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OUGS Social Media @ougeolsoc.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

That's hard! Amazing #quartz - so ubiquitous, so many uses - deserves to win #MinCup26 but I have a sneaking fondness for my local minerals. This is an example of the chalcotrichite variety from Old Gunnislake Mine in the Tamar Valley. So, #teamcuprite join me and vote #cuprite!

Delicate needles of chalcotrichite "hairy copper" grow as secondary crystals in cavities in copper rich rocks

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OUGS Social Media @ougeolsoc.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Two of my absolute favourites! Do I vote in this #MinCup26 semi for ubiquitous #quartz or slippery, shiny #graphite - so lovely for drawing pencils! And, with enough P and T, it is diamond!

Diamond/graphite/liquid triple point on a phase diagram

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OUGS Social Media @ougeolsoc.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Thermohaline circulation drives oceanwater circulation - ocean currents. Salty water sinks, cold, fresh water floats. Inextricably linked to world climate. How many minerals can say that. Vote #halite in the #MinCup26 semifinal

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OUGS Social Media @ougeolsoc.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Only 24 votes in it! If you haven't voted yet, let it be for slippery, shiny, single graphene sheets of #graphite Dad took me up the very high "mix tower" at the dry battery factory once. Vertiginous... I held on tight to the handrail... my hands were covered in shiny dark grey graphene (pre 2004!)

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OUGS Social Media @ougeolsoc.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

#Graphite aka black lead or plumbago has been mined for 100s of years, but the discovery that it is made up of 2D sheets of graphene is really recent Graphene was only theorised in 1947 and isolated, using adhesive tape (!) In 2004. (See the Wikipedia entry) vote #graphite in #MinCup26

Model of 2D sheet of graphene consisting of linked rings of carbon atoms

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OUGS Social Media @ougeolsoc.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Two of my winners head to head, but it has to be #halite for me in #MinCup26 Quarterfinal 3, for its ability to move mountains. Look what salt does to the Austrian Alps at Hallstatt, Austria. Saving halite's role in ocean chemistry and currents for the semis. C'mon #TeamHalite get those votes in!

Cross section of Austrian Alps S to N at Plassen, showing Permian/Triassic salt rock, Haselgebirge Fm

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Nigel Monaghan @nigelmonaghan-nh.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

The ‘iron house’ botanical museum used to be on Leinster Lawn and was used in the 1850s to prepare the fin whale skeleton for the Natural History Museum. In 1890 a floor of the new Museum of Science and Art on Kildare Street was given over to the botanical displays

Display cases with dried plants, woods, and seeds. Lady in straw hat admiring the exhibits

Botanists at work in a room filled with cabinets of dried plants

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Reposted by OUGS Social Media

Nigel Monaghan @nigelmonaghan-nh.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

The National Botanic Gardens in Glasnevin has a building beside the car park with a fascinating history as Ireland’s oldest botanical museum. Free lecture 4 October - Dublin Festival of History: A Shed Less Ordinary, The Museum Building at NBG www.eventbrite.ie/e/dublin-fes...

eventbrite.ie

Dublin Festival of History: A Shed Less Ordinary-The Museum Building at NBG

Join OPW guide Gavin Corbett for this one-off talk in the Gardens’ auditorium.

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OUGS Social Media @ougeolsoc.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Hazel Rymer just posted this from the Freshers' Fair at the OU today. Anyone else there? I can see Pauline Kirtley , and I think, Sue Wilson ? Thanks for all your efforts guys - lets hope OUGS gets lots of new, enthusiastic, members!

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OUGS Social Media @ougeolsoc.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

There are fascinating minerals named after strange places, like Skotterud. And then there is #quartz possibly from the Saxon mining phrase Querkluftertz, meaning "cross-vein ore," shortened over time (thank goodness!) from Querkluftertz down to Quartz. Vote for Querluftertz aka #quartz in #Mincup26

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OUGS Social Media @ougeolsoc.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Got me looking in various directions as I hadn't come across "ruby copper" aka #cuprite despite living in and around Cornwall... copper mine country... for half my life! Knew copper weathered to gossan/iron hat but cuprite was new to me and believe I have some somewhere :) vote #cuprite #MinCup26

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morayfootprints.bsky.social @morayfootprints.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

In 1860s fossil trackways were found in the OId Red Sandstone rocks at Tarbat Ness, Scotland. Body fossils had been found in rocks around Moray which Dr Joass, geologist and cartoonist, the dispute showed by mocking geologists of the period. #Oldredsandstone #historyofgeology #ichnology

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OUGS Social Media @ougeolsoc.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

My favourite's still #graphite cos Dad visitd the graphite mine at Skåland, Senja, as part of his job in the1940s! The first mineral I was ever aware of as a toddler. #teamgraphite #mincup26 Ore crushed,separated by flotation using pine oil. Powered by a diesel engine removed from a German Uboot!

Part of the graphite processing plant at Skåland.
Mined ore was tipped down a shaft inside the mountain crushed and separated

Skåland graphite processing plant late 1940s

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Helen Czerski @helenczerski.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Science fiction writers often call humanity a “carbon-based life form” & we are… but it’s not just our anatomy that’s based on carbon. It’s the whole of our life support system. My Gresham Lecture tmrw will be all about where Earth's carbon is & what it's up to. Listen in at 6pm (free online)!

gresham.ac.uk

Carbon: Our Flexible Friend that Built the Natural World

Carbon used to be something that was only mentioned in school chemistry classes, but now it seems to be everywhere: on the news, in political debate, in discussions on health, and as a framework for t...

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OUGS Social Media @ougeolsoc.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Have you booked for Dr Anjana Khatwa's talk next week? 29th September All welcome! Non-members too ougs.org/events/popup... For all OUGS events go too ougs.org/events/

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OUGS Social Media @ougeolsoc.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

It has to be #halite the mineral that can move mountains! Look at that halite bed (red) that the Jura mountains are sliding on! Vote #teamhalite #Mincup26 And it is good on your fish and chips too ;)

NW -SE Cross section through Jura and foreland showing, in red, the halite unit that facilitates detachment

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OUGS Social Media @ougeolsoc.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

#pyromorphite - dainty green clumps like mineral moss, but the oddness of those "rolled, incommensurate atomic sheets" of #cylindrite is intriguing. Still on #TeamCylindrite in this round of #MinCup26

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OUGS Social Media @ougeolsoc.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Attracted by the backstory for #julienite (and as Henri Julien was french, presumably the name is pronounced with a soft "J" ?) So, vote #teamjulienite in #Mincup26

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OUGS Social Media @ougeolsoc.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

It's fascinating learning about unusual minerals like #stichtite but good 'ol #quartz is so fundamental to geology that it has my vote in #MinCup26 go #TeamQuartz!

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OUGS Social Media @ougeolsoc.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Beautiful in gem-like versions, but the fun of climbing up onto Dartmoor, finding spotted slate with chiastolite/andalusite porphyroblasts before getting to granite, and spotting a tiny, perfect cross in the "spot"! Vote #andalusite #MinCup2026 www.alexstrekeisen.it/english/meta...

alexstrekeisen.it

Alex Strekeisen

Alex Strekeisen - I vetrini della mia fantasia

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OUGS Social Media @ougeolsoc.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Fascinated by mineral names. Some sort of rudite? Nope... named after Skutterud in Norway... which now spells itself Skotterud. So should #skutterudite now be skotterudite? #vesuvianite - well that's just too obvious #TeamSkutterudite #MinCup26

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OUGS Social Media @ougeolsoc.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Another branch newsletter for you - OUGS Nene-Tees "Rockhopper" And the branch is organising next year's Symposium in Hull, so here is a preview of that as well All our branch newsletters are in the "Members Area" of our website ougs.org

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OUGS Social Media @ougeolsoc.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

#MinCup26 today - a hard one! #Cassiterite - the amazing tin mineral from my native SW England, or #graphite probably the first mineral I was aware of as a toddler "where's daddy going?" "Going to Skåland, to the graphite mines on Senja again". Decisions! Have to think about it...

The track down to the Cholwell Brook below Wheal Betsy

Skåland graphite works, Senja, Troms. 1940s

Excerpt from a book mentioning Skåland mine

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OUGS Social Media @ougeolsoc.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

A hard one! #Cassiterite - the amazing tin mineral from my native SW England, or #graphite probably the first mineral I was aware of as a toddler "where's daddy going?" "Going to Skåland, to the graphite mines on Senja again". Decisions! Have to think about it...

Wheal Betsy engine house - an old tin mine north of Tavisock that I passed twice daily on my commute to Okhampton

Skåland graphite mine - my intro to geology when Dad told 4 year old me about the mine there...

Skåland graphite works in the 1940s. One of Dad's photos

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OUGS Social Media @ougeolsoc.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Just had my regular treat of a pain au chocolat, after the weekly shopping trip to SuperU. So it has to be #Xocolatlite ! #MinCup26

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OUGS Social Media @ougeolsoc.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

I thought the #Gadolinite was in fancy dress as obsidian! But now I will think of #Riebeckite every time I watch the roaring game aka curling! Ailsa Craig granite #ailsite... so that's where my #MinCup26 vote is going today

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OUGS Social Media @ougeolsoc.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

OUGS Severnside's latest newsletter, the Sabrina Times, is now out All branch newsletters available to all OUGS members in the Members Area of our website ougs.org Severnside Branch covers South Wales, Bristol/Gloucester/North Somerset area. Contact the BO if you are interested in helping!

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OUGS Social Media @ougeolsoc.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

#InternationalDayOfCavesandKarst Photos anyone? Gypsum #karst near Sorbas Spain - relic of the Messinian, Jurassic limestone karst pinnacles near Antequera, and eroding Jurassic limestone in the Jura

El Torcal de Antequera, limestone karst, Andalucia

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OUGS Social Media @ougeolsoc.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Arsenic - useful, but so contaminating e.g. Salsigne or Devon Great Consols Salsigne: The Arsenic Valley share.google/TPW6H57uqWuI... Devon Great Consols share.google/dhgIiKBGKdMh... And then there is wonderful salt, mine it, evaporate it from the sea, essential for health. #teamhalite every time

Beds of halite at Bex salt mine, Switzerland

Halite collected from evaporated sea spray, Salinas de Carmen, Fuerteventura

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OUGS Social Media @ougeolsoc.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Love the mica look alike crystals of #pyrrhotite but the sheer strangeness of #cylindrite sheets turning themselves into roll ups is amazing do that's where my bote is going today!

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OUGS Social Media @ougeolsoc.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Late to the party today... busy having shingles & tetanus vaccinations... But unless anyone persuades me otherwise before bedtime it will have to be calcite... in appreciation of the gorgeous scalenohedra and nailhead spar from the Alston mines given to me when I was an embryo geologist 65 years ago

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OUGS Social Media @ougeolsoc.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Our representatives to Open SU are working hard to publicise the Open University Geological Society (OUGS) to new students especially, in the run up to the October start courses. We hope everyone will enjoy Anjana's talk! To register go to ougs.org/events/

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OUGS Social Media @ougeolsoc.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Somebody persuade me which of these very esoteric minerals to vote for please! #Hafnon, pretending to be zircon in pegmatites, or pretty purple volcanic #putnisite? #MinCup26

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OUGS Social Media @ougeolsoc.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

A couple of softies! And both have links to serpentinite ... but I hadn't heard of stichtite, so, just to encourage it I'm voting for it. Pretty colour too. #mincup26

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OUGS Social Media @ougeolsoc.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Have to vote for andalusite, 1st came across it on an unofficial OUGS visit to Madrid area, 1990s... apparently the Sierra de Montejo is the locality where it was originally found but it got mislabelled as Andalusia at some point! Revisited in 2000s... then saw some genuinely in Andalucia in 2010s!

Andalusite in Sierra de Montejo - originally found here so the story goes

Andalusite in Andalucia... the pink bits!

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OUGS Social Media @ougeolsoc.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

Doing anything Tuesday? Wrexham area trip, non-members welcome Go to ougs.org/events/ for the live link to event, contact, organiser etc

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OUGS Social Media @ougeolsoc.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

Much as I love quartz, the fabulous colour of asagiite gets my vote today!

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OUGS Social Media @ougeolsoc.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

Exciting online talk date for your diary! 7pm Tuesday 29 September. Non-members very welcome! For live links to details and booking contact Stuart Swales ougs.org/events/

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OUGS Social Media @ougeolsoc.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Weirdly fascinated by the idea of mixing orpiment with slaked lime to make a depilatory. Sticking to tweezering my old lady beard! But voting for orpiment!

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OUGS Social Media @ougeolsoc.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Online Welcome Event - Open University School of Environment, Earth and Ecosystem Sciences 30th September 2026 7:00-8:30 PM New, returning, or continuing student? Or just passionate about understanding our incredible planet, join us online! events.teams.microsoft.com/event/2e83f8...

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OUGS Social Media @ougeolsoc.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Bournonite for me in #MinCup26! Connections with Cornwall where I lived (Wheal Boys, St Endellion), and the French Alps where I am now! (La Mure coal mine, with its super wee railway!)

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OUGS Social Media @ougeolsoc.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

OUGS field trips this weekend - non-members welcome! Events in Kent, Northampton, and SE Wales Live links to details, risk assessments, contacts, and more events, at ougs.org/events/ "Not just any geological society, the Open University Geological Society!" Beginners welcome, no experience needed!

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