Re: Quartz Origins (Uh-Oh, Another Geology Post)

Bruce Bathurst wrote:
On Jan 6, 6:15 am, Joe <see_real_...@xxxxxxx> wrote:
On Fri, 02 Jan 2009 19:57:13 -0600, Jo Schaper
Joe wrote:
Thanks, Jo. I'll get the acid today, and bring the rock back in for
testing. Funny thing, but my wife got tired of seeing it sitting on
the kitchen table. The table itself is terrazzo, so it's not like we
don't already have rock there. (OK, in fairness to her, she's usually
very tolerant to pretty enthusiastic about rocks as well.)

Joe

Oh, while I'm on lemons, I should mention that calcite fizzes
vigorously in cold lemon juice, dolomite with some calcite (they form
a crystalline solution) will fizz according to the calcite content,
and pure dolomite with not fizz in cold lemon juice, but will fizz in
hot.

Also, dolomite will fizz in hydrochloric acid, if it's not made
properly (1 molar solution).

Bruce,
You must be using the juice of a real lemon. Commercial household lemon juice from the grocery store does absolutely nothing on calcite, even when scratched/powdered and under a 10x hand lens. I just tried it.
Apple Cider vinegar (5% acetic acid) barely raises a couple slow bubbles, though 10% (clear) distilled vinegar works according to advertisement. I guess I'll have to buy a lemon next time I am at the store and try it.

It was the 10% distilled vinegar which got me in trouble at a 4 year university while teaching Geo 101 lab to college age students, so I would not officially recommend it as safe. In reality, I put both the vinegar and lemon juice on lettuce and eat it, (something I *won't* do with HCL), but even high school chemistry classes have no chemicals these days-- the rich districts watch chemistry experiments on video, and the poor read about them in books. The state where I live has hazmat teams coming in to 'clean up' high school chem labs, and tote out all the stuff I played with as a teen. Don't get me started in that direction-- I know people who advertise their products as "chemical-free" and who sincerely believe it, and that we can remove all lead and radiation from the planet (and that that would be a good thing. Always thought it amusing that people want to clean up both end members of the U-Pb continuum.

None of the dolomite in Missouri (unless it is actually pink crystals) is made properly, but I already know that, so I use other ways to determine what carbonate I'm dealing with. *|:-)


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