Rhodochrosite got its name in 1813. The “rhodo” part of its name comes from the Greek word for “rose” and the “chrosite” part just means “coloring,” so you can guess that it’s almost always red, or at least pink. Rhodochrosite can form impressive single crystals or clusters of crystals, but it can also be found in some stalactite
A rock formation that grows down from the ceiling of a cave, as drops of water with dissolved minerals in them drip from the ceiling, depositing tiny amounts of minerals as they flow downwards, before they evaporate or the water drops to the floor. A stalactite can be straight like a straw or wider at the ceiling and narrow to a point at the bottom, like an icicle. To remember the difference between stalactites and stalagmites, remember that stalactites hang “tite” to the ceiling.
s or stalagmite A rock formation that grows from the floor of a cave, as drops of water with dissolved minerals in them drip from the ceiling, depositing tiny amounts of minerals when they hit the floor. The minerals very slowly, microscopically, pile up, building formations shaped like icicles or carrots, with the more pointy part sticking up. To remember the difference between stalagmites and stalactites, remember that you have to be careful walking around stalagmites because they stick up from the ground, and you “mite” trip and impale yourself on one of them.
s in caves, and if you slice them, the slices show concentric circles (different sized circles with the same center) of several different shades of red to pink to white. Rhodochrosite’s formula, MnCO3, can tell you a few things. Mn stands for manganese, and that element often causes minerals to be red, pink, or purple. The CO3 part means that it’s a “carbonate A mineral that contains what’s called a “carbonate ion” (CO3), which is a combination of carbon and oxygen, along with one or more other elements. Calcite is the most common example.
” (carbon (C) and oxygen (O)), just like calcite (CaCO3) is, and like calcite it can dissolve in natural acid, which is why you can find it in cave formations that are normally mostly calcite. Being a carbonate, rhodochrosite is also pretty soft, so you won’t see a lot of rhodochrosite jewelry, but it makes for beautiful specimens on your rock shelf.
