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What’s in the Box: You’re ripped, Eurypterid!

Behind the Scenes, News /

Just back from Tucson, this little fellow is an extinct critter called a eurypterid. It’s one of the acquisitions from this year’s enormous Tucson Gem & Mineral Show, where we join other national and international museums annually to show off our specimens, make new purchases, and talk shop. The long tail spike has led some to call the eurypterid a “sea scorpion,” though we don’t know whether it was venomous. This specimen has one of two distinctive paddle-like arms remaining, and the frilly appendages sprouting off the head are its walking feet. These creatures lived in Silurian seas over 415 million years ago. This specimen is headed to a box for now, but we should be putting it out on display before long! Anyone have any good ideas for a nice nickname?

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What’s in the Box? Old Familiar Places

Behind the Scenes /

The outdoorsy among us who have spent time in the Seattle area are surely familiar with Mount Si, a popular hiking destination close to the city. But did you know that Mount Si hosts beautiful minerals as well as incredible views? This specimen is on its way back to the box after three months on display in the Washington County Museum in Hillsboro, OR. It is a plate of quartz crystals covered with dravite tourmaline from the Bald Hornet claims on Mount Si in Washington state. The Bald Hornet claims were developed in the aftermath of the 1869 discovery of iron ore in the Snoqualmie Pass area. While these small-time claims did not manage to produce any economic ores, they did give us crystallized mineral specimens like these. Such specimens are generally associated with contact zones, where intrusive granitic rocks interacted with surrounding sedimentary rock, especially limestone. (Mining claim information sourced from “Discovering Washington’s Historic Mines (Vol. 1)”, ed. Ina Chang.) This post is part of our What’s in the Box? series.

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What’s In The Box? A Light in the Dark

Behind the Scenes /

You’ll almost never see gorgeous red realgar crystals on display, and if you do, it won’t be for long. Why? It turns out that realgar is one of several minerals that changes and degrades when exposed to light. If left on display, this light-sensitive crystal would begin to turn dark and eventually change into an entirely different mineral: the powdery orange pararealgar, shown below. This happens because of the energy carried in certain wavelengths of light. When that energy hits atoms in the crystal, it causes some of their atomic bonds to break and rearrange into a different structure. For this reason, realgar is one mineral that will always stay inside the box! Even common minerals like amethyst and fluorite can begin to fade over time, especially if exposed to bright sunlight for long periods. We recommend displaying your treasures on a shelf rather than a windowsill. This post is part of our What’s in the Box? series.

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Rice Northwest Museum of Rocks & Minerals
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