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Kyanite - January 2016 (Read 6985 times)

Scott LaBorde RHL Administrator Offline "Rock it" science! Posts: 2971 Location: Wake Forest, NC Joined: Sep 28^th, 2010 Gender:	Kyanite - January 2016 Jan 5^th, 2016 at 12:22pm	Print Post
	Wow, December got away from me and I'm late on January. Hopefully you can forgive me knowing that life gets a little hectic during the holidays. The random letter drawn for today was K. And since the color blue seems to be the worlds favorite color what better way to start the new year. I know most of you North Carolinians have some great kyanite specimens so post em up so we can see! Kyanite, whose name derives from the Greek word kuanos sometimes referred to as "kyanos", meaning deep blue, is a typically blue silicate mineral, commonly found in aluminium-rich metamorphic pegmatites and/or sedimentary rock. Kyanite in metamorphic rocks generally indicates pressures higher than four kilobars. Although potentially stable at lower pressure and low temperature, the activity of water is usually high enough under such conditions that it is replaced by hydrous aluminosilicates such as muscovite, pyrophyllite, or kaolinite. Kyanite is also known as disthene, rhaeticite and cyanite. Kyanite is a member of the aluminosilicate series, which also includes the polymorph andalusite and the polymorph sillimanite. Kyanite is strongly anisotropic, in that its hardness varies depending on its crystallographic direction. In kyanite, this anisotropism can be considered an identifying characteristic. At temperatures above 1100 °C kyanite decomposes into mullite and vitreous silica via the following reaction: 3(Al2O3·SiO2) → 3Al2O3·2SiO2 + SiO2. This transformation results in an expansion. Uses Kyanite is used primarily in refractory and ceramic products, including porcelain plumbing fixtures and dishware. It is also used in electronics, electrical insulators and abrasives. Kyanite has been used as a semiprecious gemstone, which may display cat's eye chatoyancy, though this use is limited by its anisotropism and perfect cleavage. Color varieties include recently discovered orange kyanite from Tanzania.[citation needed] The orange color is due to inclusion of small amounts of manganese (Mn3+) in the structure. Kyanite is one of the index minerals that are used to estimate the temperature, depth, and pressure at which a rock undergoes metamorphism. Notes for identification Kyanite's elongated, columnar crystals are usually a good first indication of the mineral, as well as its color (when the specimen is blue). Associated minerals are useful as well, especially the presence of the polymorphs of staurolite, which occur frequently with kyanite. However, the most useful characteristic in identifying kyanite is its anisotropism. If one suspects a specimen to be kyanite, verifying that it has two distinctly different hardness on perpendicular axes is a key to identification; it has a hardness of 5.5 parallel to {001} and 7 parallel to {100}. Occurrence Kyanite occurs in gneiss, schist, pegmatite, and quartz veins resulting from high pressure regional metamorphism of principally pelitic rocks.[citation needed] It occurs as detrital grains in sedimentary rocks.[citation needed] It occurs associated with staurolite, andalusite, sillimanite, talc, hornblende, gedrite, mullite and corundum. Kyanite occurs in Manhattan schist, formed under extreme pressure as a result of the two landmasses that formed supercontinent Pangaea. The Wikipedia source page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyanite

	2016-01-05_1221.png ( 92 KB \| 190 Downloads ) Scott LaBorde RockHoundLounge Creator
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Tim4d God Member Offline I like creeks & rivers to do the digging for me. Posts: 658 Location: Chester, VA Joined: Feb 24^th, 2011 Gender:	Re: Kyanite - January 2016 Reply #1 - Jan 8^th, 2016 at 11:01am	Print Post
	One of my better clusters after acid soak, scraping matrix, and neutralizing soak. For whatever reason the process left one side mostly stained. I like it that way because it sort of shows both before and after. Collected from Jessica Callan's Kyanite Paradise property, a new fee site, near Prospect, VA.

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Tim4d God Member Offline I like creeks & rivers to do the digging for me. Posts: 658 Location: Chester, VA Joined: Feb 24^th, 2011 Gender:	Re: Kyanite - January 2016 Reply #2 - Jan 8^th, 2016 at 11:15am	Print Post
	Scott, some feedback: I posted the photo above from my iPhone. On the phone, the photo is distorted, squeezed top to bottom and stretched left to right. However, when I checked how it looked on a desktop computer running Internet Explorer, the photo is not distorted, but is rotated one turn counter-clockwise from original.


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Tim4d God Member Offline I like creeks & rivers to do the digging for me. Posts: 658 Location: Chester, VA Joined: Feb 24^th, 2011 Gender:	Re: Kyanite - January 2016 Reply #3 - Jan 8^th, 2016 at 11:20am	Print Post
	Left this one as is. Too scenic to harvest. Kyanite Paradise, Prospect, VA.

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Tim4d God Member Offline I like creeks & rivers to do the digging for me. Posts: 658 Location: Chester, VA Joined: Feb 24^th, 2011 Gender:	Re: Kyanite - January 2016 Reply #4 - Jan 8^th, 2016 at 11:22am	Print Post
	Source boulder from which I pried loose my best specimens. Left behind for the next rockhound. Kyanite Paradise, Prospect, VA.

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Tim4d God Member Offline I like creeks & rivers to do the digging for me. Posts: 658 Location: Chester, VA Joined: Feb 24^th, 2011 Gender:	Re: Kyanite - January 2016 Reply #5 - Jan 8^th, 2016 at 11:34am	Print Post
	Scott, more feedback. The second and third photos loaded from desktop running IE. No problems viewing from same desktop computer. Viewing from iPhone, second photo is ok but third photo is rotated one turn clockwise and distorted. Could be the iPhone's fault because I have put off updating the operating system until I back up. When I get around to updating the phone, I'll post photos and see what happens.


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L82Play Full Member Offline RockHoundLounger Posts: 195 Joined: Jul 10^th, 2013 Gender:	Re: Kyanite - January 2016 Reply #6 - Jan 8^th, 2016 at 11:42am	Print Post
	Hi, Mine Creek has what I've been calling "blue" and "brown" kyanite. I wonder if the "brown" kyanite should actually be called 'orange' kyanite cited in Scott's abstract? If so, I stand corrected cheers, r

	KyaniteCombo1.JPG ( 764 KB \| 188 Downloads ) FavKynite4_001.jpg ( 306 KB \| 149 Downloads ) Published1.JPG ( 1992 KB \| 192 Downloads ) sung to the tune of 'Green Acres' Erosion is the thing for me I just don't like to dig - you see Picking rocks up right off the ground is good enough for this lucky old rockhound
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Scott LaBorde RHL Administrator Offline "Rock it" science! Posts: 2971 Location: Wake Forest, NC Joined: Sep 28^th, 2010 Gender:	Re: Kyanite - January 2016 Reply #7 - Jan 11^th, 2016 at 11:16am	Print Post
	Tim4d wrote on Jan 8^th, 2016 at 11:34am: Scott, more feedback. The second and third photos loaded from desktop running IE. No problems viewing from same desktop computer. Viewing from iPhone, second photo is ok but third photo is rotated one turn clockwise and distorted. Could be the iPhone's fault because I have put off updating the operating system until I back up. When I get around to updating the phone, I'll post photos and see what happens. Thanks for the feedback Tim4d, I did take a look via my iPhone and see the exact thing you're talking about. Hmm, I guess my site may not be as mobile friendly as it could be. I'll look through the settings to see if there's something I can tweak. Thanks again for letting me know. Scott

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Scott LaBorde RHL Administrator Offline "Rock it" science! Posts: 2971 Location: Wake Forest, NC Joined: Sep 28^th, 2010 Gender:	Re: Kyanite - January 2016 Reply #8 - Jan 11^th, 2016 at 11:22am	Print Post
	L82Play wrote on Jan 8^th, 2016 at 11:42am: Hi, Mine Creek has what I've been calling "blue" and "brown" kyanite. I wonder if the "brown" kyanite should actually be called 'orange' kyanite cited in Scott's abstract? If so, I stand corrected cheers, r L82Play, kyanite also occurs in a grey or colorless variety. You can just type grey kyanite into Google and you'll see some good examples. Here's also one from Romania I found on mindat.org: http://www.mindat.org/photo-626444.html That's some great kyanite you've found in mine creek. Well done! Scott

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Collin Senior Member Offline RockHoundLounger Posts: 253 Joined: Dec 30^th, 2013 Gender:	Re: Kyanite - January 2016 Reply #9 - Jan 13^th, 2016 at 11:14am	Print Post
	Here is a flat of some Kaynite from Cattail Creek, Burnsville NC (Yancey County) This isn't my best stuff but the only pic I have on my phone. I'll try and post some more later! -Collin

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Tim4d God Member Offline I like creeks & rivers to do the digging for me. Posts: 658 Location: Chester, VA Joined: Feb 24^th, 2011 Gender:	Re: Kyanite - January 2016 Reply #10 - Jan 13^th, 2016 at 11:39am	Print Post
	Here is another specimen from L82Play's creek, a gift from Robert when he saw my paltry finds from an excursion a few years back. Now displayed at my desk side at work.

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Collin Senior Member Offline RockHoundLounger Posts: 253 Joined: Dec 30^th, 2013 Gender:	Re: Kyanite - January 2016 Reply #11 - Jan 22^nd, 2016 at 1:07am	Print Post
	Burnsville, NC

	1453442813850-1787263965.jpg ( 3753 KB \| 155 Downloads )
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Collin Senior Member Offline RockHoundLounger Posts: 253 Joined: Dec 30^th, 2013 Gender:	Re: Kyanite - January 2016 Reply #12 - Jan 22^nd, 2016 at 1:10am	Print Post
	Burnsville, NC

	1453442978348-471784815.jpg ( 4620 KB \| 164 Downloads )
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Tim4d God Member Offline I like creeks & rivers to do the digging for me. Posts: 658 Location: Chester, VA Joined: Feb 24^th, 2011 Gender:	Re: Kyanite - January 2016 Reply #13 - Jan 23^rd, 2016 at 10:11pm	Print Post
	Excellent


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julie YaBB Newbies Offline www.RockHoundLounge. com Posts: 47 Joined: May 7^th, 2012	Re: Kyanite - January 2016 Reply #14 - Jan 23^rd, 2016 at 10:13pm	Print Post
	Beautiful!


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