09-21
09-21 Titanite #5.
A crystal of titanite from Khibina, Russia.
From a resource by Liferovich & Mitchell
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09-20
09-20, Titanite #4.
Wandering through a titanite crystal. The polyhedral vertices of its structure create a very futurist landscape.
From a resource by Hawthorne & Co.
09-19
09-19 Titanite #3.
A titanite crystal from Sebastopol (now Grattan), Ontario.
From a resource by the Hawthorne team.
Summer months
A selection of the Geometry of Nature project images from the summer months (June, July, August) is now available at Saatchi Art – aluminum, canvas or paper. Look for collection – Geometry of Nature – https://goo.gl/h7LrSY
09-18
09-18 Titanite #2.
From a crystal found in Maevatanana, Madagascar.
I’ve never found so many people associated with one single resource , but I’m going to credit them all anyway, they deserve it somehow: Hawthorne F C, Groat L. A, Raudsepp M, Ball N A, Kimata M, Spike F D, Gaba R, Halden N M, Lumpkin G. R, Ewing R C, Greegor R B, Lytle F W, Ercit T S, Rossman G. R, Wicks F J, Ramik R A, Sherriff B L, Fleet M E, McCammon C. A.
09-17
09-17. Titanite #1.
Titanite – Sphene for gemologists has been known since the late 1700s and can be found on all continents. It will be the mineral of week 38 of this short tour of the geometry of Nature.
Titanite was renamed “sphene” by a French mineralogist in the 1800s. Maybe its cognac or chartreuse yellowish green color had something to do with it – the story doesn’t say. Renamed titanite again in 1982, both names are still in use.
Titanite is a small monoclinic crystal of symmetry P2 and of medium hardness. The industry uses it in pigments while gemologists praise its exceptional dispersive power.
This is how the Hollabaugh and Foita resource from the Grisons, Switzerland, appears in the VESTA modeling program – quite an imposing crystal!
09-16
09-16 Chiolite #7.
What an intriguing and inspirational little mineral! All I could do was to go back to this perfect octahedron hiding in the midst of a cluster of atoms. Maybe it’ll take another few 1000 years, but this mineral is on its way to producing a beautiful crystal someday
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