called dendrites for their external resemblance to plants. They are a collection of the thinnest and most delicate twigs: yellow, red or black. Often they are several tones at the same time, and grow as if from one root.

copper dendrites

This special type of minerals is formed either in very narrow cracks between two layers of rock, or in a medium that has not yet completely petrified a jelly-like substance into which ferruginous solutions have fallen.

In the famous "moss agates" of India, such branches of green, brown and red substances form whole complex and intricate forests, thickets of herbs, bushes, trees. Now we know that they were formed because the agate substance once, during the solidification of the molten lavas of India, was a liquid mass in which these dendrites grew.

(Total 29 photos)

1 Opal Veined Petrified Wood

2. Under certain conditions, fragments of a fallen tree do not rot, but mineralize, turning into real stones of a bizarre shape. This requires hundreds of years and the absence of air access to the material, resulting in a unique mineral that resembles fragments of an icy tree, dotted with sparkling inclusions of opal or chalcedony.‎

3. Uvarovit

Discovered in the 19th century in Siberia, a stone related to garnets was nicknamed by the people "Ural emerald". Chromium gives the mineral its bewitching green color. In nature, it is extremely rare, and the few finds are of very modest size. By the way, it was this mineral that Alexander Kuprin meant in his work "Garnet Bracelet".

4. Fluorite

This mineral, which has long been used for decorative purposes and delighted the eyes of high society with graceful translucent vases and figurines glowing in the dark, has now found more practical applications in optics, becoming an excellent material for creating lenses.‎

5. Kammererite

A very fragile fuchsia-colored stone - kemmererite - is considered a collector's item. To make a piece of jewelry out of it, the master needs to apply all his scrupulousness and accuracy. For this reason, the cost of the processed mineral is extremely high.‎

6. Hematite, rutile and feldspar

The ability of the black mineral hematite, when processed, to color water in a blood-red color, has become the cause of many ineradicable superstitions regarding this stone. But it is popular not only for this reason - hematite is very common in nature and is used, in addition to decorative, in many applied areas.‎

7. Thorbernite

8. Clinoclase‎

A rare clinoclase crystal has one little secret - when heated, this exquisitely beautiful mineral emits a garlic smell.‎

9. White barite studded with vanadinite crystals

Vanadinite got its name in honor of the Scandinavian goddess of beauty Vanadis. This mineral is one of the heaviest on the planet because it has a high lead content. Keep vanadinite crystals away from sunlight, as they tend to darken when exposed to them.‎

10 Fossil Egg? No - opal core geode

11. In places rich in minerals, you can find geodes - geological formations, which are cavities that conceal various minerals inside. On cuts and chips, geodes can look extremely outlandish and attractive.‎

12. Silver stibnite with barite

Stibnite is an antimony sulfide, but appears to be high grade silver. Due to this similarity, one day someone decided to make elite cutlery from this material. And it was a very bad idea… Antimony crystals cause severe poisoning, even after contact with the skin it is necessary to wash it thoroughly with soap.‎

13. Chalcanthite

The enchanting beauty of these crystals hides a mortal danger: once in a liquid medium, the copper contained in this mineral begins to rapidly dissolve, threatening all living things that get in its way. Just one small blue pebble can destroy an entire pond with all its flora and fauna, so you should be extremely careful with it.

14. Cacoxenite

Acting as an inclusion, this rare mineral is able to give quartz and amethyst a unique color and higher value. As an acicular crystal, cacoxenite is incredibly brittle.‎

15. Labradorite

16. Black Opal

The most valuable variety of opals. Despite the word "black" in the name, this mineral gets the highest value if it has a multi-colored sparkle against a dark background. The more varied the shades of its radiance, the higher the price.‎

17. Kuprosklodovskite

Needle crystals of kuprosklodovskite attract admiring attention with the depth and variety of their green colors, as well as their interesting shape. However, this mineral is mined from uranium deposits and is highly radioactive, and should be kept away not only from living beings, but even from other minerals.‎

18. Blue halite and sylvite

Milky white or whitish sylvite is often found in volcanoes, and blue halite (sodium chloride) is often found in sedimentary rocks.‎

19. Bismuth

The noble gemstone opal is picky about the humidity around it: if it stays in excessively dry conditions for a long time, it can fade and even crack. For this reason, opals should occasionally be “bathed” in clean water, and also worn more often if they are presented in the form of jewelry, so that the stones are saturated with moisture emanating from the human body. ‎

21. Tourmaline

22. Baildonite

The rare baildonite crystal owes its color to the copper contained in its composition, and its brilliance to a high percentage of lead.‎

24. Malachite

The whimsical arrangement of copper layers in the voids of karst caves, where malachite is born, determines the future structure of its patterns. They can be represented by concentric circles, star-shaped placers or chaotic ribbon patterns. The age of malachite beads found in the ancient city of Jericho is estimated by archaeologists at 9,000 years.‎

25. Emmonsite

A rather rare mineral emmonsite, presented in the form of small needle-like crystals with a glassy sheen, is found in the mines of North and South America.‎

26. Aquamarine on potassium mica

For the similarity of the faces to the purest sea waves, the Roman thinker Pliny the Elder gave this noble stone the name "aquamarine". Bluer aquamarines are more valuable than greenish ones. This mineral is very popular with designers and jewelry lovers, and its extreme strength helps to create jewelry of any configuration.‎

27. Pallasite meteorite

In 1777, the German scientist Pallas delivered samples of a rare metal discovered in Krasnoyarsk at the site of a meteorite fall to the Kunstkamera Museum. Soon, the whole block of extraterrestrial origin weighing 687 kg was transported to St. Petersburg. This material is called "pallas iron", or pallasite. A similar substance from those that are mined on our planet has not been found. According to experts, this meteorite is an iron-nickel base with numerous inclusions of olivine crystals. ‎

28. Sick

Small cubic crystals of blue color - boleites - are especially valued in the countries of South and North America. So far, this rare mineral has not been seen in circulation in Russia.‎

29. Crocoite‎

The name "crocoite" comes from the ancient Greek word meaning "saffron", since the similarity of the crystal surface with this spice is noticeable to the naked eye. The red lead ore, which is this mineral, is of particular value to collectors and connoisseurs.‎