The asbestos formations are ones they keep behind glass.
CA also has a lot of naturally occuring mercury as well. I seem to remember that some lakes in CA are so high in natural(i.e. not from gold mining) mercury that you shouldn't eat the fish.
I wouldn't be surprised if by the numbers you have a lot more risk of serious injury driving to and from the hike than from the asbestos, particularly if your hiking doesn't involve intentionally disturbing the ground. :)
For the many posters on HN in the bay area-- watch road cuts for green rocks, asbestos co-occurs with serpentinite all over the coast range-- and serpentinite is the state rock! You can easily find some with asbestos, usually grey/white fibrous strands on the rocks. Don't grind it up and huff it, but you can thrill your friends by showing them some boogieman-mineral you found.
(It's only fitting that the state rock is technically known to the state of california to cause cancer... :P)
There is an idea that minerals are these inorganic substances but fully two thirds of all minerals identified were originated from direct or indirect interaction with living things on Earth. In fact a recent hypothesis holds that minerals have evolved since the formation of the solar system very much like living things, getting more and more complex via selective processes. See https://hazen.carnegiescience.edu/research/mineral-evolution
I still have a lot of it.
Mines Museum of Earth Science (Golden CO) and The Harvard Museum of Natural History (Mineralogy room, Cambridge MA)
https://crystalverse.com/best-way-to-grow-copper-sulfate-cry...
Crystal growth has been on here before. Let me see if I can find a link or two...
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31105320
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30487511
I suppose that the crystals from the picture are of pyrite, which frequently looks like this.
In the antiquity, when what are now called diamonds (the Romans and the Greeks called them "Indian adamants", because they were first encountered by Europeans during the expedition in India of Alexander the Great; "adamant" meant something else in Europe) were very difficult to cut and polish, they were normally used as gems in their natural shape of regular octahedra.
Cutting diamonds from their natural octahedral shape into polyhedra with more facets, e.g. brilliant, was invented much later.
At the end of the 18th century, Lavoisier together with a few other French chemists have created the modern systematic chemical nomenclature, so the old term "pyrite" was replaced by "sulfide" (like also "vitriol" was replaced with "sulfate").
For who does not know, "pyrite" comes from "fire", i.e. from the pronunciation in Ancient Greek of the corresponding word that was cognate with English "fire" (Ancient Greek or Latin "p" corresponds with English "f").
Striking pyrite produces sparks, which can be used to start a fire.
Similarly, ancient Greek "p" corresponds with modern Greek "f", and ancient Greek "b" corresponds with modern Greek "v".
We may have done it first, but the sound change is pretty common. "B" -> "v" is arguably in process in Spanish. Something similar had already happened in Latin; compare Latin "frater" to English "brother" or Latin "fero" to Greek "phero".
They’re not expensive
https://www.science.org/content/article/how-do-wombats-poop-...
<swoon>
Fine mineral specimens are the most surprising things on earth. Such regularity and color! It reminds you that every atom of an element, every molecule of a compound is exactly the same (caveat energy states), and the laws of physics and chemistry don't change. That's how these stunningly bright and REGULAR forms develop - trillions of atoms or molecules all falling into line.
https://carnegiemnh.org/explore/hillman-hall-of-minerals-and...
Spent many hours there
(Post Malone’s response in a Joe Rogan interview when asked about McKenna’s Stoned Ape Theory)
https://www.hmns.org/exhibits/cullen-hall-of-gems-and-minera...
I don't see any god though, but I think I saw godzilla hiding in one of those shapes.
"The first gulp from the glass of natural sciences will turn you into an atheist, but at the bottom of the glass God is waiting for you."
Gabriel: "Hey, God, what's doing?"
God: "Oh, well, I just got a big lump of boron so I'm trying to get it to crystallise out with all this silicon and alumina. If it works I think I'll have the tiny people call it 'tourmaline'. Yeah, look at that stuff, look at it go!"
Something which has always existed, which created the entire universe, is ever present through space and time, and invisible. Something which can never be resisted because it is almighty. Not even for one second.
Something which will create beautiful sculptures out of dull stone in places hidden from the world.
For me, just the very fact that there exist time, space, laws of physics, enormous complexity stemming from deceptive "simplicity", is absolutely awe-inspiring.
"They are not rocks, they are minerals marie"
I am a part of a local mineral club which hosts several "field trips" a year to various mineralogically interesting locations (most of which aren't accessible as an individual, like private land and special digs at active mining/quarrying sites on their days off). I have never found anything even remotely as beautiful as the specimens shown, but the small collection of mildly interesting things that I've smashed out of the earth with my own 2 hands is amazingly satisfying to me. You don't even have to be a super dedicated "rock nerd" to take part, I highly recommend looking for local mineral clubs to join if this even remotely interests you. It's really a ton of fun!
There are a few species you can sometimes find in washes when they get buried during massive floods, but other than that most museum quality specimens are impossible to find for rockhounds.
I still bring my trusty Estwing rock hammer everywhere but it kind of takes the wind out of the treasure hunting aspect.
Well, that's kinda how it has to be, right? If art museums displayed the artwork anyone can paint, they wouldn't be interesting to most people. Most museums are about displaying the stuff you otherwise wouldn't be able to find, buy, or make. It's still fun to learn to paint, even if you're no Rembrandt.
To be fair, there are some museums that go for depth instead of scarcity and I personally find them more interesting. The Computer History Museum does this pretty well. They have some truly unique items, but also plenty of stuff you can buy on eBay, just presented and explained well.
Most of the ones I've found were incidentally discovered while hiking around off-trail in the boonies. I do always bring my Estwing with me just in case though.
The Loudville lead mine in Easthampton MA, which used to be open for public collecting, recently closed due to irresponsible collecting and severe erosion. They closed off the entire recreational trail system, which has far reaching affects far beyond the rockhounding community.
I'd collected once at Loudville shortly before it closed and found a couple scraps of Pyromorphite, some tiny Wulfenite you need a microscope to see, and some Malachite. I am sad that I can't go back, now.
You can read more about it here: https://newenglandforestry.org/newsroom/recreation-on-the-ro...
I don't expect, or really even want to find museum-quality specimens, I just want the ability to explore the minerology of my home region on a physical and personal level.
Just this past weekend I pulled a plate full of rare tellurides out of Otto Mountain for a Caltech PhD. You have to be very observant to find a good spot to acquire minerals out of the ground, but excellent large specimens are still out there to be pulled.