Wyoming

Wyoming fluorescent minerals

The first row of specimens shown at right are aragonite from the Big Horn Mountains, Wyoming. The specimens are a white to light tan in normal light. The specimens are reflecting the ultraviolet lights in the purple areas of both the long and short wave light photos. The aragonite fluoresces a creamy white to yellow under the long wave light. and an electric white under short wave ultraviolet light.

The second row is aragonite and chalcedony (also from the same location). The green fluorescence in the far right photo is a light coating of chalcedony.

The third row is also a combination of aragonite, calcite, and chalcedony from the Big Horn Mountains of Wyoming. The white is aragonite (as with the first two rows). A nice quality of the aragonite from this location is that it will phosphoresce for 5 to 10 seconds after exposure to short wave UV lighting. The chalcedony does not show on these photos, but will fluoresce green, as in the second row of images.

The calcite at right (fourth row) fluoresces white under long wave and light pink under short wave ultraviolet lighting.

The fifth row is calcite and chalcedony from Glendo, Wyoming. The chalcedony in this specimen fluoresces a greenish blue under long wave. Some of the blue is reflection of the UV light off the light colored specimen. The calcite fluoresces a light orange under short wave. Under short wave the chalcedony fluoresces a strong green and the calcite fluoresces a red-orange.

Row six is another calcite, chalcedony combination from Glendo, Wyoming. Under both long and short wave ultraviolet light the calcite is a pale yellow. The chalcedony will fluoresce green under both wave lengths, but is strongest under short wave. As with the other specimens, any purple is due to the lights reflecting off the light colored non-fluorescing minerals.

The individual crystals at right are selenite "hourglass" rhombs from Wyoming. I have seen a lot of fluorescent minerals over the years, but have never seen these offered anywhere. For this specimen we are showing a photo in normal lighting and one under both long and short UV lighting. The specimen will fluoresce under both long and short separately, but we felt the combined effect allowed the hourglass to show up better.

The fossil wood at right is from The Blue Forest or Eden Valley in Wyoming. The Blue Forest is named after the color of the minerals in the fossil wood. As the original wood decayed, it left cavities. The cavities were filled in with quartz, chalcedony, and common opal. in many cases the minerals were a light blue, in color, and thus the name Blue Forest. The chalcedony will fluoresce a blue under both long and short UV lights. The common opal fluoresces a white under both UV lights. The stronger fluorescence is under long wave. Any purple that you see on the specimen is the reflection of the UV lights off the light colored parts of the specimen. The really nice thing about specimens from these locations is the large number of full round cross sections that can be found.

Regular lighting

Long wave ultraviolet light

Long & short wave ultraviolet light

Long wave ultraviolet light

Short wave ultraviolet light