I Feel the Earth Move
|
  |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Welcome to Bob's Rock Shop
- About the Shop, Contributors, Submissions and Copyrights
Join the Shop's Email List
- What's Happening at the Shop and Other Messages of Interest to Rockhounds
- Subscribe - Unsubscribe - Check Your List Subscription Status
- Rock Talk
- Join Us on the Rock Net Discussion Group and Message Forum for Rockhounds!
- Rock Trader Classifieds
- Check Out These Free, Form Accessible Classified Ads for Rockhounds!
- US Club List
- An Extensive Listing with Contact Info for Over 900 Mineralogical, Lapidary, Fossil and Just About Anything to Do with Rocks Clubs in the United States.
 References for Rockhounds  |
|||
| Need More Input? Check Out the Shop's Extensive Catalog of Books for Rockhounds! | |||
|
Bead Work
Buyer's Guides Casting Chain Making Collecting Guides |
Designs & Patterns
Faceting Gemstones Geology & Earth Science Gold & Mining |
Jewelry Making
Lapidary Rocks & Minerals Rockpups Smithing |
Stone Setting
Videos Wire Work |
The Photo-Atlas of Minerals DVD V2.0
New Low Low Price - Now Only $19.95 !!!
Order The Photo-Atlas of Minerals DVD
Version 2.0 DVD-ROM for Windows
Sample Photo-Atlas DVD Screens:
Formerly sold at $59.95, the Photo-Atlas of Minerals DVD is simply the most comprehensive mineral reference available. It principle features include:
|
- Nearly 16,000 high-resolution mineral specimen images
- Mineralogical data for all known mineral species (over 4,100) - Mineral specimen images from over 3,500 localities - Users can add their own images - Comprehensive descriptive mineralogical and crystallographic data - Audio mineral name pronunciations - Origins of mineral names - Mineral name synonyms and varieties |
- Searchable by properties, locality, chemistry, etc.
- User controlled crystal form drawings - User controlled atomic structure drawings - Includes both Dana & Strunz mineral classifications - Glossary of mineral terms - Users can print the mineral images and data - Generates random and user defined slide shows - Includes a mineral identification game |
- Greetings from Tucson
- Our Shows, Museums, Clubs, Rock Shops, and Other Attractors
 |
- Alone No More
- Martian Meteorite ALH84001 Harbinger of Extraterrestrial Life
- Check out Bob's Martian Touchdown - A Rockhound's Cosmic Encounter with Three Extraterrestrials
 |
||
|
The Mars Phoenix spacecraft has successfully landed on Mars farther north than any previous mission at 68 degrees north latitude, equivalent to that of northern Alaska, where water is believed to exist in the form of ice just below the Martian surface. Phoenix is equipped with some of the most sophisticated and advanced technology ever sent to Mars. The complement of the Phoenix spacecraft and its scientific instruments are ideally suited to uncover clues to the geologic history and biological potential of the Martian arctic. During the course of its three-month mission, a robust robotic arm will dig through the soil to the water ice layer underneath and deliver soil and ice samples to the mission's experiments. On the deck, miniature ovens and a mass spectrometer will provide chemical analysis of trace matter. A chemistry lab-in-a-box will characterize the soil and ice chemistry. Sophisticated maging systems will provide an unprecedented view of Mars spanning 12 powers of 10 in scale. A meteorological station will record the daily weather of the Martian northern plains using temperature and pressure sensors and will play an important role by providing information on the current state of the polar atmosphere and how water is cycled between the solid and gas phases in the Martian arctic. |
|
 |
Phoenix Mars Lander in the News
- Phoenix Has Gone Silent: In search of habitable soil, the Mars lander has lost power with no real chance of recovery.
- Phoenix Mars Lander Stops Communicating: After five busy months, NASA’s Phoenix Mars Lander has tasted its last morsel of Martian soil and viewed its last Martian landscape.
- NASA Says Perchlorate Does Not Rule Out Life On Mars: The discovery of an unexpected chemical in Martian soil - one that is considered hazardous here on Earth - says little by itself about the possibility of life on Mars.
- Surprising Signal: Martian soil shows traces of perchlorate, an unexpected chlorine compound.
- NASA Quashes Rumors Of Life On Mars: The fuss started with a relatively restrained news story posted on SpaceRef.com headlined "White House Briefed On Potential For Mars Life."
- Officially Ice: Oven bakes out water - Phoenix mission successes lead to longer lander life.
- Tasting Ice: Phoenix Mars Lander ready to analyze ice if the oven bakes the sample without short-circuiting.
- Pay Dirt: Martian Soil Fit For Earthly Life: Martian soil around the Phoenix lander is slightly alkaline and has enough different minerals that it could support Earth plants and more to the point - microbes - beneath the Martian surface
- Mars OK For Life, So Far: "You could grow asparagus".
- Martian Soil Hints At Water, Nutrients: The first analysis of Red Planet dirt by the Phoenix lander shows what may be some of the requirements for life.
- Our Eyes On Mars: How The Phoenix Lander Sees: If you leave your camera at home on a long vacation, you can buy a disposable one. But that's not an option if you have traveled 422 million miles to another planet.
- Phoenix Touches Martian Ice: NASA's "follow the water" approach to finding life - or evidence of past life - on Mars has finally hit pay dirt.
- Ice On Mars : The Red Planet's white stuff is ice after all.
- Phoenix Finds Ice On Mars: The Mars Phoenix Lander has found ice on the surface of the red planet, a key discovery for the spacecraft as it searches for water and signs of life.
- Disappearing Bright Specks Show Mars Has Ice: Bright crumbs that were visible in one of the trenches dug by the Phoenix Mars Lander are no longer there - leaving mission scientists with only one conclusion: the material was ice that vaporized directly from the solid form in the dry, frigid Martian polar atmosphere.
- Phoenix Probes Martian Soil: The first soil sample baked in the Phoenix Mars Lander shows no signs of water.
- Phoenix Makes First Trench In Science Preserve: The Phoenix Mars Lander has begun digging in an area called "Wonderland", taking its first scoop of soil from a polygonal surface feature within the "national park" region that mission scientists have been preserving for science.
- Phoenix Mars Lander Stops Communicating: After five busy months, NASA’s Phoenix Mars Lander has tasted its last morsel of Martian soil and viewed its last Martian landscape.
 |
| The Phoenix mission is intended to last 90 days. It may last a little longer, but not much. When the sun drops below the horizon during the Martian winter, there will be no way to recharge the lander's batteries. Once they drain completely, the mission is over. |
- Rocks in the News
Detailed Silver Price Historical Chart Detailed Gold Price Historical Chart - Volcanic Blasts Kicked Off Modern Ice Ages: A series of cataclysmic volcanic eruptions gave the planet its polar ice caps, and started a freeze-thaw cycle of ice ages that persists to this day.
- Evidence Found Of Lake On Mars: A long, deep canyon and the remains of beaches are perhaps the clearest evidence yet of a standing lake on the surface of Mars.
- Can Captured Carbon Save Coal-Fired Power?: Extracting carbon dioxide from power plant exhaust and storing it underground may be the only hope to avoid a climate change catastrophe caused by burning fossil fuels.
- Dinosaurs May Have Been Smaller Than Previously Thought: Scientists have discovered that the original statistical model used to calculate dinosaur mass is flawed, suggesting dinosaurs have been oversized.
- Ice Sheets Can Retreat 'In A Geologic Instant': Modern glaciers, such as those making up the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets, are capable of undergoing periods of rapid shrinkage or retreat.
- Martian Lightning: Scientists have seen the first direct evidence of lightning on Mars, in the form of electrical discharges during a Martian dust storm.
- Bird In The Hand: Fossilized fingers strengthen evolutionary link between dinosaurs and avian relatives.
- New Element For Periodic Table: Scientists around the world are celebrating the latest entry to the periodic table. It's taken more than a decade for element 112, the biggest and heaviest atom yet, to be officially recognised.
- Space Trash To Blast Moon In Search For Water: A spent rocket stage from the LCROSS probe launch will crash into a shadowed crater at the lunar south pole, whose surface has not seen sunlight in two billion years. A plume of debris will puff into space and be analyzed by the probe's cameras and spectometers.
- New Definition Could Further Limit Habitable Zones Around Distant Suns: Scientists believe liquid water is essential for life. But a planet also must have plate tectonics to pull excess carbon from its atmosphere and confine it in rocks to prevent runaway greenhouse warming.
- Planet-Forming Disk Discovered Orbiting Twin Suns: Binary star system V4046 Sagittarii provides strong evidence that planets can form around binary stars, which expands the number of places we can look for extrasolar planets. Somewhere in our galaxy, an alien world may enjoy double sunrises and double sunsets.
- Fossil Bone Bed Helps Reconstruct Life Along California's Ancient Coastline: Sharktooth Hill near Bakersfield, Calif., is the home of the most extensive marine bone bed in the world, a 100-square-mile layer of shark, seal, ray, whale, turtle and fish bones.
- Discovery Raises New Doubts About Dinosaur-Bird Links: Researchers have made a fundamental new discovery about how birds breathe and have a lung capacity that allows for flight and the finding means it's unlikely that birds descended from any known theropod dinosaurs.
- Alien Visitor From Afar: Even the most unassuming neighbor can hide a giant secret. New calculations of the orbit of a dim, extremely low-mass star just 300 light-years from the solar system suggest the body may be a runaway from another galaxy.
- Solar System's Future Could Be Bumpy: It’s happened before, and it could happen again: Planets in the inner solar system may collide if gravitational interactions substantially disturb now-stable orbits.
- Unlikely Suns Reveal Improbable Planets: Astronomers are finding planets where there were not supposed to be any.
- Evidence Mounts For Liquid Interior Of A Saturn Moon: Swooping within 25 kilometers of Enceladus, the Cassini spacecraft has obtained additional evidence that the interior of this tiny, icy moon of Saturn may contain liquid water.
- A More Organic Meteorite: Some meteorites may contain more formic acid, a precursor to life, than previously thought.
More Rocks in the News
- Evidence Found Of Lake On Mars: A long, deep canyon and the remains of beaches are perhaps the clearest evidence yet of a standing lake on the surface of Mars.
Letters to the Editor
- Say NO to Akaka Governed Public Land: A bitter legislative battle is raging over collecting fossils on public lands.
Chambers Fit For A Queen - A Quest For English Ammonites
- Rock&Gem Feature Article
- More Rock&Gem Online Features:
- A Day in the Life of a Gemologist
- Into the Caves - "California's Underground" at the Oakland, California Museum
- Bingham Canyon Copper - Finding Chalcopyrite at "The Richest Hole on Earth"
- Rockhound in Greece - A Great Destination for Geology... and Humanity
- Honoring Mr. Jones - Our Senior Editor Gets What He Deserves
- Faceting Fascinates - With an Experienced Guide, You, Too, Can Bring Gemstones to Life!
- Tonopah and Goldfield - They Were the Hub of Nevada's Gold Rush
- Agates from the Land of Pumas and Craters
- Mexico's Mystery Stone
- A Lesson in Channel Work
- New England Pegmatites: They Have Been Mined Since America's Earliest Days
- Turquoise: Blue Sky...Blue Stone
- Faceting by Hand: Jack Lahr's Lap-Lap Relies on Primitive Power
- More Rock&Gem Online Features:
- Rock&Gem Magazine Article Search
- Search Back Issues for Articles with Topics of Interest
- Rock&Gem Writer's Guidelines
- An Extensive List of Upcoming Gem and Mineral Shows
- Submit Your Own Club's Show for Publication in Rock&Gem Magazine
Rock&Gem Magazine Show Calendar
- Rock&Gem Craftsman of the Month Contest
- Got a Pet Project Your're Proud of and Want to Show Off?
- Win and Rock&Gem Magazine will Feature Your Work and Throw in a Dremel Tool to Boot
- Entry Details - Browse the Current and Prior Contest Winners
- Win and Rock&Gem Magazine will Feature Your Work and Throw in a Dremel Tool to Boot
- Subscribe to Rock&Gem Magazine
- Enjoy and Learn from Rock&Gem Magazine for less than $1.00 per Issue!
- Need to Change Your Address for a Rock&Gem Magazine Subscription?
|
- Software for Rockhounds
- Mineral Database and Identification Software: Photo Atlas of Minerals - Lithos - MinSearch - MDI Mineral Database - Geolib - Topaz - Minrls - Digital Rockhound's Companion
- Freeware Screen Savers for Rockhounds: Tucson Show V2001 - Grand Hikes - Minerals V1.0
- Freeware Faceters Companion CD!: Featuring Over 250 Faceting Patterns
- GemCad: Gemstone Design Software
- Ososoft Mineral Label: Freeware Specimen Labeling Software for Rock Collectors!
- RockWare Freeware: Erupt - GeoTrig - Mineral Mastery - Seismic - Magnetic
- Freeware Mars Map: High Resolution Orbiter Camera Global Mosaic
- Freeware Screen Savers for Rockhounds: Tucson Show V2001 - Grand Hikes - Minerals V1.0
- Rock Identification Key
- A Beginner's Guide and Key to Help You Identify and Put a Name on That Rock!
- Learn to ID and Distinguish Basalt, Diabase, Diorite, Gabbro, Granite, Obsidian, Pumice, Rhyolite, Scoria, Gneiss, Marble, Quartzite, Schist, Serpentinite, Slate, Breccia, Conglomerate, Limestone, Sandstone, Shale...
- Mineral Identification Key
- An Online Guide and Key to Aid in the Identification of Field Collected Mineral Specimens
- Covering Several Hundred of the Most Commonly Occurring and Collected Species
|
- Crystallography and Mineral Crystal Systems
- An Illustrated, Nine-Part Primer on Crystallography and Mineral Crystal Systems
- Mineral Nomenclature: Naming New Minerals
- So You've Discovered a New Mineral and Want to Name It "Spottite" After Your Dog...
- Changes In Mineralogical Nomenclature: Varieties
- Why Rock Scientists Won't Understand the Question When You Ask "What mineral is amethyst a variety of"?
- Grand Hikes
- A Virtual Tour and Rockhound's Hiking Guide for the Grand Canyon
- Stromatolite Fossils in the Hakatai Shale - A Day Hike from Phantom Ranch
- Comanche Point Vicinity - An Overnight Hike to Spectacular Grand Canyon Supergroup Views
- Genesis V2.0 - God's Grand Work Week - A Grand Canyon Geology Primer
- The 1869 Expedition - An Account of the First Grand Canyon Float Trip
- Grand Hikes Screen Saver V1.0 - A Complimentary Grand Canyon Screen Saver
- Bob's Grand Canyon Backcountry Equipment Checklist - Don't Leave Home Without It!
- Stromatolite Fossils in the Hakatai Shale - A Day Hike from Phantom Ranch
- Alcyone
- A Faceted Gemstone Design for CZ Inspired by the Pleiadians - Designed by Bob Keller
Perfect Transfer
- Interested in Faceting? Check Out this Feature for Faceters!
- Currently Featured Cut: Soda Bar 19 - An Exhibition Opposed Bar Designed for Glass
- Gateway to Gemstone Designs on the Internet - Download Over 300 Faceting Diagrams with Cutting Instructions!
- Browse and Download the Freeware Faceters Companion CD
- Currently Featured Article: A Graphical Presentation of Brightness in the Standard Round Brilliant
- Index of Online Faceting Articles - Faceting How-to and Tips from Many Facetors and Gemstone Designers!
- Online Tangent Ratio and Gem Weight Calculators
- Content and Information for Faceters
- Currently Featured Cut: Soda Bar 19 - An Exhibition Opposed Bar Designed for Glass
|
- Tucson Gem and Mineral Show Reports
- Browse the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show with Bob!
Beading and Bead Making Books
Buyer's Guide Books
Children's Books
Crystal Healing and Enlightenment Books Collecting Guide Books Faceting Books Faceting Machine Manuals Fossil Books Gemstone Books Geology and Earth Science Books Gold Prospecting and Mining History Books Jewelry Making Books Lapidary Books Mineral Books Mineralogical Record Back Issues Stone Setting Books |
- How to Wirewrap
- A Step-by-Step Pendant Design for Faceted Stones that Does Away With Claws
- Sworn to Fun
- A Club President's Perspective on the Decline of Rockhounding
- Featured Articles by John Betts
Advice for Beginners
Anthony's Nose, New York
A Field Guide to Mineral Collectors
Mineral Prices: Why so High?Dealing with Dealers
Mineral Cleaning
Largest Mineral Crystals on Record
Display Lighting of Minerals
The Great Fresnoite Discovery of 1998
- Scott's Big Score in California's San Benito Mountains
- Rockhounding Graves Mountain
- Collecting Rutile and Other Minerals at this Famous Georgia Locality
- Collecting at the Bunker Hill Mine
- Ron and Rose-Marie's Most Excellent Bunker Hill Mine Adventure
- Gypsum Rosettes
- Collecting at the Red River Floodway in Winnipeg, Canada
- Micromounter's Mecca
- A Visit to the Micromounter's Swap Room at the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show
- Check Out Tim Jokela's The Top Ten Reasons to Get Into Micromounting
- Anatomy of a Three-Headed Sphere Machine
- Interested in Rolling Your Own?
- Cabochon Making 101
- Cabbing with Tucson's Old Pueblo Lapidary Club
|
- Feldspar
- An Introduction to the Feldspar Minerals by Anita D. Westlake
- Purple Passion Prospect
- Wulfenite Collecting near Wickenburg, Arizona
- Rock and Fossil Stamps of the United States
- A Preview Page of the Shop's Topical Stamp Catalog for Rockhounds
 |
- Mineralogical Meanderings
- The Hardness of Minerals and Rocks
- Streaking Minerals - Streak Testing
- Collecting Micrometeorites
- Identifying True Amber
- Some Surefire Signs You're a Rockhound
- Collecting Rock Stamps
- Gem and Mineral Phonecards
- The Mysterious Power of Gemstones and Crystals
- Streaking Minerals - Streak Testing
- Bob's Rock Shop 1st WWW Specimen Image Contest Results!
- Do You Take Pictures of Rocks? If So, You'll Appreciate These - Check Out the Winning Entries!
- Winners competed for custom specimen mounting, mineral specimens, rockhound magazine and newsletter subscriptions, specimen labeling and mineral database software and more... These and other outstanding entries will also be featured in a new version of the Shop's ever popular freeware specimen image screen saver!
|
- Product Reviews
- The Photo-Atlas of Minerals CD
- OsoSoft MineralLabel 5.0 - Now Freeware!
- Belomo 10x Loupe: An Inexpensive Russian Triplet
- GemOro Stereo Microscope
- Meiji Techno Binocular and Trinocular Stereo Microscopes
- Raynox Video MicroExplorer
- $8 BIRI Russian Radiation Detector
- OsoSoft MineralLabel 5.0 - Now Freeware!
- Book and CD Reports
- Dana's New Mineralogy, Eighth Edition
- Encyclopedia of Mineral Names, Special Publication 1 of The Canadian Mineralogist
- Gallery of Mineral Specimen Images
- George Campbell
- Ken Colosky
- Martin Friedlander
- Bob Keller
- David Michaels
- D.E. Russell
- Tim Schmanski
- Stuart Wilensky
- Wayne State University
- Ron Zeilstra
- Ken Colosky
Cut Rocks
|
|||||||
| Index to Advertisers | ||
|
AA Mineral Specimens
Alpine Minerals Arizona Mineral Company Berg's Rock Shop CabbingMachines.com CuttingRocks.com DesignerStones.com John Betts Fine Minerals Lawrence H. Conklin, Mineralogist CR-Scientific Element 51 Microminerals Extinctions Fossils FacetingMachines.com FacetingRough.com |
Gemart Services
Gems by Mail Gold N Rocks GreatCabochons.com GreatRough.com GreatSlabs.com Mineral Exploration Services Mineral of the Month Club MineralsWeb African Minerals The Mineralogical Record Magazine PrettyRock RocksandGems.info Rocks and Minerals Magazine |
RockWare Earth Science Software
Simkev Micromounts Shannon & Son's Minerals Silver Supplies The Sunnywood Collection TumblingMachines.com TurquoiseBeads.com TurquoiseRough.com Tysons' Fine Minerals UC Minerals Dan Weinrich Fine Minerals Wilensky Mineral Video Wright's Rock Shop |
- The Shop's Link List
- The Shop's Pick and Links to Thousands of Other Websites of Interest to Rockhounds
|
Email Lists and Discussion Groups for Rockhounds |
||
|
Rockhounds List
Lapidary List Sphere Makers and Collectors USFG Faceters List |
Paleolist
Lost Wax Casting Group Grand Canyon Hikers Rough for Sale |
Minerals for Sale
Fossils for Sale Meteorites for Sale Gemstones for Sale |
Bob Keller