Tag: minerals
What is the Mohs Scale of Hardness?
What is the Mohs Scale of Mineral Hardness and why is it still important today?
The Mohs Scale is a tool to help identify minerals...
Rocks & Minerals in Plant Growth
For millions of years before the advent of commercially available synthetic fertilizers, plants derived the nutrients they needed solely from the air, water or...
How to Make a Pollinator Rock Garden
Learn how to make a pollinator rock garden to provide pollinators with useful habitat and the minerals they need to thrive.
It’s no secret that...
What is a Rockhound?
What is a rockhound? I started thinking about what makes up a “rockhound” when I was leaving an emerald field in North Carolina. The...
Hunting Herkimer Diamonds
Warning! Hunting Herkimer diamonds can be addictive! Do you remember the moment you fell in love, and it honestly changed your life? Ed Halleran...
Is Ice a Mineral or Not?
Is ice a mineral? It’s transparent to translucent, usually colorless or white, but sometimes slightly bluish. It has a vitreous luster, a widely variable...
Borax & the Borate Minerals
Borax is perhaps the best-known of the borates, a group of 45 boron-containing minerals that are a subclass of the carbonates. Borates contain boron...
American Museum’s Hall of Gems & Minerals
The American Museum of Natural History is one of the scientific treasures of our country. Countless millions have visited its halls and marveled at...
Why Minerals Have Color
Scientists have discovered several reasons why minerals have color. Some list as many as 13 different causes of color, but the great majority fall...
Which Minerals are Used in Pottery?
From clay to glaze, it's important to know which minerals are used in pottery as they are ever-present in the business and art of...
