rock PTX

rock PTX - An online resource for mineralogy and petrology. https://www.rockptx.com/

The site has a lot of information about optical mineralogy and associated topics. It is produced by Frank K. Mazdab, who describes himself as,

“My name’s Frank, and I’m an independent analytical/research mineralogist currently based in Tucson. I’m affiliated with the University of Arizona, where I work with faculty and students in the Economic Geology group in an essentially adjunct “mostly-researcher/occasional-instructor” position. As a hardcore introvert, I certainly value my thoughtful alone time sitting in front of humming high-tech instruments and collecting data; indeed, it’s an ideal work environment that meshes well with my introspective personality. Still, my job does require me to periodically interact with other humans, and yes, I have to admit, I actually do get real joy and fulfillment from teaching and mentoring students, particularly when I’m working one-on-one or in small groups. Given my preference for those smaller, more intimate academic settings, it then might seem somewhat ironic that my enthusiasm for education also extends more expansively toward outreach. To that end, I’ve put together this website to share my passion for mineralogy & petrology with the global online community. So whether you’re a professional geologist, a student, a mineral collector, or simply someone with a curiosity and appreciation of science & nature (or even if you’re just looking for one of my recipes, or want to check out the photos from my last trip), hopefully you’ll find something among these pages that is both interesting and informative.”

There is far too much material to check entirely, but the pages seen appear to contain reliable information.

In particular, you should look at “video atlas of minerals in thin section.” There is an alphabetical list of minerals at the bottom of the page. Click on a mineral name brings up another page, which may be slow to load (there are a lot of pictures, which take time to load). There are four videos for most minerals.

1. PPL (lower polar rotation)

2. PPL (stage rotation)

3. XP (stage rotation) (XP = crossed polars, or CN)

4. optic figure (stage rotation)

Clicking on the play arrow will play a small image of the video, which is usually not useful. Instead, right click on the image, and hover over the “This frame” in the pop-up menu. Click on “Open frame in New Tab” to see a much larger version of the video on Vimeo. (Be sure to switch to the new tab)

Questions or comments? mailto:warburto@fau.edu

Last updated: March 15, 2020