Light Up the Night with Rocks

One of the more colorful displays at last weekend's Bitterroot Gem and Mineral Show was the enclosed tent with a variety of glowing rocks under a black light. Though the percentage of fluorescent rocks is small - they are pretty. The display at the Ravalli County Fairgrounds was in a completely dark tent in the corner of the fair at the First Interstate Center.

I was fascinated by the glowing rocks and found a list of some of the types on a geology website. They include Cerussite Barite, Scapolite, Hardystonite (blue), Calcite (red), Willemite (green), Dolomite, Adamite, Agate, Tremolite, Fluorite and Apatite, among others. Throughout the event center, vendors had an abundance of non-glowing ore for sale, along with some beautiful rock art. Of course, some cool fossils were on display, too. And there was an abundance of informative conversations.