Erika Anderson

@andersonmineral

Former Curator of Mineralogy and Petrology. MSc in Volcanology. Views are my own.

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Bluesky

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Erika Anderson@andersonmineral· 5d

Finally got to see the SUE T. rex exhibit that @thomascullen.bsky.social worked on!!! Awesome to see this massive life sized model with dinosaur “lips”. #FossilFriday ⚒️🧪🦖

Full sized reconstruction of a Tyrannosaurus rex with a small dinosaur in its mouth in the middle of an exhibit room. At Telus Spark.

Erika Anderson@andersonmineral· 22d

A Guess the Gem this week!! What mineral or group do you think these gems are? Hint: you can find it in your teeth. #GuessTheGem #GeoscienceBluesky ⚒️🧪💎

Two gems in white gem cases on white foam surrounded by the edges of other gem cases. The left one is a pale blue gem in the shape of a shield. On the right is a yellow square gem. At the Hunterian.

Erika Anderson@andersonmineral· 23d

Okay, sometimes minerals are just sooooooo pretty. This mesolite puffball is pretty perfectly round. #MineralMonday #GeoscienceBluesky ⚒️🧪

Specimen consisting of thin rods of transparent crystals creating a sphere on white matrix. It sits on a black background. At the Sorbonne.

Erika Anderson@andersonmineral· 26d

The fossil skull of a soft shell turtle, Trionyx, from France! They are always pretty neat looking. #FossilFriday ⚒️🧪

Fossil skull of a soft shell turtle on a red background with labels all around. The skull has a pair of holes near the front snout, a pair in the middle, and a pair in the back with broken off bones at the back. At the Museum national de l’Histoire naturelle.

Erika Anderson@andersonmineral· 29d

Well I missed Mineral Monday but I do want to share this awesome halite (salt) with blue colouring. #GeoscienceBluesky ⚒️🧪

Specimen of clear cubic halite with dark blue sections, including a section shaped like a triangle made of thin blue lines. At the Musée de Minérologie Paris.

Erika Anderson@andersonmineral· Jul 17

The majestic Gomphotherium, but I’m really interested in the cute tortoise in front of it. #FossilFriday ⚒️🧪

Fossil of an Gomphotherium which looks like a mastodon above a small tortoise with a very round shell. Another small four legged fossil behind it and a horned skull mounted on a rod. At the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.

Erika Anderson@andersonmineral· Jul 13

Lovely polished malachite. It was a mineral that was used as green pigment in the past. #MineralMonday #GeoscienceBluesky ⚒️🧪

Specimen of green malachite with lots of sections of concentric banding with lighter and darker green bands. It sits on a frosted plinth that says “Malachite/Malachite” on it. Sits on a glass shelf on a grey background. At the Royal Ontario Museum.

Erika Anderson@andersonmineral· Jun 29

WOW!! This is one gorgeous emerald crystal. Trace elements give the green colour to this variety of the mineral beryl. #MineralMonday #GeoscienceBluesky ⚒️🧪

Specimen of deep green translucent hexagonal columnar emerald crystal in a dark grey rock and white rock. On a grey background with edges of labels seen behind it. At the Musée de Minéralogie Mines Paris.

Erika Anderson@andersonmineral· Jun 23

Guess the Gem time!! What mineral, variety, or group do you think these gems are? Hint: this variety’s name derives from its colour. #GuessTheGem #GeoscienceBluesky ⚒️🧪💎

Two gems on frosted plinths in front of a grey background. On the bottom left is a rectangular modified step cut that is a deep blue teal. On the top right is a rectangular step cut that is a deep green teal. At the Royal Ontario Museum.

Erika Anderson@andersonmineral· Jun 22

A lovely disc of fool’s gold which is the mineral pyrite!! #MineralMonday #GeoscienceBluesky ⚒️🧪

Erika Anderson@andersonmineral· Jun 19

Can you see the dragonfly-like insect in this rock? It’s a Mischoptera, a Paleozoic insect!! #FossilFriday ⚒️🧪

Fossil of an insect resembling a dragonfly with four thin wings coming off a thin body in a grey rock. One wing is bent at an odd angle. At the Museum national d’Histoire Naturelle.

Erika Anderson@andersonmineral· Jun 16

Another Guess the Gem!! What mineral do you think this gem is? Hint: it forms a series with pollucite. #GuessTheGem #GeoscienceBluesky ⚒️🧪💎

Colourless kite step cut gem with some dark inclusions on white paper. At the Canadian Museum of Nature.

Erika Anderson@andersonmineral· Jun 15

Grape chalcedony, made up of quartz and moganite, from Indonesia. Another one that looks like candy, but no eating!! #MineralMonday #GeoscienceBluesky ⚒️🧪

Specimen of numerous small round nodules of pale purple chalcedony on a black background. It resembles really small grapes. There is a label with “Chalcedoine” on it below the specimen. At the Sorbonne.

Erika Anderson@andersonmineral· Jun 8

Look at the colours in these opal nodules!! These are in rhyolite, a type of volcanic rock. #MineralMonday (well Mineraloid Monday) #VolcanoMonday #GeoscienceBluesky ⚒️🧪🌋

Specimen of round nodules of opal in an orange pink rhyolite rock with some red banding. These nodules are blue, green, and orange with rings around them of opal. It sits in a black background on a wire mount. At the Musée de Minéralogie Mines Paris.

Erika Anderson@andersonmineral· Jun 5

These skull pieces of Mosasaurus hoffmanni make up the first Mosasaur skull found all the way back in 1780!! #FossilFriday⚒️🧪

Bones of a skull of Mosasaurus hoffmanni embedded in green plaster ima wooden frame. The jaw bones show sharp teeth. At the Natural History Museum in London.

Erika Anderson@andersonmineral· Jun 2

Guess the Gem time!! What mineral or variety do you think this gem is? Hint: this variety is typically associated with the colour blue. #GuessTheGem #GeoscienceBluesky ⚒️🧪💎

Hexagonal orange pink gem mounted on a thin metal rod on a greige plinth. At the Natural History Museum in London.

Erika Anderson@andersonmineral· Jun 1

Check out this quartz on chalcopyrite from Cornwall, UK. #MineralMonday #GeoscienceBluesky ⚒️🧪

Specimen showing a layer of white quartz crystals on the left side of the specimen and on the right bright gold coloured chalcopyrite. It sits in a black background. At the Hunterian.

Erika Anderson@andersonmineral· May 26

Guess the Gem!! What mineral do you think all these gems are? Hint: some colour varieties fade in exposure to light. #GuessTheGem #GeoscienceBluesky ⚒️🧪💎

Six pale pink gems individually in white gem boxes on white foam in rows of three. From top left clockwise: oval, pear, round, oval, pear, and rounded rectangle. At the Hunterian.

Erika Anderson@andersonmineral· May 25

I’ll share another bright mineral for Mineral Monday: check out this pyromorphite!! It’s from Daoping, China. #MineralMonday #GeoscienceBluesky ⚒️🧪

Bright neon green cluster of tapering cylindrical pyromorphite crystals sitting on a grey shelf with a grey background. At the Muséum national de l’Histoire naturelle.

Erika Anderson@andersonmineral· May 22

Did you know the gigantic horns of the fossil Arsinoitherium zitteli are hollow?!? #FossilFriday⚒️🧪

Skull of Arsinoitherium zitteli with two very large conical horns by nose like a rhinoceros on a metal rod mounted on a wooden plinth. Fossil can be seen behind it.At the Museum national d’Histoire naturelle.

Erika Anderson@andersonmineral· May 19

A Guess the Gem for you this week!! What mineral group, species, or variety do you think the large central gem is? Hint: commonly mistaken for a more well known red variety of another mineral species. #GuessTheGem #GeoscienceBluesky ⚒️🧪💎

Jewelled piece in the shape of an eagle with outstretched wings holding a sceptre and a green orb in its talons. It has a large central deep red heart shaped stone, small red stones along its wings and crown, and whitish gems along its body. At the Louvre.

Erika Anderson@andersonmineral· May 18

Brightly coloured minerals are a lot of fun!! This botryoidal smithsonite looks like some sort of rounded candy. But don’t eat it!! #MineralMonday #GeoscienceBluesky ⚒️🧪

Bright blue mass of botryoidal smithsonite, so it looks like round bubbles of the mineral. It sits in a black cubby. At the Natural History Museum in London.

Erika Anderson@andersonmineral· May 15

Mammoth hair is pretty cool, this is more than 12000 years old!! #FossilFriday #GeoscienceBluesky ⚒️🧪🦣

A tangle of brown hairs in a small plastic case with a transparent cover on a white backing. The background is bright yellow with a black label with 8 on it. In the back is a label with 7. At the Museum of Archaeology at Durham University.

Erika Anderson@andersonmineral· May 12

Time for a Guess the Gem!! What mineral do you think these gems are? Hint: it’s named after a very famous volcano in Italy. #GuessTheGem #GeoscienceBluesky ⚒️🧪💎

Two gems on white foam in white plastic gem boxes, surrounded by empty boxes with one on the left with 73 on it. The top is a pale grey green cabochon with grey tiger-like stripes. The bottom is an elongated baguette olive gem. At the Hunterian.

Erika Anderson@andersonmineral· May 11

Some gorgeous deep red dogtooth rhodochrosites from Uchucchacua Mine, Peru. Always loved seeing treasures like this!! #MineralMonday #GeoscienceBluesky ⚒️🧪

Specimen held by a blue nitrile gloved hand. There a a series of deep red dogtooth shaped translucent crystals of rhodochrosite sticking out of a shallow divot in the grey rock. At the Hunterian.

Erika Anderson@andersonmineral· May 1

The cool skull of the huge ”shield lizard”, Scutosaurus karpinskii, from the Permian. #FossilFriday⚒️🧪

Skull of Scutosaurus on a metal rod mounted on a thin wooden plinth behind glass. There is a At the Museum national d’Histoire naturelle.

Erika Anderson@andersonmineral· Apr 27

Quite the vibrant ruby!! Ruby is a variety of the mineral species corundum. #MineralMonday #GeoscienceBluesky ⚒️🧪

Specimen of bright pink crystal clusters of ruby in white rock. It sits in a display case with a grey background and wood. A label with RUBIS sits below it and another specimen can be seen behind it.At the Musée de Minéralogie Paris.

Erika Anderson@andersonmineral· Apr 24

A handful of fold. Always fun to come across cool samples!! #FridayFold #GeoscienceBluesky ⚒️🧪

Blue nitrile gloved hand holding a rock with a polished side with dark and light rock layers in wavy lines. It’s above a tray full of other rocks in small white trays. At the Hunterian.

Erika Anderson@andersonmineral· Apr 20

One of my favourites!! You might be used to seeing cubes of fool’s gold but sometimes pyrite is more pyramidal in shape. #MineralMonday #GeoscienceBluesky ⚒️🧪

Specimen of shiny gold coloured pyrite in the shape of a large pyramid with two smaller ones coming off its left side. The faces have small growth marks in them in a squiggly shape. It’s on a black background and part of a plexiglass label below it saying pyrite. At the Sorbonne.

Erika Anderson@andersonmineral· Apr 17

A stunning melding of palaeontology and mineralogy (well mineraloid-ology) in this opalized plesiosaur vertebra. Isn’t it gorgeous? #FossilFriday #GeoscienceBluesky ⚒️🧪