Mendenhall Glacier Terminus

 

Space Shuttle 100mm Photograph

Image credit:  Image Science and Analysis Laboratory, NASA Johnson Space Center (http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov)

 

MENDENHALL GLACIER TERMINUS  58.36N, 134.52 W

The link is to the Wikipedia page on the Mendenhall Glacier.

SAMPLE #1

SAMPLE #2

TOP OF THE GLACIER

TOP OF THE GLACIER ROCK SCRAPING

BASE OF THE GLACIER

 

 

 

 

 

SAMPLE #1

 

 

 

ZERO MAGNITUDE IMAGE

3X MAGNIFICATION (RED LINE  = 1MM)

 

 

1X MAGNIFICATION (RED LINE  = 1MM)

2X MAGNIFICATION (RED LINE  = 1MM)

   

SAMPLE #2

 

ZERO MAGNITUDE IMAGE

REFLECTANCE SPECTRUM

   

1X MAGNIFICATION (RED LINE  = 1MM)

3X MAGNIFICATION (RED LINE  = 1MM)

   

3X MAGNIFICATION (RED LINE  = 1MM)

4X MAGNIFICATION (RED LINE  = 1MM)

   

 

TOP OF THE GLACIER

 

ZERO MAGNITUDE IMAGE

REFLECTANCE SPECTRUM

 

1X MAGNIFICATION (RED LINE  = 1MM)

3X MAGNIFICATION (RED LINE  = 1MM)

 

TOP OF THE GLACIER ROCK SCRAPING

 

ZERO MAGNITUDE IMAGE

REFLECTANCE SPECTRUM

 

1X MAGNIFICATION (RED LINE  = 1MM)

3X MAGNIFICATION (RED LINE  = 1MM)

 

BASE OF THE GLACIER

 

 

ZERO MAGNITUDE IMAGE

REFLECTANCE SPECTRUM

   

1X MAGNIFICATION (RED LINE  = 1MM)

3X MAGNIFICATION (RED LINE  = 1MM)

So what is the shiny, metallic mineral in the quartz? The core shown above to the left was a "rock of the week" from one of my students whose grandfather was a dentist in the air force in Homer, Alaska. The image to the right is a macro image of the metallic spot to the upper left of the core. Apparently there was a mining operation for galena near his office, and sections of drilling cores littered the area. The core is a combination of galena and quartz. It closely resembles the sand grains shown in both samples. I'm going to say that we're looking at galena here,  not silver, but I could be wrong!!

Sample #1 was contributed by a faculty member from Gates Intermediate School, Scituate, Massachusetts

Sample #2 was contributed by a former faculty member from Gates Intermediate School, Scituate, Massachusetts

Click on the thumbnails under the images of sample #2 to view high resolution images. The second thumbnail beneath the "4X Magnification" image is a thumbnail of the macro core image. Compare the grain to the core!

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