Sedimentary, Igneous, Metamorphic :: Part One

What do you call that game of paper - scissors - rock, if you change it to Sedimentary - Igneous - Metamorphic?
by Pat Darnell and Puma Punku



Here's todays mineral rock: DOLOMITE

Type: Sedimentary limestone transformed, alteration of limestone is called dolomitization
Hardness: We know this is a carbonate by its hardness about 3 on the Mohs scale
Test: unlike limestone it does not bubble when treated with weak acid
Appearance: abundant and widespread, Dolomite—Cousin to calcite, a common carbonate mineral
As Building Material: see Puma Punku

Origins: chemical change is marked by a reduction in volume and by recrystallization, which combine to produce open space (porosity) in the rock strata
Age: As old as dirt
Found: first described by the French mineralogist Déodat de Dolomieu in 1791 ... in Southern Alps
Name: name dolomite by de Saussure, and today the mountains themselves are called the Dolomites.
Dolomite rock, also sometimes called dolostone, is usually a former limestone in which the mineral calcite is altered to dolomite. (Andrew Alden, 2009. Dolomite Rock or Dolostone; Sedimentary Rock Types about dot com geology, 10.21.2009, retrieved HERE)
Hardness is in the scratch test -- which for Dolomite  at Mohs 3, is pretty much only scratched with a Diamond, or this hard -- yet fashionable -- head.... which head? Pick one.

Remember this $99 million diamond skull created by Damien Hirst? Well here's a brief walk through on how he did it. And yes, just as you suspected, he takes a human skull and basically glues a bunch of expensive stuff to it.

Oh, no, Yoko !!
Next Week -- Part Two: What, if anyone really cares, is the difference between Dolomite and Diorite?