Found a chunk of green quartzite in a creek bed yesterday

I was poking around a dried-up creek near Moab after a rain and this fist-sized chunk of green quartzite caught the sun just right from under some gravel. An old guy who was also out there came over and said 'that stuff gets its color from chromium, same as emeralds,' which totally blew my small mind. Does anyone else keep random rocks on their desk just because they remind you of a specific day or place?

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the_lee5mo ago

That stuff gets its color from chromium, same as emeralds" - man, that's the kind of random fact that sticks with you forever. I've got a flat piece of reddish sandstone on my desk right now, found it in a wash after a flash flood. There's these perfect little ripple marks in it from when it was mud millions of years ago. Reminds me of that whole afternoon, the way the light was hitting the canyon walls and I nearly stepped on a three-foot rattler. Never did figure out what gives it that rusty color, iron probably.

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andrew_nguyen645mo ago

Yeah that rusty red color is almost always iron oxide. Funny how something that simple can make a whole canyon look like it's on fire at sunset. @the_lee would probably appreciate that too, seems like the kind of detail he'd notice.

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