Gęølõgįë

geologists: you fucked up a perfectly good olivine is what you did. look at it, it’s got anxiety.

(I’m so glad anyone else got this hahaha)

We start with the mineral olivine [(Mg,Fe)2SiO4], which has beautiful bright colors when viewed in thin section under a microscope in cross-polarized light:*

In the presence of aqueous fluids, olivine reacts with water to form (usually/in a simplified sense) the minerals serpentine [(Mg,Fe)3Si2O5(OH)4] and magnetite (Fe3O4) in a process called serpentinization. And serpentine, under a microscope, looks like this:

which compared to the olivine is a chaotic mess. My professor refers to it as “when bad things happen to good rocks.” Or: look at it, it has anxiety.

(The first picture shows a sample partway through the process of serpentinization, with some of the original olivine (yellow) remaining in what’s called a mesh structure. All pictures by Alex Strekeisen.)

United States, Frankly Fucking Phenomenal Carlsbad Caverns Souvenir, c. 1960s.