Who doesn’t love the variety of shapes and beauty of rocks and crystals? Well, obviously you do, if you are here visiting our website!!
I’m always researching and learning about how rocks form, what makes minerals distinct from one another, and interesting tips to identifying pesky rocks I’ve collected but just can’t figure our what they are!
We are all about educating here at DGMS, so we thought we’d share some interesting facts about one aspect of rock identification – CRYSTAL HABIT!!
In mineralogy, crystal habit is the characteristic external shape of an individual crystal or crystal group. A single crystal’s habit is a description of its general shape and its crystallographic forms, plus how well developed each form is.
All photos are from my personal collection and all descriptions are from www.Geology.com
Dallas Gem and Mineral Society is excited to announce a new series we are starting: Rock’n Around Town! We will be highlighting local shops and Members of DGMS who sell rocks. Included in these posts will be a short interview with the owner, what their primary interest is, how they got started collecting, and photos of some of what they have available.
Our first stop is:
Body Logic Rock Emporium 4887 Alpha Rd, Ste 210 Dallas, Texas 75244
Stewart, the owner, is more than willing to share his vast knowledge of rocks with his customers. Don’t let the name of the company throw you. His primary business is selling products for the massage industry but has expanded in the last several years to include tumbled stones, jewelry, and mineral specimens.
Stewart recently acquired an unbelievable treasure-trove of an estate from an old rockhound and geologist that collected for decades. Being interested initially in the estate’s sphere machines (the gentleman focused primarily on carving and polishing spheres), Stewart soon realized he needed to have the whole lot! The massive collection included tools, machines, spheres, specimens, and about SIXTEEN 55 gallon barrels filled with assorted rocks including Jasper, Quartz, Jade, Agate, and more. There is even a 55 gallon drum that if full entirely of petrified wood. None of the rocks are labeled, and Stewart allows you to dig thru the barrels and pick out whatever you find, no matter the mineral, for one bulk price! It’s like the biggest rock grab-bag ever! (The price per pound is such a fantastic deal and believe me, it’s VERY easy to meet the 50 lb price break…)
There is also a large collection of minerals and specimens in the lobby that are for sale. Be sure to checkout the large petrified palm root.
Also on display, are these amazing mineral sample discs. It’s fascinating to see the wide variety of rocks, some which you may have never seen in real life!
Set aside some time to visit with Stewart at Body Logic Rock Emporium!
What a fantastic meeting we had this month! Andy gave a fascinating presentation on everything SHARK! I personally love sharks (and have been scuba diving with them many times), but had no idea of the variety of different types of sharks that have been swimming in the ocean for MILLIONS of years! One of the most impressive thing about Andy’s collection was the patience he has to sort through and find micro-shark teeth, they were so tiny that you could barely see them even with a giant magnifying glass!
Thank You Andy!
And here’s some pics from our June Meeting! Be sure to join us at our next meeting, July 16, 2019!!
Thanks to Lynn for taking the awesome pics!
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