Zircon has knocked out my favorite #Kaolinite the past two years, and so, as revenge, I'm voting for it so it can win and be ineligible to compete in future MinCups!
(I'm sure it has some fine qualities that others will be happy to recite, but I'm driven solely by tactical considerations).
@MineralCup Today at #MinCup23 I have no idea for which of my favourite #minerals I should vote🙀#Calcite or #Zircon. Both are beauties, both are #DoesItCat minerals. Calcite for pawsome anisotropy in thermal expansion (presented by angel Ornella🌈) or Zircon the survivor for its many lives?
If #calcite beats #zircon in #MinCup23 I'll have some opinions viewable here that'll definitely make some enemies. I'm more than happy to share them now but I trust people to have common sense first.
Anyway in #zircon vs #calcite I pondered since they're old but both excellent minerals... then picked at random which is decently chaotic for my energy levels today and voted for calcite. #MinCup23
It’s a semi-final match for the ages! #Zircon is the undisputed Time Lord of geochronology and #Calcite whispers secrets of ancient climate hidden in the matte part of seashells. Which will it be?
Voted early in the first semi-final of this year's #MineralCup and after a bit of thought went with #Calcite. Didn't vote for it in the quarters, but it's won me over for this round. #Zircon is attractive and sounds more impressive, but what sort of monster can honestly consider #trilobyte eyes then vote for the pretty boy gemstone?
I have no strong opinions on these two either way. I love calcite in terms of fossils and travertine and sculpture and tufa. I love kyanite because it's really freaking pretty and it comes from other cool minerals. But you vote how you like.
And in the bottom of that #calcite valley, coming from that #calcite cave, is a #calcite laden stream that when it goes over a cascade, releases a little CO2, and because of the equilibrium, deposits #calcite to create..
This is such a tricky #MinCup23 QF match. My hard metamorphic (and igneous) geologist heart says vote #Kyanite but limestone landscapes and caverns say #Calcite!
But if that block of limestone has higher order kinetics, then the solution going through the fissure might have a teeny-tiny bit of dissolving power left by the time it gets to the constriction.
That teeny bit is able to dissolve and open up that constriction.
Open the constriction, and you get more throughput. More throughput, more dissolving. More dissolving, more opening ALL THE WAY ALONG THE FISSURE.
#MinCup23 Quarter-final 3:
Will you dribble acid on bubbly #Calcite or test for directional hardness scratching #Kyanite? Both can't wait to whisper stories of their past, but only one will tell its tale in the semi-finals!