New Hampshire
Type |
Symbol |
Year Est. |
|---|---|---|
State Rock |
Granite |
1985 |
State Mineral |
Beryl |
1985 |
State Gem |
Smoky Quartz |
1985 |
State Rock: Granite
State Mineral: Beryl
State Gem: Smoky Quartz
Smoky Quartz is the grey variety of quartz, which is one of the most common minerals on Earth, primarily due to its simple structure and chemical formula, SiO2. Quartz also has an extremely high hardness, 7 on Mohs hardness scale, meaning that it doesn't scratch very easily and therefore does not break down easily. As the rocks on Earth are slowly eroded over time, most of the other minerals will break down into clay while quartz grains will generally just gets smaller and smaller. The result is that most beach sand is composed of quartz that has a slight hematite (rust) stain to it to give the sand grains their slight yellowish color. Although quartz is a simple mineral, it can come in a variety of colors depending on what type of impurities are present in the crystal structure; pure quartz crystal is clear, milky quartz is white, smoky quartz is grey, amethyst is purple quartz, citrine is yellow quartz, rose quartz is pink, as well as some other colors and varieties. Quartz does not have any cleavage, meaning that when it breaks it doesn't form along perfect surfaces. Instead as the quartz crystals grow, individual mineral molecules of quartz are added to the outside of the crystal from water rich in dissolved SiO2 or mineral melt (liquid rock like lava or magma).
Related: Alabama State Gemstone - Star Blue Quartz; Arkansas State Mineral - Quartz Crystal; Georgia State Gemstone - Quartz; South Carolina State Gem Stone - Amethyst; South Dakota State Mineral Stone - Rose Quartz
References
https://statesymbolsusa.org/states/united-states/new-hampshire
Geology of New Hampshire's National Parks
Through Pictures
(at least the one's I have been to)
Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site
Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site
Visited in 2006
We had visited Saint-Gaudens in New Hampshire a long time ago (2006), long before I had the intent to do the geology of the National Parks posts. However, even with that, there is not much geological information for this site. The site is the former home to American sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens who passed away in 1907 and his home was eventually transformed into the National Park that is seen today.
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As is common in New Hampshire, the park is set within a glacial landscape that has since been changed through time to be a forested area of gentle hills.
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Beneath the park is the Gile Mountain Formation, a metamorphic rock from the Early Devonian (~400 million years old). The rock is comprised of gray to tan metawacke and schist or phyllite. This is the Adams Memorial, a bronze cast statue sitting upon a pink and grey granite block designed by Stanford White.
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While Augustus did work in marble a bit, the majority of his work was in bronze. This relief sculpture made out of bronze is the Shaw Memorial set within a frame of concrete (I believe).
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Another bronze statue from around the grounds. This is Admiral Farragut who is standing on a "bluestone" base carved by Stanford White, also of unknown origin.
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And even the sculptures that I did see in marble, I am unable to discover the source of his marble. So while this may be a dead end geologically, it does have pretty artwork. This statue of Diana, may actually be concrete and plaster and not marble.
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However, this statue, known as the "Temple", was indeed created out of marble and represents the resting place of Augustus and his family. This statue was carved by a different America sculptor, Kenyon Cox, however the prevenance of the marble for this sculpture is also eluding me.