Close ups of the display cases in the Earth Gallery are a delight, particularly if a specimen has a good deal of colour, or unusual textures. Minerals are naturally growing structures that occur inside cavities in rocks, and the Museum has an impressive collection of them. I'm always partial to amethyst, as it is my birthstone.
This big rock contains a lot of nickel. It is from the Sudbury Basin in northern Ontario. 1.8 billion years ago, an asteroid struck the region- the third largest known impact crater on the planet.
More to see here.
Magmatic rocks can look different from each other; how fast they cool makes a big difference.
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