In my previous post I had some photos of Devil's Dice that we found. Glenn wasn't around so I looked on the internet to find out what they actually were but as they obviously had nothing to do with pop groups, had no luck. So today I asked him and he gave me an answer....
"The existence of a mineral with a crystal form of another species. Pseudomorphism may occur by substitution, encrustation, or alteration. For example, limonite pseudomorphs after pyrite can be formed by leaching away the sulfur. It this case, the limonite preserves the cubic structure of pyrite.
Pyrite, also known as fool’s gold because it has tricked many into believing it was the real thing, is iron sulfide, an iron ore. Under the proper conditions, though, pyrite can become iron hydroxide, or limonite. Its external appearance remains essentially the same, but the composition has been altered. Pyrite cubes have become limonite cubes"
Pyrite, also known as fool’s gold because it has tricked many into believing it was the real thing, is iron sulfide, an iron ore. Under the proper conditions, though, pyrite can become iron hydroxide, or limonite. Its external appearance remains essentially the same, but the composition has been altered. Pyrite cubes have become limonite cubes"
When he gives me an answer like this I just nod, intelligently, and thank him. He also gave me a link, here.
5 comments:
Isn't blogging amazing? I ask a question and Lo, it is answered!
Thankyou to you and Glenn for the info and the link.
ROCK ON!
Greetings from a Pirate!
I remember going out to the woods behind me house in Charlottesville Virginia and finding vast gobs of devil's dice. Excavation work there was churning them up.
Mad Capn Bob
Thanks for the info. Here in South Africa we found a lot of them on a mountain range which is repeatedly struck by lightning whenever there is a storm.
I believed that the lightning had something to do with these perfect cubes...
I'll combine this with a bit more reading to find out.
I too, used to find these in the Charlottesville area in 2 places, but last efforts to find them were futile
yes, I am also from Charlottesville and used to find these by the pound ... people from other areas seem to not know what these are.
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