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Going to take a hike to get to the old Mary Ann Mine. No problem. #rockhounding#geology#minerals#fluorescentminerals #zinc #inyocounty

A post shared by Tom Farley (@tgfarley) on Jun 29, 2020 at 10:23am PDT

 

 

 

 

 

 

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This comment is from R.C., a practicing geologist who taught me never to say granite unless I was absolutely certain, true granite relatively uncommon. Best to say something is granitic. Hi Tom, You have a granitic porphyry. The pink rectangles are large crystals of feldspar that formed at depth. It’s the first mineral to crystallize. Then the magma was moved closer to the surface, cooled more rapidly, so the other minerals didn’t have time to form very large crystals. The pink feldspar crystals are phenocrysts, from Greek for “visible crystals.” Neat rock. #geology#granite #nopahrangewilderness #inyocounty#rockhounding#geologistonboard#feldspar#minerals

A post shared by Tom Farley (@tgfarley) on Jul 1, 2020 at 7:29pm PDT

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I can’t remember how many abandoned roads I have followed like this one. Fortunately, there will always be thousands more. #geology #roadtrip #prospecting#quartz#tocks#rockhounding#exploring#wilderness#mining#inyocounty

A post shared by Tom Farley (@tgfarley) on Jul 1, 2020 at 3:48pm PDT

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Road to the Mary Ann Mine. I hope. No vehicular traffic allowed in a Wilderness Area. Next is limestone with a solution surface. Recent desert tortoise den. GLO monument showing township, range, and section. Last photo. A million rocks to look over. One rockhound. The odds are even. #rockhound #rockhounding#limestone#geology#deserttortoise #generallandofficesurvey #inyocounty#nopahrangewilderness #wildernessarea

A post shared by Tom Farley (@tgfarley) on Jul 1, 2020 at 8:22pm PDT