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I finally understood why my rock ID was always off
Honestly, I was trying to identify this greenish rock from a creek bed near Flagstaff for months, calling it serpentine. Tbh, a geology student at a club meeting last Tuesday just picked it up, licked it, and said 'This is chlorite schist, you can tell by the cleavage and the way it sticks to your tongue a bit.' Ngl, I felt pretty dumb for missing the foliation. Has anyone else had a simple trick totally change how you see a common mineral?
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jesse_young273d ago
Licking rocks is a classic field test for a reason. The tongue sticks to chlorite and talc way more than to quartz or feldspar. It's a quick way to check for that clay-like feel before you even pull out a hand lens.
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drew_grant523d ago
Yeah, @jesse_young27 is right about that tongue test. It's funny how the simplest trick can make you feel like you've been overcomplicating stuff forever. I notice that with a lot of things, not just rocks.
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