I’m Jack and I am a geology PhD student
here at the University of Birmingham and my
object of the month is this stunning piece
of gypsum. Now if we take a closer look at
the label we can see That it’s from a small
town named Manangatang in Australia. We can
also see that it’s been donated by a man
by the name of M. Durbridge.
Now gypsum is the most common sulphate mineral
in the world and taking a closer look at this
amazing specimen, we can see two main types
of crystals: one much finer and more needle-like,
and one much larger and clearer. This second
type of crystal is known as Selenite.
Now this specimen will probably have formed
within a void within a rock and it will have
been filled with mineral rich water and these
crystals need heat and space to have grown.
A really spectacular case of this is the “Cave
of Crystals” in Mexico and they have giant
selenite crystals up to 10m big.
Because of the really fine texture of the
needle-like crystals, we’re actually getting
some sand particles trapped amongst them.
This is giving it this kind of pink tinge.
You can see it trapped around some of the
larger crystals as well.
As you can see here at the Lapworth Museum
at the University of Birmingham we’ve got
some really spectacular crystals and minerals
and I’d recommend anyone to come and see
them, and come and check out my object of
the month.
