Fluorite

FluoriteFluorite is one of the most variable of all crystalline minerals, occurring in shades of blue, green, purple, red and many other colors corresponding to their physical makeup and conditions when the mineral was formed. The name fluorite comes from its use as a flux, or chemical cleaning agent, in iron smelting and other metallurgy. Pure fluorite is clear, but most specimens have vivid color due to various impurities and are often fluorescent. With a

Colored fluorite clusters atop candle quartz bases are some of the most distinctive mineral specimens to originate from the mines of Inner Mongolia

Brittle Starfish

delicate crystalline formations

It rarely occurs in crystal form but is often found in botryoidal or fibrous formations

with the largest known being over 10 feet in length and weighing over 3 tons

Azurite is a striking copper-based mineral found in shades of deep blue to vivid green

with a shiny multifaceted reflective surface that throws off a full prism of colors when in full light

An abundant medium-growing crab species found in the shallow seabed of the middle Miocene Monterey Formation

copper has been used by humans as ornamentation

Calcite is a form of Calcium Carbonate and is one of the primary components in limestone

are found in a matrix of thick

It has a very dramatic "head shield" which is often interpreted as a mechanism to help it stay on top of a soft ocean floor