Before I forget. Many thanks to the @MineralCup team for moderating the competition!
Many thanks to all my friends and furriends who took part in #MinCup23. We are very curious about which #minerals take part next year....
Simba🐾
#MinCup23 #CatsOfTwitter #Mincup2023 #DoesItCat #catsofmastodon

How, you might ask, does a perfectly formed #zircon get into a sapphire?

Sapphire melting temp: around 2030 Β°C. (wikipedia)
Zircon melting temp: high melting point (over 2500Β°C). (https://www.ga.gov.au/education/classroom-resources/minerals-energy/australian-mineral-facts/zircon)
Tiny zircons can withstand a lot of what makes and destroys other minerals.

Vote: https://www.mineralcup.org/results/round-4-match-1

#TeamZircon #MinCup23 #MinCup2023 #MineralCup23 #MineralCup2023 #MineralCup #MinCup #SciComm #Science #Minerals #Geology #Mineralogy #Teaching #Education

Zircon

Geoscience Australia
Just leaving this here. Zircon and monazite. You're not going to see calcite in a sapphire, it couldn't take the heat.
#TeamZircon #sapphire #MineralInclusions #euhedral #MinCup23 #MinCup2023 #MineralCup23 #MineralCup2023 #MineralCup #MinCup #SciComm #Science #Minerals #Geology #Mineralogy #Teaching #Education #STEM #Zircon
Mineral Cup & Ore Cup

Mineral Cup & Ore Cup

Today at #MinCup23 its #Perovskite vs #Rhodochrosite. After my dental surgery yesterday I read that CaTio3 Perovskite grows on #titan implants & helps the body to bond with the implant🐾
PAWSOME #mineral
Go PEROVSKITE
#DOESITSCAT Yes it helps to repair the canopener

#MinCup2023 #catsofmastodon

If you are enjoying these posts, please consider voting for #calcite in #mincup2023. No obligation and just takes a quick click.

Link here: https://www.mineralcup.org/2023/campaigns/round-3-match-3

And in the bottom of that #calcite valley, coming from that #calcite cave, is a #calcite laden stream that when it goes over a cascade, releases a little CO2, and because of the equilibrium, deposits #calcite to create..

...A MONSTER TUFA DEPOSIT!!!

(Look at the tiny people in corner.)

#calcite is way cool!

Vote #calcite!

Vote in Quarterfinal Match 3 β€” Mineral Cup

It's a classic pairing familiar from introductory geology labs. Will you pick your champion by dribbling acid on bubbly Calcite, or test for directional hardness scratching Kyanite? Both can't wait to whisper stories of their past, but only one can go on to tell its tale in the semi-finals.

Mineral Cup

OK, y'all, please vote #calcite for #mincup2023

Vote here: https://www.mineralcup.org/2023/campaigns/round-3-match-3

And in the bottom of that limestone valley?

There is a pretty cave. That has beautiful orthogonal cross-jointing in #calcite. It is the Grotte de Baumes les Messieurs. Those joints got widened by water percolating through and dissolving along the joints and widening as it flowed through.

This is looking up at one of the cross-joints.

But there's even more in that valley....

Vote in Quarterfinal Match 3 β€” Mineral Cup

It's a classic pairing familiar from introductory geology labs. Will you pick your champion by dribbling acid on bubbly Calcite, or test for directional hardness scratching Kyanite? Both can't wait to whisper stories of their past, but only one can go on to tell its tale in the semi-finals.

Mineral Cup

While you are thinking about voting for #calcite in #MinCup2023.

(vote here: https://www.mineralcup.org/2023/campaigns/round-3-match-3)

Maybe you'd like to see a pretty calcite (limestone) valley in France...

Gee, I wonder if there is anything geologically interesting at the bottom...

(vote #calcite while you are waiting for next post)

Vote in Quarterfinal Match 3 β€” Mineral Cup

It's a classic pairing familiar from introductory geology labs. Will you pick your champion by dribbling acid on bubbly Calcite, or test for directional hardness scratching Kyanite? Both can't wait to whisper stories of their past, but only one can go on to tell its tale in the semi-finals.

Mineral Cup