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Banded Gneiss in Sabino Canyon

Black and white banded gneiss, a metamorphic rock with alternating light and dark bands or layers of different mineral composition, is common in Tucson's Sabino Canyon, which is where this small...

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Slag

Southern Arizona is mineralogically rich, and there are many metal ore mines here. Many of the smaller mines and prospects were worked during the Wild West (the 19th century) or earlier in the last...

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Bush in a Rock

Occasionally, large plants like trees, shrubs, or cacti can be found growing in the cracks of broken or weathered boulders. Life for these plants tends to be shorter than average because the relatively...

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Wulfenite

Some of the finest crystals of Wulfenite come from mines in Arizona and adjacent Sonora, Mexico. Wulfenite is Lead Molybdate Pb[MoO4], and it is a secondary mineral found in the oxidation zones of Lead...

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Kinoite

Kinoite is Hydrated Calcium Copper Silicate Ca2Cu2Si3O8(OH)4, and it was first discovered here in Arizona in 1970. I photographed this large specimen at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. Kinoite was...

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Hemimorphite

Hemimorphite is Hydrated Zinc Silicate Hydroxide Zn4Si2O7(OH)2·(H2O). This mineral is categorized as one of the Sorosilicates because it contains two silicate tetrahedrons in its structure....

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Galena

Galena is Lead Sulfide PbS, and it is one of the primary ore minerals of Lead Pb. Galena, as lead ore, was given its name by the Roman naturalist and author, Pliny the Elder. Galena is a common mineral...

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Limestone

Limestone is a sedimentary rock and is primarily composed of the white to colorless mineral Calcium Carbonate CaCO3, with varying amounts of impurities that give it color. The limestone that I see here...

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