I learnt the missing information I needed to help me identify some of the rocks I had recently picked up on my travels. Thank you very much for this video.
Thank you. You've made it crystal clear Lol... how to tell the difference. I wish I found you sooner. I have question. Some calcites that have an orange hue, is that Iron deposits that give it that color? Thanks!
For field identification purposes only. A simple scratch test will suffice. Most rocks are of the 80% of total materials contained in the Earth's crust Quartz and varieties of quartz. Use a scratch test kit for most identifications.
Actually...calcite is very very variable... And Im saying this because ive ha d a lot more luck with calcite than quartz... Not in the USA btw. Ive found (the most basic and common type) is the coarse grained , and often banded calcite found in limestone rocks. You have these either white or yellowish crystals often densely packed into what you describe as a city skyline. Problem is, they are rhomboidal/parallelogram shaped at the tip. The banded one could also be mistaken for agate or onyx. The second type ive encountered is brown. They have very prominent cleavages, cube shaped, but these are found in hemi spherical clusters , almost looking like chalcedony. Another types ive heard of is the dog tooth calcite, often also brown, which I may have a vug a of, which is supposed to have a very sharp acute point.
I thought quartz could just look like a rock. Does it always have to be an obvious crystal? If it doesn't have an obvious crystal shape does that mean it's actually quartzite?
Craig Hi' from Canada 20ISH YRS ago I became a RocKHound and Only because I helped out mining my daughters babies anyway 1 day Colesie SHOWED ME this rock (mineral) anyway I looked at THE ROCK and it brought me back 50 yrs when while watching an oldddddddd western movie starring(J-Wayne) this banded red rock looked to me like a mountain that was in the background of that movie =that was it I was HOOKED I mean it became a SICKNESS (BLEW MY BELLY OUT-HERNIA) Now I have perhaps the MosT Unique's STone's on the PlaneT.
