Mineral Monday! Reticulate Intergrowths in Basalt By Chris Hamilton I went on two science & dredging cruises to the Southwest Indian Ridge in 1984 and 1986 as a petrologist. This sample is the first named, first dredged SWIR mid-ocean ridge basalt. #MineralMonday #MSACommunications #basalt #MORB

Mineral Monday: Rutgers University Faculty and Students Present at the MSA Inaugural Meeting By Shaunna Morrison The MSA Inaugural Meeting took place on Feb. 17-19, 2026, in Tucson AZ. #MSACommunications #MineralMonday #Rutgers #CheMin #zircon #Herkimerdiamonds #GaleCrater #Moon

Mineral Monday! Formation of pseudotachylytes by Mattia Pistone A rock undergoing fracturing (dilatant cracking) and friction melting partially melts at lower temperature than frictional melting alone. #MSACommunications #MineralMonday #pseudotachylyte #pseudotachylite #partialmelting

Mineral Monday: Babingtonite in North Carolina Babingtonite (Ca2Fe2+Fe3+Si5O14(OH) ), an inosilicate, is present as mm-scale crystals lining a fracture from the Caldwell Quarry in Lenoir, NC. By Chris Tacker, NC State Museum #MSACommunications #MineralMonday #mineral #babingtonite #northcarolina

Mineral Monday! Fibrous mackinawite (FeS) found in samples of asteroid Bennu By Maizey Benner This mineral provides a key ingredient for the development of bio-essential molecules on Bennu’s parent body. See: doi.org/10.1016/j.gc... for more. #MSACommunications #MineralMonday #mackinawite #Bennu

Mineral Monday: Mobile- and Stagnant-lid Tectonics on the Hadean Earth Continents and recycled crust via subduction may have formed earlier than previously thought. (Valley JW, et al 2026: doi.org/10.1038/s415.... By John Valley #MSACommunications #MineralMonday #mineral #zircon #Hadean #JackHills

Mineral Monday: The Alfie Norville Gem and Mineral Museum of Tucson Arizona The Alfie Norville Museum (gemandmineralmuseum.arizona.edu), is housed in the Pima County Courthouse in Tucson AZ. By Andrea Koziol. #MSACommunications #MineralMonday #calcite #amethyst #geode #mineralmuseum

Mineral Monday: Why do all Olympic curling stones come from one small island off Scotland’s coast? www.cnn.com/2026/02/11/s... Maybe even, fine grained texture, & rare minerals high in sodium and iron — such as arfvedsonite, aegirine and aenigmatite. #MSACommunications #MineralMonday #Olympics

Mineral Monday: Spessartine Garnets By Chris Tacker, NC State Museum Bald Knob is a type locality for several manganese end-member minerals. Hypothesis: a metamorphosed deposit of manganese nodules. #MSACommunications #MineralMonday #mineral #garnet #Spessartine #Spessartite #Manganese

Mineral Monday: Emeralds in the USA The Turner Mine, aka the Old Plantation Mine, was briefly operated by Tiffany's for raw emeralds. The mine was in a weathered pegmatite. By Chris Tacker, NC State Museum #MSACommunications #MineralMonday #mineral #emerald #emeraldmine #NorthCarolina