Desert Messenger

January 20, 2016 www.DesertMessenger.com 33 RON & PATTY'S DIECAST Collectibles & Apparel Located AT THE MAIN EVENT Corner of W. Main & Quartzsite Blvd. 704-575-6719 NASCAR ACROSS FROM BURGER KING BAD RIVER PACK 605-280-8818 THANK YOU QUARTZSITE! We would like to thank all who have stopped by our booth over the past seven years - Many great customers and friends. We've elected to slow down and are now selling 3 days a week at the Mesa Market Place. We're in row C spaces 105 & 107. If you are in the Mesa area, please stop by and say hi. Feel free to give us a call or like us on Faceook. Email us at BadRiverPack@gmail.com JERKY • SUMMER SAUSAGE • SNACK STICKS • PEMMICAN • Old Costume Jewelry • Old Fountain Pens • Silver & Gold Coins • Sterling Silverware • Gold Filled Jewelry • Old Watches • Gold & Silver Jewelry Any Condition • Gold Nuggets • Dental Gold BUYING Hi Ally Swap Meet ~ Front Row Main St., Quartzsite The widespread use of Gypsum as plaster is due to the unique property discovered by some unknown early alchemist. Gypsum rock can be ground up into a powder and heated until most of its water content is re- moved. When water is added back into the powder, it forms a pliable mass which can be molded into any desired shape and will then harden into that shape. Once the substance has hardened and re-crystallized it is restored to a rock-like state. It is this use of gypsum as a plaster or a mold that has made it extremely valuable to almost every industry. Doctors use it to make casts for broken limbs, manufacturers use it make molds of products they create, dentists use it make molds of teeth, and kids use it for craft projects. The great inven- tor Benjamin Franklin introduced the use of gypsum as a soil additive and a fertilizer for farmland. And by far, the most widespread use of gyp- sum today is as drywall and plaster used in construction. Gypsum also has very unique and interesting crystal habits. Typi- cally the crystals are monoclinic, which means they form a rectan- gular crystal with a parallelogram as its base. Gypsum crystals of- ten occur perfectly intact, without distortions, as "floater" crystals, where they form fully without be- ing attached to a matrix. Gypsum crystals frequently twin. There are several variations in crystal forma- tion, habit and size. While most are small to moderately sized, gypsum crystals can be huge and, indeed, some of the largest crystals dis- covered on earth were of gypsum. Enormous crystal "wands" averag- ing 12 meters long can be found in the "Cave of Giant Crystals", Naica, Mexico. Gypsum crystals are typi- cally white or clear, but can be gray, brown, orange, pink, yellow, light red, or green depending on asso- ciated or included minerals. They often fluoresce yellow. ROCKS FROM PAGE 15 There are several collectible varieties of Gypsum that occur as prismatic, dense bundles of thin blades, layered masses, fibrous veins, rosettes, and other crystalline forms. Selenite is one of the most well-known and di- verse of the collectible gypsum variet- ies. One fibrous form of Selenite is known as "wands". A beautiful vari- ety known as "hourglass" have brown hourglass shaped inclusions of sand within individual floater crystals. "Window Pane" Selenite is a gorgeous example of layered masses of pris- matic crystals. This variety was used by ancient Greeks as window panes in temples and religious shrines. Of course, here in the Arizona des- ert, the rosette clusters of thin blades known as "Desert Rose" is our be- loved variety. Rosette clusters can form as individual "flowers", or as groups or masses of clusters. Very large clusters are extremely rare. Some towering formations of rosette clusters up to ten feet tall and sev- eral feet wide have been found in the Saharan desert and in Tunisia. The largest one ever recorded in the US was 17 inches across, 10 inches high, and weighed 125 pounds. Here in Arizona, one of the most well known sites for collecting Desert Roses is St. David in southern Arizona east of Tucson. Desert roses and some other interesting varieties of Sel- enite can also be found within day trips of Quartzsite. For maps and information on loca- tions of Desert Rose collecting sites, come to RocksInMyHead. We have a great selection of beautiful selenite specimens available, plus lots of other amazing rocks, fossils, miner- als, and gemstones. We also have tools, supplies, books, maps, and equipment for all your rockhound- ing, prospecting, and lapidary ad- ventures. We are located at A37 Rice Ranch in Quartzsite. We're open 7 days a week from 10 am to 5 pm, Nov. 1 through April and online at www.RocksInMyHead.com. Our phone # is 605-376-8754. Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ DesertMessengerNews Follow on Twitter @DesertMessenger @QuartzsiteRain

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