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Want a look at my glass gallery? (mind: pics)
Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2018 12:37 pm
by cyprusmax47
Well, as the weather is very winterly at the moment, there is perhaps time to spend on here... As I don't leave the house for other things I decided to go through my vast photo gallery to present you some pics from the last three month's findings in our area..
Let's start with the so called "Marienglas" which the Romans already discovered in the first century AC using it as window glass and for lamps.
They gave it the name Lapis specularis (look through stone) and it became a big industry specially in Spain that time.
These two pieces I never found before as they were encased on a large pyrite crystal and came off after heavy rainfall.
It is Selenite and belongs to the mineral gypsum. It comes in many varieties and colours though...
Play of colour (cat's eye effect) at this piece
lump of crystal, mixed colours, looks like molten glass
which flower could be that? Nature at it's best..
modern art?
iron ore matrix - Marienglas
glass dripstone ?
2 kg piece
funny structure, like a sponge
colourful inclusion
could be a painting..
intermixture of everything
icicles ?
what a funny shape again
and before it get's boring, this one from hundreds I got...but if you want to see more, just tell me...
Max
Re: Want a look at my glass gallery? (mind: pics)
Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2018 4:47 pm
by Bograt
They are beautiful Max. I enjoyed the pictures very much, and would certainly like to see more, if you should get the time to post them. Thank you for sharing.
Re: Want a look at my glass gallery? (mind: pics)
Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2018 6:40 pm
by cyprusmax47
Bograt wrote: ↑Wed Dec 19, 2018 4:47 pm
They are beautiful Max. I enjoyed the pictures very much, and would certainly like to see more, if you should get the time to post them. Thank you for sharing.
Glad you like the crystal photos. I will wait and see how many views come before I post more. I hope you understand...
Max
Re: Want a look at my glass gallery? (mind: pics)
Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2018 9:47 pm
by brengreen
Beautiful. Thanks for sharing.
Re: Want a look at my glass gallery? (mind: pics)
Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2018 9:52 pm
by ph06kg1
Amazing!! Well done Max! They are very beautiful gypsum crystals. These normally come from old mines; in Mathiatis area i found quite a lot but NOT that beautiful!
Yes please, we would love to see more from your beautiful crystals!! Thanks!
George
Re: Want a look at my glass gallery? (mind: pics)
Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2018 11:38 pm
by cyprusmax47
ph06kg1 wrote: ↑Wed Dec 19, 2018 9:52 pm
Amazing!! Well done Max! They are very beautiful gypsum crystals. These normally come from old mines; in Mathiatis area i found quite a lot but NOT that beautiful!
Yes please, we would love to see more from your beautiful crystals!! Thanks!
George
OK, promised,
Max
Re: Want a look at my glass gallery? (mind: pics)
Posted: Thu Dec 20, 2018 12:16 pm
by cyprusmax47
ph06kg1 wrote: ↑Wed Dec 19, 2018 9:52 pm
Amazing!! Well done Max! They are very beautiful gypsum crystals. These normally come from old mines; in Mathiatis area i found quite a lot but NOT that beautiful!
Yes please, we would love to see more from your beautiful crystals!! Thanks!
George
Just to show where the little round glass with stone-cladding from photo no 1 came off the pyrite piece..
Max
Re: Want a look at my glass gallery? (mind: pics)
Posted: Thu Dec 20, 2018 3:42 pm
by ph06kg1
Exactly, gypsum usually occurs within large pyrite chunks! But also any big, white, powdery (also gyprum) boulders contain them as well. This specific type of gypsum is called "mine gypsum", for obvious reasons!
Re: Want a look at my glass gallery? (mind: pics)
Posted: Thu Dec 20, 2018 9:48 pm
by cyprusmax47
I went many times to Limni Mine in the end 90's where there was so much "Marienglas" that one could load lorries with it. It looked exactly like the photos of this German site:
https://www.mineralienatlas.de/lexikon/ ... it?lang=de
Unfortunately this place in Limni is refilled now over the last years with the sulfur slag heaps from the old mining.. here a pic how it looked before and the Selenit (glass) was at the bottom of this photo..
Re: Want a look at my glass gallery? (mind: pics)
Posted: Fri Dec 21, 2018 2:32 pm
by ph06kg1
cyprusmax47 wrote: ↑Thu Dec 20, 2018 9:48 pm
I went many times to Limni Mine in the end 90's where there was so much "Marienglas" that one could load lorries with it. It looked exactly like the photos of this German site:
https://www.mineralienatlas.de/lexikon/ ... it?lang=de
Unfortunately this place in Limni is refilled now over the last years with the sulfur slag heaps from the old mining.. here a pic how it looked before and the Selenit (glass) was at the bottom of this photo..
wow was this the Limni mine?? Incredible! I be been there only once, but I didn't even visit it (it looked like a flat surface from a distance). The reason is that I was fascinated by the surrounding lava environment, which produced Amazing Heulandite crystals! They were white, see_through, great quality. Gaudry ( a famous French geologist, who studied cyprus in the past) also mentions the presence of stilbite in the kinousa village aphanites (type of non crystalline rocks) but I wasn't able to find any!
Re: Want a look at my glass gallery? (mind: pics)
Posted: Sat Dec 22, 2018 12:12 pm
by cyprusmax47
ph06kg1 wrote: ↑Fri Dec 21, 2018 2:32 pm
wow was this the Limni mine?? Incredible! I be been there only once, but I didn't even visit it (it looked like a flat surface from a distance). The reason is that I was fascinated by the surrounding lava environment, which produced Amazing Heulandite crystals! They were white, see_through, great quality. Gaudry ( a famous French geologist, who studied cyprus in the past) also mentions the presence of stilbite in the kinousa village aphanites (type of non crystalline rocks) but I wasn't able to find any!
Yes, it is Limni how it looked in the 90's. I lived only 2 km away and every few month I could hear the explosions...
Do you have any photos from Aphanite formation? When last time at Kinousa I cracked a lightweight rock and inside one could see plenty if fine crystals, but very very tiny and only with a macro pic it looked like that...any idea what that is?
Max
Re: Want a look at my glass gallery? (mind: pics)
Posted: Sat Dec 22, 2018 2:13 pm
by ph06kg1
cyprusmax47 wrote: ↑Sat Dec 22, 2018 12:12 pm
ph06kg1 wrote: ↑Fri Dec 21, 2018 2:32 pm
wow was this the Limni mine?? Incredible! I be been there only once, but I didn't even visit it (it looked like a flat surface from a distance). The reason is that I was fascinated by the surrounding lava environment, which produced Amazing Heulandite crystals! They were white, see_through, great quality. Gaudry ( a famous French geologist, who studied cyprus in the past) also mentions the presence of stilbite in the kinousa village aphanites (type of non crystalline rocks) but I wasn't able to find any!
Yes, it is Limni how it looked in the 90's. I lived only 2 km away and every few month I could hear the explosions...
Do you have any photos from Aphanite formation? When last time at Kinousa I cracked a lightweight rock and inside one could see plenty if fine crystals, but very very tiny and only with a macro pic it looked like that...any idea what that is?
Max
unfortunately not Max.. That time I was at my very beginnings as a rockhounder! I remember from the aphanite rocks I could see the mine in a distance! It is the surrounding lava rocks. Kinousa village is a real treasure! If you explore correctly the lava near the village you will even forget the mine
When I return to Paphos, I 'll surely go there and get some pics for you!
I remember this rock you showed it to me before! I zoomed in (as much as I could) and I can see the crystals clearly enough. It seems to me like natrolite crystals! You can do an experiment: if they break veeeeery easily it is surely natrolite, if not it is quartz. But all my guesses go to natrolite!
Regards, George
Re: Want a look at my glass gallery? (mind: pics)
Posted: Sat Dec 22, 2018 4:39 pm
by Dominic
Found two monster lumps of glass today. Absolutely huge. Will do a pic when I am happy the webcam is working.
Re: Want a look at my glass gallery? (mind: pics)
Posted: Sat Dec 22, 2018 6:58 pm
by cyprusmax47
ph06kg1 wrote: ↑Sat Dec 22, 2018 2:13 pm
cyprusmax47 wrote: ↑Sat Dec 22, 2018 12:12 pm
I remember this rock you showed it to me before! I zoomed in (as much as I could) and I can see the crystals clearly enough. It seems to me like natrolite crystals! You can do an experiment: if they break veeeeery easily it is surely natrolite, if not it is quartz. But all my guesses go to natrolite!
Regards, George
Well George, I just did the test and it is quartz. What is still curious why the stone is so lightweight...
Max
Re: Want a look at my glass gallery? (mind: pics)
Posted: Sat Dec 22, 2018 7:32 pm
by ph06kg1
Dominic wrote: ↑Sat Dec 22, 2018 4:39 pm
Found two monster lumps of glass today. Absolutely huge. Will do a pic when I am happy the webcam is working.
I 'll be glad to see them!!
Re: Want a look at my glass gallery? (mind: pics)
Posted: Sat Dec 22, 2018 7:40 pm
by ph06kg1
cyprusmax47 wrote: ↑Sat Dec 22, 2018 6:58 pm
ph06kg1 wrote: ↑Sat Dec 22, 2018 2:13 pm
cyprusmax47 wrote: ↑Sat Dec 22, 2018 12:12 pm
Well George, I just did the test and it is quartz. What is still curious why the stone is so lightweight...
Max
I am still suspicious Μαχ.. You are right, being indeed lightweight, I am not quite certain.. Wait, I got it! Observe the crystal terminations carefully!! They have to be spikey (like a toothpick) to be quartz! If they are flat (like the matchstick) , then it is natrolite. The solution lies to this observation!
Even if it breaks off with some difficulty, this doesn't mean necessarily that its quartz. Because the crystals are attached to the same composition-matrix, they get stronger. I guess the termination in this case will be flat (I hope you can see it in good light conditions!)