Bulletin of the New York Mineralogical Club...February 2015 Bulletin of the New York Mineralogical...

January 2015 NYMC SpecialSale A Whopping Success!

Bulletin of the New York Mineralogical ClubFounded 1886 Ë New York City, New York Ë Incorporated 1937

Volume 129, No. 2 Celebrating the International Year of Light February 2015

February 11 Meeting:th

Members’ Showcase: “AnnualShow & Tell”

At each year’s NYMC Members’ Showcaseeveryone has a chance to share somethinginteresting with his/her fellow members.Although there are no specific topicalrestrictions, here are some areas on whichwe would encourage members to focus withtheir short presentations:� Recent Acquisition(s)� Recent Show Purchase(s)� Field Collecting Stories� Museum/Exhibit/Show Visits� Recent Creations/Designs� Gem/Jewelry Topics� Book/Magazine SuggestionsIf you intend to participate in the Showcase,it would be helpful if you let Mitch know sohe can put you on the agenda and therebygive everyone adequate time to speak.Please telephone or email him (see last pagefor numbers/email address). You can expectto hear the following brief presentations:� Vivien Gornitz: Mars vs. Colorado� Mitch Portnoy: Coins & Gems� Eric Rampello: Mineral Slices� Rich Rossi: Recent Acquisitions� Susan Rudich: Mineral Fashion (?)� Jesus Sanchez: Honduran Gold� Lenore Weber: Charoite Carvings

Send in Your 2015 Club DuesIt is time to send in your 2015 club membership dues! Allmemberships run from January 1 to December 31 ofeach year (with a few exceptions).If your mailing labelsays “2014”, you still owe your 2015 dues. Pleasetake the time now to mail in your dues in order toprevent uninterrupted delivery of your bulletin. A handyform appears on page 12. Dues are $25 for individual,$35 for family. Mail to: Membership Coordinator, N.Y.Mineralogical Club, P.O. Box 77, Planetarium Station,NYC, NY 10024-0077.

By Mitch Portnoy

Sunday, January 18, 2015 was a verygood day for the New York MineralogicalClub’s Treasury as nearly $2,000 wasadded to it due to the tremendous successof this year’s Benefit Sale.

Over 35 NYMC members, friends andfamily added mineral specimens to theircollection, choosing from hundreds ofminerals contained in 30 well-organizedflats displayed in the apartment of MitchPortnoy on the Upper West Side.

Also available for purchase during theevent were the club’s inventory of notecards, the wide selection of gemstonefloaty pens, NYMC posters, InternationalYear of Light covers, wooden displaystands, meeting program CD-ROMs, aswell as various Club publications.

The most recent club postcards,remaining books and pamphlets and some“leftover” specimens were given away forfree.

The event, which almost did nothappen (more on that later!), had thisfavorable outcome because of the amazingvariety, quality and great values/prices ofthe specimens, all donated by NYMCmember Nik Nikiforou of GlobeMinerals (www.globeminerals.com).

Although the minerals offered werecertainly varied both in terms of speciesand locality, Nick’s fondness for quartzand fluorite, as well as specimens fromChina, Morocco, Mexico and SouthernAfrica was apparent.Some specific highlights were:� Fluorite from China� Hematite from Morocco� Vanadinite/Barite from Morocco� Malachite/Dolomite from Morocco� Aegerine/Feldspar from Malawi� Pyrite Cubes from Spain� Gypsum “Roses” from Mexico� Aragonite from Mexico� Biotite Pseudomorphs from Brazil� Sphalerite from Peru� Malachite from Arizona

As I said, this event almost did nothappen! For the most part, we have beenhaving this “annual” sale not only to helpraise some money but also to find homesfor the “excess” donated specimens. As oflast month, because of the general successof the other distribution channels we have(auctions, raffles, etc.) and the Club’s highparticipation rate, there really were notenough remainders to schedule aworthwhile special sale.

Nick decided to “solve” this“problem” by organizing his business’s“excess” inventory and donating it to theClub. I asked him for 10/12 flats; hewound up giving 30. We thank him forhis unbridled generosity!

Coming Soon!

Issue Highlights

President’s Message. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2Meeting Minutes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2Unique Snowflakes?.. . . . . . . . . . . . . 3Cleopatra’s Needle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4A Love Story. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Crushing Diamonds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6The New Black.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7The 100: The Blues. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8Topics in Gemology: Pink. . . . . . . . . 9Membership Renewal Form. . . . . 10Essay: Your Atomic Self. . . . . . . . . 11IYL Posters Available. . . . . . . . . . . 12Club & Show Calendars. . . . . . . . . . 13

2 Bulletin of the New York Mineralogical Club February 2015

President’s MessageBy Mitch Portnoy

How Did the Chinese Auction Go?The Club’s first-ever Chinese auction

proved to be a fun and popular activity atthe January 2015 meeting. Twentyspecimens and objects, all related to theevening’s lecture topic of malachite, wereoffered and bid for. The lucky winnerswere announced throughout the evening,generally in between sections of thelecture. A whopping $230 was raised forthe Club. (Each sheet of 25 chances was$2.) Given all the positive feedback Ireceived during and after the activity, wewill likely schedule another similar event either in the second half of 2015 or inearly 2016.

2015 Dues are Due!Please remember to send in your dues

check if you have not already done so. Notsure? If you get your bulletin via regularmail, check the label to see your status. Ifyou get your bulletin via email, ask me!

2015 NYMC CommemorationsThe NYMC will celebrate the fact

that 2015 is the International Year ofLight with a series of mineral/gem gamespertaining to “light” at each meeting, thefirst at this month’s meeting. In addition,there will be a special visual and musicaltribute to Albert Einstein in honor of the100 Anniversary of General Relativity.th

Receive Your Bulletin Electronically!Advantages� Early Arrival� Pristine Condition� Full-Color Version� Electronic Storage� Club Saves Money� Receive Special Mailings� Go Green!Requires� Email Request to Mitch

([email protected])� Adobe Reader (Free)Optional� Printer (B/W or Color)

Club Meeting Minutes for January 14, 2015By Vivien Gornitz, SecretaryAttendance: 47President Mitch Portnoy presided.Announcements:� A new event for the club, a “Chinese

Auction” was held throughout themeeting featuring malachite relateditems.

� The arrival of the UN’s InternationalYear of Light was announced, alongwith the 100 Anniversary ofth

Relativity. New note cards set on thesetopics are available (along with 20+other sets).

� A malachite locality game was held.� The usual historical days, items for

sale, and upcoming club events andmeeting lectures were previewed.

Special Lecture: Mitch Portnoy– “Malachite: Ornamental and Collectible”

Malachite, the colorful, bright greenmineral, is a favorite in everybody’s mineralcollection. Mitch Portnoy, in a well-illustrated and very informativepresentation, highlighted some lesser-known aspects of its lengthy role in humanhistory and the multiple uses to which it hasbeen put, ranging from copper ore, topigment, cosmetic, ornamental stone andgem.

2 3 2Malachite, Cu (CO )(OH) , formswithin the oxidized zone, as descendingrainwater, laden with dissolved Cu and++

2CO , reacts with carbonate rocks. The namederives from the Greek for “mallow’, afterthe green, leafy plant, or possibly theHebrew work for king, “melech”, inreference to the ancient Near East trade inthis raw material, controlled by the rulers.Malachite transforms readily to nativecopper, as shown in an entertaining film, asa chemistry professor gently heats aspecimen over a Bunsen burner, turning itfirst into the black cuprite, and then slowlyto the native metal, Cu. Thus, malachiteformed an important cornerstone in the birthof ancient civilization—the dawn of theBronze Age!

Malachite exists in all continents,including Antarctica. Besides its obvioususe as an important copper ore , it was also1

employed in ancient Egypt, Greece, andRome as a pigment, cosmetic, andoccasionally in jewelry. Because of itsimportance as an ore, other uses werelimited until major copper deposits werediscovered in the southwest U.S. and Russiain the 19 century. Russian enthusiasm forth

this green stone knew no bounds. Malachitelavishly decorated palace walls, columns,

monuments, and giant urns. It also became apopular gemstone in late Victorian, ArtNouveau, Art Deco, and modern jewelry. Itsvaried habits and sculptural forms producemany attractive specimens that grace anycollection. Its relative softness and polishedluster make malachite a great carvingmaterial. Today, the green, banded patternsof malachite also appear on an unexpectedhost of diverse materials: clothing, shoes,home furnishings, compact cases, pens,music boxes, in addition to abundant knick-knacks, trinkets, and fake beads.(1) Today, most copper is mined from very fine-grainedlow-grade porphyry copper deposits of sub-volcanicorigin in which minerals such as chalcocite, covellite,chalcopyrite, bornite, etc. are disseminated within theigneous rock.

Members in the News� Dr. Oliver Sacks’s book, The Man Who

Mistook His Wife for a Hat, wasmentioned in a clue on ABC’s Jeopardyon December 17, 2014.

� Dr. George Harlow gave a talk entitledMyanmar Discoveries to the GIAAlumni on January 13, 2015.

� Jesus Sanchez posted an image onFacebook in early January 2015 of oneof his spectacular epidotes fromHonduras.

Welcome New Members!Vanessa Zannis. . . . . . . . . . . . . NYC, NY

Coming in March:Marvelous Pseudomorphs

Very Sad NewsIt is with much sorrow that we have learned

that Donald S. Lapham passed away on October27, 2014. Don was a long time member of theNYMC and a well-liked dealer of minerals andfossils (Quarry Enterprises). Don and his wifeAudray have been perennial dealers at the NYCGem & Mineral Show.

It is with sadness that we inform you thatSarna Strom passed away on December 11,2014. Sarna was a long time member of the NewYork Mineralogical Club and very popular dealerof minerals and lapidary arts.

And lastly, Mitchell Bogen, a true Clubinstitution, passed away in early January. He was83 and is survived by his wife and son Jules.

February 2015 Bulletin of the New York Mineralogical Club 3

The World of MineralsThe World of Minerals is a monthly column written by Dr. Vivien Gornitz on timely and interesting topics relatedto geology, gemology, mineralogy, mineral history, etc.

Snowflake Shapes Are Not So Unique After All?By Jacqueline Howard

Each snowflake may not be so unique after all.While no one snowflake is exactly the same as another on

a molecular level, it turns out that all snowflakes fall into one of35 different shapes, researchers say. Just take a look at thisinfographic below of the different snowflake shapes fromchemistry teacher Andy Brunnin, who authors the blogCompound Interest!

The graphic uses data from the global classification of snowcrystals, ice crystals, and solid precipitation published in thejournal Atmospheric Research in 2013.

How exactly do snowflakes form their amazing shapes?A snowflake starts as a tiny grain of dust or pollen floating

in a cloud. Water vapor from the air sticks to the grain andfreezes, forming into a tiny hexagonal crystal. From there, morevapor condenses on the crystal as it travels to the ground, and thesnowflake’s “arms” take shape.

“We still don’t know the precise variables behind theformation of particular shapes,” Brunnin wrote on his blog,“although researchers are continually working on theoreticalequations to predict snowflake shapes.”

Smithsonian reported that, though snowflakes are stunningto observe, scientists classify snowflakes and analyze how theyform to better understand how crystals may be used in a host ofapplications, from silicon to semiconductors in computers andelectronics.

So, there’s even more reason for the sky to, “Let it snow!Let it snow! Let it snow!”

Source: Huffington Post Science from Jan. 3, 2015

Vivien is on a winter break!Her popular column will be back next month.


How Cleopatra’s Needle Got to Central ParkBy Kate Briquelet

It’s 70 feet tall, 220 tons and the city’s oldest artifact — butmany New Yorkers don’t know it exists.

Cleopatra’s Needle, a 3,500-year-old obelisk from AncientEgypt, survived a voyage to Central Park more than a century agoand has been a park treasure ever since.

Nestled behind the Metropolitan Museum of Art, thehieroglyph-covered column was commissioned by one of Egypt’smost powerful pharaohs and reigns as among the last of its kind.

“It’s our oldest inhabitant,” says Dr. Bob Brier, a renownedEgyptologist at Long Island University’s C. W. Post Campus inBrookville, LI.

“When it was erected, everyone went bananas,” he adds.“Then it was forgotten. Trees grew up around the knoll andobscured it. People just stopped thinking about it.”

Still, Brier says the artifact’s history has enough twists andturns to make a Hollywood film.

Erected in Heliopolis around 1450 BC, the obelisk wastoppled centuries later by Persian invaders. It was buried in thedust for 500 years more until the Romans snatched it for -JuliusCaesar.

Now the Central Park Conservancy is embarking on a$500,000 project to clean and preserve the monument — usinglasers to wipe away decades of dirt and pollution.

“There was a recent article about the obelisk, and the writersaid it’s boring,” says Brier, who visits the monument everymonth. “He’s dead wrong. The obelisk is an engineeringachievement. It’s an ancient skyscraper.”

Despite its nickname, Central Park’s obelisk wasn’t made forCleopatra, but for the Napoleon of Egypt.

Thutmosis III amassed the greatest empire in Egyptian historyduring his 54-year reign. The pharaoh came to power in 1479 BCand claimed to have conquered more than 300 cities from Syria toSudan, leading his army from a chariot sheathed in gold.

Thutmosis was also a prolific builder, commissioning dozensof temples and obelisks.

To celebrate his 30th year of rule, the pharaoh asked for a pairof pillars to flank the sun temple in Heliopolis — a feat that sentthousands of workers south to the Aswan quarry to cut eachmonument from a single piece of red granite.

While Thutmosis was the brain behind the obelisks andinscribed them with his name, two other kings later seized themand added their own self-serving hieroglyphs to the four sides.

Pharaoh Rameses II, who reigned from 1279 to 1212 BC,inscribed his praises and left little room for Osorkon I, whocrammed his moniker on a lower edge.

The monuments towered above the Nile for more than 1,000years, until Persians raided the city and toppled them. The obelisksmay have burned in the invasion and eroded from spendinghundreds of years in the sand.

The obelisks stood again around 12 BC, when Romanconquerors uprooted and moved them to Alexandria. The artifactswere placed then at a Caesarium, a temple honoring Julius Caesar.

After the collapse of the Roman empire, and even the fall ofthe Caesarium, the obelisks still stood. At some point — no one’squite sure by whom — they were given their nickname:Cleopatra’s Needles.

“Thutmosis’s pair of obelisks quietly faded into the scenery,their presence taken for granted by the Alexandrians,” wroteMartina D’Alton in a 1993 book on the obelisk.

“The obelisks remained unperturbed ... greeting incomingships and witnessing the departure of obelisks and other treasuresbound for distant shores.”

By the 19th century, Europe coveted Egyptian artifacts.England was offered one of the Thutmosis columns in 1801 as agift for helping Egypt oust Napoleon.

It wasn’t erected in London until 1878, however, after ahazardous journey that cost the lives of six men.

That year, the United States became determined to get anobelisk of its own.

America missed its first chance at an obelisk in 1869 at theopening of the Suez Canal.

Bankrupt and beholden to European creditors, Egypt offered

Cleopatra Needle's made a long and tedious journey to CentralPark.

Cleopatra’s Needle was erected by Thutmose III at Heliopolis in about 1,460 BC,later moved to Alexandria, and then to the USA.


US officials the ancient pillar “not out of generosity and friendshipbut out of desperation,” Brier writes in his 2013 book,“Egyptomania.”

The offer was ignored — until New York was overcome withobelisk envy at the sight of London’s gem.

That’s when William Henry Hulbert, editor of The New YorkWorld newspaper, and E.E. Farman, the American consul-generalin Cairo, launched a public campaign to obtain one.

Egyptian representatives promised Farman an obelisk severaltimes before, and this time he asked for the offer in writing. Undera new contract, Farman made sure the precious relic would gospecifically to New York.

In 1879, newspaper headlines declared obelisk victory.Railroad mogul William Vanderbilt covered the obelisk’stransport. Now America only needed a man for the daunting featof bringing it home.

Henry Gorringe, a decorated Navy commander, steppedforward. At the time, the largest object to sail in the hold of a shipwas a 100-ton cannon heading from England to Italy, Brier writes.(London had towed its obelisk.)

Gorringe’s team carefully lowered the obelisk with a cableamid scores of protesters. They slid it into an 83-foot-long woodenbox, which was rolled with cannonballs onto a vessel bound forStaten Island.

The obelisk set sail on June 12, 1880, and reached New Yorka little over a month later. But the treacherous journey wasn’t over.It took another five months for the artifact to reach Central Park.

First Gorringe hauled the obelisk’s 50-ton pedestal to 51stStreet and pulled it to the park with 32 horses.

The monument, meanwhile, was towed up the Hudson Riverto 96th Street on pontoons. Gorringe built a special rail track tomove the obelisk through the city at a rate of only one block perday.

As Cleopatra’s Needle inched toward its new home, NewYork was enraptured in a wave of Egyptomania.

When the obelisk’s cornerstone was laid at Central Park’sGraywacke Knoll, close to East 81st Street, at least 9,000Free-masons marched up Fifth Avenue to commemorate it with aceremony.

New York merchants, including a needle company, doled outtrading cards in honor of the artifact, showing the Queen of theNile threading not a needle, but an obelisk.

A candy stand trailed the monument on the voyage to its new

home, while another merchant sold “Cleopatra Dates” in anobelisk-shaped box, according to D’Alton. Some restaurants evenstirred up “Obbylish” cocktails.

“When the obelisk was erected, ladies wore mechanical leadpencils around their necks in the shape of the obelisk,” Brier toldThe Post. “People were going crazy.”

On Jan. 22, 1881, thousands of New Yorkers gathered to seethe obelisk assembled — two years after its journey fromAlexandria.

Before it was erected, a time capsule was buried under its basewith documents including the 1870 census, a copy of theDeclaration of Independence, Webster’s Dictionary and a smallbox from Hurlbert. Its complete contents are unknown.

In 2011, the obelisk returned to the spotlight when anEgyptian official accused New York of neglecting the ancientstructure and threatened to take it back.

In a letter to Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Zahi Hawass,secretary-general for the Supreme Council of Antiquities, fumedthat the obelisk was “severely weathered over the past century andthat no efforts have been made to conserve it.

“Recent photographs that I have received show the severedamage that has been done to the obelisk,” he wrote, “particularlyto the hieroglyphic text, which in places has been completely wornaway.”

The Parks Department and Central Park Conservancy-rebuffed Hawass’ claims, saying the obelisk’s damage stems frombeing engulfed in sand centuries ago.

Still, park honchos ordered a “weathering study” shortly afterthe scathing letter. And a conservation project began this spring.

Bartosz Dajnowski — an Illinois-based conservationist whoalso restored the George Washington statue at Federal Hall onWall Street — is cleaning the obelisk with lasers before repairingcracks and covering it with protective coating.

The laser’s infrared beam is set to a distance of 1,064nanometers and hits the soot but not the ancient granite, Dajnowskitold The Post. The pulse lasts about 100 nanoseconds, or 1billionth of a second.

His three-man team’s meticulous method allows for thescrubbing of 10 square feet an hour.

“The legibility of the hieroglyphs will significantly improve,”Dajnowski said. “The dark deposits are visually distracting andcamouflaging some of the hieroglyphs.

The obelisk being transported.

Hieroglyphs on the obelisk.


“Once the stone surface is evenly clean, the details . . . will benaturally highlighted by the sun, and the shadows cast inside thecarvings will make them more legible.”

Conservancy officials say the project won’t reveal any secrets,but rather preserve the obelisk for the decades to come.

Brier, who has studied the artifact for 25 years, hopes to get onthe project’s scaffolding.

“Obelisks were almost always one piece, but the tip of ourobelisk looks like it was refurbished,” he said.

Perhaps Cleopatra’s Needle has one more mystery to besolved.

Source: New York Post from June 15, 2014

A Love Staurolite to Make You GruneriteM. J. Kohn-dradite and T. Peare-oxeneDept. of Geology and Geophysics,University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, WI 53706

Brucite and Vivianite were seated in a (bar-1) day, drinkingmargarites and sodalites. Abruptly Brucite asked “DeeriteVivianite, willemite you marry me?” “Are you in-sanidine?Never!” cryolite Vivianite. “OK, don’t make esseneite,” saidBrucite. “FATS chance” ripidolite Vivianite. “Well then, willemiteyou goethite eastonite witherite meionite to Minnesotaite?” “Yes,of quartz,” said Vivianite.

As they left, Brucite feldspar on the barite marble fluorite andlay stilbite. “Oh my gold!” exclaimed Vivanite. “Are you chert?”

“Schist!” Brucite monazite. “I think I bustamite my ankerite andcut my scapolite!” “Is there an orthoclase surgeon here?” askedVivanite, looking to the (bar-4) help. Suddenly Brucite lepidoliteup and actinolite nothing was wrong. “Let’s gedrite out of here” hesaid.

On the way to Minnesoaite, their vanadinite got a flat tirodite.When they stopped, Vivianite saw a serpentine behind arosenbuschite and began to actinolite scared and tremolite. “Becarpholite,” she said. “Ulexite it and an atacamaite be dangerousfor its biotite is fayalite without an epidote.” Just then a wulfeniteappeared on the sphene, saw the serpentine, and forsterite down itsthroat asbestos he could. Then suddenly, it re-goergeyited thelifeless serpentine. “Oh, gross-ular!” said Brucite. “Can it stilbite?”asked Vivianite.

Eventually, Vivianite did marry Brucite in an Anglesitechurch, and their son Allanite was bornite by natrolite birth.Allanite was quite a hypersthene lad who looked like Beryl Flintin his pyrite movies. Later, Allanite found he washomo-septochlorite and started to datolite Franklinite, who wasalso gehlenite. But that’s anorthite love staurolite.

Scientists Crush Diamonds With ‘Star Trek’EngineBy Ken Croswell

The world’s largest laser, a machine that appeared in a StarTrek movie, has attained a powerful result: squeezed diamond, theleast compressible substance known, 50 million times harder thanEarth’s atmosphere presses down on us. The finding should helpscientists better understand how material behaves at the greatpressures that prevail deep inside giant planets.

NIF Target Chamber. This view from the bottom of the chamber shows the targetpositioner being inserted. Pulses from NIF's high-powered lasers race toward theTarget Bay at the speed of light. They arrive at the center of the target chamber withina few trillionths of a second of each other, aligned to the accuracy of the diameter ofa human hair.

Physicist Ray Smith of the Lawrence Livermore NationalLaboratory in Livermore, California, and his colleagues achievedthe feat at the National Ignition Facility (NIF), also in Livermore.Spanning 10 meters and armed with scores of lasers, theinstrument is so sci-fi–looking that it appeared as the “warp core”of the Starship Enterprise in the 2013 movie Star Trek IntoDarkness. NIF has a practical purpose, however: to trigger nuclearfusion, the same type of reaction that powers the sun, in the hopeof someday solving our energy needs. Scientists also use it for

View of the cleaning and renovation of the obelisk.


basic research, such as investigating how various materials respondwhen compressed—data relevant to the interiors of planets.

In the new study, Smith’s team fired 176 lasers at a small goldcylinder measuring 1.1 centimeters long and 0.6 centimeters indiameter. The lasers heated the gold so that it emitted x-rays,which squeezed a tiny diamond attached over a hole in thecylinder’s outer wall. The diamond reached a pressure of 50million atmospheres—14 times greater than the pressure at Earth’scenter.

As the researchers report online yesterday (July 17) in Nature,the x-ray assault nearly quadrupled the diamond’s density. “That’sa record,” Smith says. “No one’s compressed diamond to thatextent before.” The blast pulverized the diamond into dust, butbefore the mineral’s destruction the scientists successfullymeasured its density as the pressure rose. For a billionth of asecond, the diamond, which is normally 3.25 times denser thanwater, became denser than lead and 12.03 times denser than water.

“This is an impressive accomplishment,” says DavidStevenson of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena,a planetary scientist who was not involved in the experiment. “Thisis high-quality data at very high pressures.” Such great pressure iscomparable to that at the center of giant planets: Jupiter’s core hasa pressure between 40 million and 90 million atmospheres, whilethe pressure at Saturn’s center is about 40 million atmospheres.

Neither world has a diamond core, however. Diamond consistsof carbon, and in our solar system oxygen is twice as common andmakes up silicate rocks, a major component of the sun’s planets.Still, scientists have speculated that diamond worlds may existelsewhere. If a solar system arises with more carbon than oxygen,then carbon should soak up the oxygen by forming carbonmonoxide, leaving excess carbon to create carbon planets—which,under pressure, become diamond worlds. Thus, Smith says, thenew experiment will probe the nature of such planets.

Astronomer Jonathan Fortney of the University of California,Santa Cruz, thinks carbon planets are rare, however, so he hopesthe scientists investigate other materials. One element he mentionsis iron, which may make up the cores of super-Earths—planetsseveral times more massive than our own. Smith says his team isnow studying this material and hopes to have results soon.

Source: Huffingtonpost.com Science July 18, 2014

This Just May Be the New BlackBy Jacqueline Howard

Scientists at Surrey Nanosystems, a nanotechnology companyin the U.K., have developed a new material -- dubbed“Vantablack” – that just may be the world’s darkest material yet.After all, the material absorbs 99.96 percent of light sent its way.

“Vantablack is a major breakthrough by U.K. industry in theapplication of nanotechnology to optical instrumentation,” BenJensen, the company’s chief technology officer, said in a writtenstatement. “For example, it reduces stray-light, improving theability of sensitive telescopes to see the faintest stars... Its ultra-lowreflectance improves the sensitivity of terrestrial, space andair-borne instrumentation.”

So, what is this elusive material anyway? Vantablack iscreated using super-black low-temperature carbon nanotubes,which Discover magazine describes as one-atom thick sheets ofcarbon that have been rolled into tubes.

The nanotubes are so tiny, Gizmodo reported, that when lightparticles are absorbed, they’re trapped within the structure withoutever bouncing back into the air through the nanotubes.

“These new materials, they are pretty much as black as we canget, almost as close to a black hole as we could imagine,” Dr.Stephen Westland, professor of color science and technology atLeeds University in the U.K., who was not involved inVantablack’s development, told The Independent.

Vantablack could be used to boost the performance ofastronomical cameras, telescopes, and infrared scanning systems,The Independent reported, and it may also have militaryapplications.

“We are now scaling up production to meet the requirementsof our first customers in the defense and space sectors, and havealready delivered our first orders,” Jensen said in the writtenstatement.

BBC News reported that Surrey NanoSystems will unveil itsnew material at this week’s Farnborough International Air Showin Hampshire, England.

Source: Huffington Post July 14, 2014

For SaleMinerals from my personal collection

Many from old collections and no longer available.Howard Heitner

(914) 274-1370 or [email protected]

Surrey Nanosystem’' Vantablack material.

This is a picture of some diamonds from an historic collection EliseSkalwold is working on documenting. She spoke to us last year about TheEdward Arthur Metzger Gem Collection of Cornell University.


Collector’s Series – “The 100"The 100 is a monthly feature of interest to mineral collectors written by Bill Shelton, based upon his many years ofexperience as a mineral collector, educator, author, appraiser, philanthropist and dealer. Comments as well as suggestionsfor new topics are most welcome. Contact him at [email protected].

The Blues . . .Our species for this month are all silicates – and, at times,

they can also be blue. Kyanite, which is noted in blue, gray,white, green, yellow and rarely orange,is easily found in our general region. Itis significant as a rock-forming mineraland is found locally in Connecticut, forexample. Not too many years ago, avery rare find from Tanzania yieldedorange twins of kyanite that were metwith much collector interest. Lazurite isalways blue and often a very deep butbeautiful shade. Recently, theMineralogical Record (Vol. 45, No. 3)had an extensive article about theminerals from the “lapis region” ofAfghanistan. Sodalite can be blue,white, gray, green or even pink(hackmanite variety). Many years ago,both blue sodalite and hackmanite werecollected at Mt. St. Hilaire. Sincesodalite and lazurite may occurtogether, the possibility exists forconfusion between the two. As a rule,massive sodalite is more coarse-grainedand you often find calcite and pyriteembedded in lazurite. Fine crystals havebeen misidentified as described in theM. R. article. Also, there isdisagreement on what exactly is neededto call a sodalite by the varietal namehackmanite. I’d suggest pink color andstrong fluorescence. But, as I have saidbefore, varietal names tend to do asmuch harm as good – you cannot bepositive about what the specimen is andthey do lead to labeling inconsistencies.

Kyanite is usually embedded inschist and extremely unlikely to havenicely terminated crystals. In Brazil,there are clusters in quartz that are finespecimens but they are also often poorlyterminated. We collected near Roxbury,Connecticut and found some largecrystals(over six inches) that were partlywhite to pink and may have beensomewhat altered. Long ago, Judd’sBridge (Connecticut) was a popularplace to collect kyanite. Among theclassic localities, St. Gothard,Switzerland has always been a personalfavorite – at times, they are found with andalusite on the samespecimen. Red, orange, and yellow fluorescence is notedoccasionally in kyanite. While it is rarely seen, kyanite up to 20carats has been faceted; anything beyond 5 carats is likely to be

somewhat imperfect. Most of the cut stones (and mostspecimens) are blue.

Lazurite, which may not even exist alone in nature, is bestknown in the material lapis lazuli; thisis a rock with calcite, pyrite, etc., mixedwith lazurite. Other minerals present inthe mix may include hauyne, sodalite,and nosean, which are all relatedspecies. Large pieces are known fromAfghanistan, Chile and Russia butrarely are fine materials foundelsewhere. Crystals of consequence tothe collector will be essentially alwaysfound in Afghanistan; they can be up totwo inches in size and rarely exhibitrazor-sharp edges. Lapis is found inEgyptian tombs and authorities thinkmining in the Afghan area has beengoing on for about seven thousandyears. Perhaps, it is one of man’s oldestgemstones; it is also possibly the oldestmore or less continuous mining projectin the world. Lapis has also been notedlocally in St. Lawrence County, NewYork.

Sodalite is an important collectorspecies, especially since the finespecimens were found in Afghanistanover the last ten years or so. They canbe green, blue, purple, and colorless.Sizes, much to my surprise, approachfour inches. This is surprising when youconsider the fact that many authors callthe crystals rare (and not very large);this is no longer accurate. Muchsodalite, often veined with calcite, isseen in carvings, boxes and cabochons.The best blue material, with very littleveining, is not quite the same color aslapis but it is a less expensivealternative. Occasional faceted stonesare usually small (i.e., one carat or less)and tend to be more or less translucent.Fluorescence is of special interestbecause the variety hackmanite can bepink in SW and yellow-orange in LW.White samples may turn red or purpleafter SW exposure. One good locality isDungannon (Canada) and another is Mt.St. Hilaire. Afghan material, by contrast,may exhibit pink, yellow and orangecolors upon exposure to UV. Robbins

(1994) has an entire chapter on fluorescence in sodalite whichinterested readers ought to peruse. Kyanite has 1,308 localitieswhile lazurite has only 43; sodalite has 377 – all via mindat.org.

Kyanite from Burma

Lazurite from Afghanistan

Sodalite from Brazil


Topics in GemologyTopics in Gemology is a monthly column written by Diana Jarrett, GG, RMV, based on gemological questions posed toher over the years by beginners and experts alike. Contact her at dianajarrett.com.

Pink Possibilities

Oh the hubris over fancy pink diamonds! Admittedly theyare objects of desire and their at-auction price really depends onwho’s bidding that day, keeping in mind the last pink hammerprice. Less stellar budgets can still bask in that rosy glow viafancy pink sapphires with a similar blushing tint. Both of thosegem types are finding new devotees and in so doing, manycollectors are reaching out to see what else the gem bag holds.

Your customers may have already developed a taste forpinkies of one kind or another. But their budget will separate thehaves from the have-nots in short order. There are some othernatural pink gemstones to consider that will satisfy your star-struck customers however. The word is pink tourmaline.

The very name tourmaline signals its earliest admirers. Fromthe Sinhalese ‘tura mali’ meaning stone with mixed colors,tourmaline has been unearthed in myriad hues for millennia. Thelast dowager Empress of China Tz’u Hsi loved the stuff so muchshe loaded up on the material from as far away as the Himalayasto San Diego, CA.

Today pink tourmaline is gaining traction as an exotic andcoveted choice for modern jewelry collectors. Some of those fansmay be coming in to your store looking for an “I’ll know it whenI see it” sort of thing. Offer them this precious stone and tellthem the story.

Part of the pink tourmaline story refers to its most populardeposits: Afghanistan and Nigeria, both hot spots of politicalunrest. Sometimes the rough from either locale can look similar.The most desirable hues seem to be straight medium tonedpink–neither peachy nor lilac tinted.

The current impossible climate in Afghanistan means thatdealers with these gems are offering ‘old stock’. Even Afghaninationals with family in the region are loathe to go back insearch of the goods, says veteran gem carver Sherris Shank ofGemscapes. The pink rough comes out of the high mountainousregions, she says. “No roads there of course, so goods areloaded onto donkeys to make the trek downhill and ultimatelyout of the country.” If that’s not enough to deal with in thischaotic region, no one really knows who or where the bad guysare.

Nigerian pink tourmaline was more likely to be traded atTucson this year. That region has its own woes of course. Stillsome rough is coming out of that country, Shank reports. Lookfor more accessible sources like Mozambique, Tanzania andNamibia to satisfy your customer’s burgeoning tastes for thesedelights. Besides the color, sell the durability of these beauties.At 7-7.5 on the Mohs scale, they take a beautiful polish to boot.Offering these sensuous stones to your customers will whettheir appetite for out-of-the-ordinary stones, and open up storytelling opportunities for you to engage with them as they see theunique beauty in these blushing jewels.

8.97 ct Vortex Cut Nigerian Pink Tourmaline; Courtesy: Sherris Shanks, Gemscapes

Natural Nigerian Pink (mostly) Tourmaline Crystals

Pink (and Red) Tourmaline Has a Wide Range of Tones


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Your Atomic Self: The Invisible Elements ThatConnect You to Everything Else in theUniverseBy Curt Stager

One can only wonder how Albert Einstein might havewrestled with the still-open question of how inanimate atomsproduce life. He freely acknowledged the limitations of human

understanding, including his own, and in July 1945, he wrote, “Wehave to admire in humility the beautiful harmony of the structureof this world – as far as we can grasp it. And that is all.” Sciencealone can take us only so far in our efforts to grasp the world, butsometimes teaming it with the arts can carry us the rest of the wayforward on that journey. As a musician, Einstein understood this,and perhaps his love of music offered him insights into how lifearises from atoms in ways that are now described in terms of“emergence.”

An emergent phenomenon arises from relatively simplecomponents that somehow become more than the sum of theirparts, as random scratches become letters if they are shaped incertain ways. Letters can be grouped into words with meaningsthat depend upon their sequences. The letters e, l, f, and i, forexample, can become “file” or “life.” Emerging from the samekind of mysterious zone wherein the arrangements of wordsproduce literature, teeming atoms and molecules somehow becomeliving cells. In similar fashion a thousand minnows produce an

undulating shoal of silver, a million citizens make a city with adistinctive identity, billions of coral polyps produce a complex andcolorful reef, and trillions of mindless cells create a colony thatwalks, talks, and thinks of itself as a person.

Music, in this context, is an emergent phenomenon that arisesfrom sound waves in air, and even if it can’t completely explainthe origins of life, it can help describe life while also making itmore enjoyable. Einstein was an excellent violinist whoparticularly loved Mozart’s music, and as his fame spread he wasoften invited to perform with some of the world’s mostaccomplished musicians. Pianist Artur Balsam, when asked aboutthe musical abilities of the revered author of relativity theory,replied, “He is relatively good.”

But Einstein’s relationship to music was more personal thanprofessional, and although he could have owned the best ofinstruments, he preferred to lug an inexpensive fiddle in a batteredcase wherever he went. This included Camp Knollwood on LowerSaranac Lake in New York’s Adirondack mountains, where heoften played alone on the veranda and also enjoyed playing duetswith the concert violinist Frances Magnes, another frequentsummer visitor to Knollwood. “If I were not a physicist,” Einsteinonce said, “I would probably be a musician.... I see my life interms of music.”

What can music reveal about the atomic nature of life?Physicists sometimes compare the oscillation patterns of orbitingelectrons to standing waves in the resonant strings of musical

instruments, and the vibration patterns of subatomic superstringshave been said to resemble harmonic sequences that can be playedon a violin. But atoms are more difficult to define when consideredin terms of quantum mechanics, and both music and life resistprecise definitions as well. Biologists still argue over whether ornot some animals’ vocalizations constitute song or mere noise, andeven scientists who study the origins of life on Earth have no firmdefinition of what life itself is. Try it yourself sometime, as I dowith students in my introductory biology class at Paul Smith’sCollege, not far from Saranac Lake.

After the students list a dozen or so features, including eating,respiring, responding to stimuli, and reproducing, I unveil achainsaw that lay hidden behind the lecture podium. As jaws dropand laughter erupts, I pull the cord and the machine roars to “life.”Nearly every feature on the list is displayed in the consumption offuel, the exhalation of waste gases, and the raucous responses tomy trigger finger. When I “kill” the engine, someone always asks,“Wait, what about reproduction? It can’t be alive if it can’treproduce.” And as you might guess, a fairly crude reply soonfollows, along the lines of “What about a nun, then? Isn’t a nunalive?” or “What about a mule? A mule couldn’t reproduce evenif it tried.”


If defining life is this difficult, no wonder we struggle so muchto understand how it arises from atoms. But even if we can’t fullyexplain what life is, the emergence of music from vibratingmolecules can help describe what life is like. Consider what mighthappen if you were to borrow Einstein’s violin, which is stillplayed in concert by his great-grandson Paul, and use it to performone of his favorite melodies, Mozart’s Sonata in E Minor, on thedock at Knollwood.

Most of the atoms of this particular instrument were also hereduring the 1940s, because atoms tend to persist in objects such asviolins longer than they do in more transient entities such as lakesand musicians. But what exactly is the music that emerges fromyour fingering and bowing of the strings?

The sounds themselves are short-lived waves of air moleculesstriking your eardrums, and your perceptions of pitch and toneemerge from waves of neuronal ions that trigger emergent sensoryand emotional responses in your brain. The melody itself,however, is a metaphysical pattern that emerges from the processof playing and, ultimately, from a lyrical thought in Mozart’s mindin 1778. The emergent phenomenon of the Sonata in E Minoroutlasts any single performance or player, and it exists with orwithout the instruments that embody it in sound or the scribblingsthat transcribe it to paper.

Perhaps that is what you are most like, then: not the physicalinstrument of your atoms but the unique pattern that emerges likemusic from their interactions, an abstraction that is nonethelessreal. Perhaps you are like a living melody that successiveorchestras of atoms perform in the theater of your body until,sooner or later, the concert series ends. Walt Whitman suggestedas much when he wrote:

I celebrate myself, and sing myself,And what I assume you shall assume,For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.

Like the sound of a sonata, like Mozart, Einstein, andWhitman, you too will be gone someday. But like the abstractstructure of a musical composition, the space-time coordinates andemergent patterns of your life are immortal, and your atomic andsubatomic components will continue to exist in many and variedforms for trillions of years until even they must melt into thesilence of a dying universe. As Whitman concluded:

I depart as air, I shake my white locks at the runaway sun,I effuse my flesh in eddies, and drift it in lacy jags.I bequeath myself to the dirt to grow from the grass I love,If you want me again look for me under your boot-soles.

In the meantime, welcome to your atomic self. Hydrogen hasbecome you after billions of years of stellar fusion and countlessdances of atoms in air, water, earth, and fire on this planetaryvessel of ours. As you finish the rest of the story of your life, mayyou share your matter and energy ever more wisely and well withthe universe.

Now take another breath, if you please, not only because youmust but, wonder of wonders, because you can.

Excerpted from Your Atomic Self: The Invisible Elements ThatConnect You to Everything Else in the Universe, by Curt Stager.Copyright 2014 by the author and reprinted by permission ofThomas Dunne Books.

International Year of Light 2015 Available Posters!All of the following posters (and even more!) can be downloaded on http://www.magic-of-light.org/iyl2015/download.php#


2015 Club Calendar

Date Event Location Remarks & Information

February 11 Meeting at 6:45 Holiday Inn Midtown Members’ Show & Tell

March 11 Meeting at 6:45 Holiday Inn MidtownSpecial Lecture: Alfredo Petrov – “Pseudomorphs– False Forms of Minerals”

April 8 Meeting at 6:45 Holiday Inn MidtownSpecial Lecture: Jamie Kruse & ElizabethEllsworth (Artists) – “NYC is a Geologic Force”

May 13 Meeting at 6:45 Holiday Inn MidtownSpecial Lecture: Renée Newman – “Exotic Gemsand the Jewelry Business Today”

June 10 Benefit Auction Holiday Inn Midtown, Mezz C 100+ diverse lots, not to be missed!

July/August Tentative Club Events TBD Details to Follow; Officers’ Planning Meeting

September 9 Meeting at 6:45 Holiday Inn Midtown Details to Follow

October 7 Annual Banquet Holiday Inn MidtownTheme: NYC Subway / GarnetLots More Details to Follow

November Meeting at 6:45 Holiday Inn Midtown Details to Follow

December Meeting at 6:45 Holiday Inn Midtown Details to Follow

2015 Show or Event Calendar

Date Event Location Remarks & Information

January 3147th Annual Geology MuseumOpen House

Rutgers University, NewBrunswick, New Jersey

Lectures, Mineral ID, Mineral Sale

Early February 2015 Tucson Shows Tucson, Arizona Temporary Mineral & Gem World Capital!

February 14-15Capital District Gem, Mineral &Fossil Show

New York State Museum, EmpirePlaza, Albany, NY

Contact: Michael Hawkins [email protected]

March 7-8Spring New York City Gem,Mineral & Fossil Show

Grand Ballroom, Holiday InnMidtown, New York City

20+ diverse dealers; lectures; wholesalesection (with credentials); Club Booth

March 14-1542 Annual Gem, Mineral,nd

Jewelry & Fossil ShowOld Bethpage Village ExhibitionHall, Old Bethpage, New York

Sponsored by the Island Rockhounds, Inc.Info: www.islandrockhounds.org

March 14-15North Jersey Gem, Mineral &Fossil Show

Pope John II Center,Clifton, New Jersey

Hosted by the North Jersey Mineralogical Society;www.nojms.com

March 27-29 EFMLS Convention/Show Hickory, North Carolina Article Contest Results; Details to Follow

April 25-2643 Annual NJESA Gem &rd

Mineral ShowFranklin School, Washington Ave,Franklin, New Jersey

For Information: Sterling Hill Mining Museum(913) 209-7212

October 23-24 AFMS Convention/Show Austin, Texas Details to Follow

November 14-15Fall New York City Gem,Mineral & Fossil Show

Grand Ballroom, Holiday InnMidtown, New York City

20+ diverse dealers; lectures; wholesalesection (with credentials); Club Booth

Mineral Clubs & Other InstitutionsIf you would like your mineral show included here, please let us know at least 2-3 months in advance!

Also, for more extensive national and regional show information check online:AFMS Website: http://www.amfed.org and/or the EFMLS Website: http://www.amfed.org/efmls

George F. KunzFounder

The New York Mineralogical Club, Inc.Founded in 1886 for the purpose of increasing interest in the science of mineralogy through

the collecting, describing and displaying of minerals and associated gemstones.P.O. Box 77, Planetarium Station, New York City, New York, 10024-0077, http://www.nymineralclub.org

2015 Executive CommitteePresident Mitchell Portnoy 46 W. 83rd Street #2E, NYC, NY, 10024-5203 e-mail: [email protected].. . . . . . . . . . . (212) 580-1343

Vice President Anna Schumate 27 E. 13th Street, Apt. 5F, NYC, NY, 10003 e-mail: [email protected]. . (646) 737-3776

Secretary Vivien Gornitz 101 W. 81st Street #621, NYC, NY, 10024 e-mail: [email protected]. . . . . . . . . . . (212) 874-0525

Treasurer Diane Beckman 265 Cabrini Blvd. #2B, NYC, NY, 10040 e-mail: [email protected]. . . . . . . . . . . (212) 927-3355

Bulletin Editor Mitchell Portnoy 46 W. 83rd Street #2E, NYC, NY, 10024-5203 e-mail: [email protected].. . . . . . . . . . . (212) 580-1343

Membership Mark Kucera 25 Cricklewood Road S., Yonkers, NY, 10704 e-mail: [email protected].. . . . . (914) 423-8360

Director Alla Priceman 84 Lookout Circle, Larchmont, NY, 10538 e-mail: [email protected]. . . . . . . . . (914) 834-6792

Director Richard Rossi 6732 Ridge Boulevard, Brooklyn, NY, 11220 e-mail: [email protected]. . . . . . . . . . . . (718) 745-1876

Director Sam Waldman 2801 Emmons Ave, #1B, Brooklyn, NY, 11235 e-mail: [email protected]. . . . . . . . (718) 332-0764

Dues: $25 Individual, $35 Family per calendar year. Meetings: 2nd Wednesday of every month (except July and August) at the Holiday Inn Midtown Manhattan, 57 Streetth

between Ninth and Tenth Avenues, New York City, New York. Meetings will generally be held in one of the conference rooms on the Mezzanine Level. The doors openat 5:30 P.M. and the meeting starts at 6:45 P.M. (Please watch for any announced time / date changes.) This bulletin is published monthly by the New York MineralogicalClub, Inc. The submission deadline for each month’s bulletin is the 20th of the preceding month. You may reprint articles or quote from this bulletin for non-profit usageonly provided credit is given to the New York Mineralogical Club and permission is obtained from the author and/or Editor. The Editor and the New York MineralogicalClub are not responsible for the accuracy or authenticity of information or information in articles accepted for publication, nor are the expressed opinions necessarily thoseof the officers of the New York Mineralogical Club, Inc.

Next Meeting – Wednesday, February 11, 2015 from 6:00 pm to 10:00 pm

Mezzanine, Holiday Inn Midtown Manhattan (57 St. & Tenth Avenue), New York Cityth

Special Activity: Members’ Showcase — “Show & Tell”

New York Mineralogical Club, Inc.Mitchell Portnoy, Bulletin EditorP.O. Box 77, Planetarium StationNew York City, New York 10024-0077

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Mitch Portnoy

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