Sand, Skull Rock Trail, Joshua Tree NP, CA
This crystal is a zircon. It has a crack running diagonally from upper center in a step to lower right. This crack is associated with an older dark crystal seed. Growth banding can be seen in the left half of the crystal.
Transmitted Oblique Off Crossed Circular Polarized Light and Reflected Darkfield
Welland, Michael, SAND: THE NEVER ENDING STORY, University of California Press, 2009.
http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/indexmag.html?http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/artjun01/clsand.html
(Good Information on the microscopy of sand, Great site for more information on microscopy in general)
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=a-grain-of-sand-natures-secret-wonder
(Good Information on Sand with links to more information on sand)
http://www.sciencelive.org/component/option,com_mediadb/task,play/idstr,Open-feeds_fsc_exploring_sedimentary_processes_fsc02_02_m4v/vv,-2/Itemid,97
(Brief, very informative video on what can be learned from the shape of a sand grain.)
Definition/Function:
Significance in the Environment:
Characteristic Features:
Associated Particles:
References:
Greenberg, Gary, A GRAIN OF SAND: NATURE'S SECRET WONDER, Voyageur Press, 2008.Welland, Michael, SAND: THE NEVER ENDING STORY, University of California Press, 2009.
http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/indexmag.html?http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/artjun01/clsand.html
(Good Information on the microscopy of sand, Great site for more information on microscopy in general)
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=a-grain-of-sand-natures-secret-wonder
(Good Information on Sand with links to more information on sand)
http://www.sciencelive.org/component/option,com_mediadb/task,play/idstr,Open-feeds_fsc_exploring_sedimentary_processes_fsc02_02_m4v/vv,-2/Itemid,97
(Brief, very informative video on what can be learned from the shape of a sand grain.)
