#Mincup25 Teams #Calcite #Azurite #silver #chrysotile #okenite #wavellite #pollucite #nontronite #padddlewheelite #leucite #jeremejevite #zunyite #thortveitite #topaz #ikaite #sanidine
"The losing minerals are crossed out" - and cross!
www.mineralcup.org/2025/bracket
What to do?
We can... 1/2
#Nontronite is nontro-TIGHT as the kids would say. Maybe.
Come on #TeamClay go vote for #nontronite
Clay minerals don’t get enough love, so I’m voting #nontronite today! Clays aren’t boring, you just don’t know enough about them #MinCup25
By the way, #MinCup25 gang, this fossil was preserved in #nontronite!
Look, since my wife is a sculptor, I’ve got nothing against clay & #nontronite is pretty neat-o. Yet, #taenite is in meteorites, shows those great Widmanstätten patterns (look like alien computer chips to my sci-fi brain!) & is a possible peak into Earth’s core. I’m Team Space Rock here. #MinCup25
The green colored nontonite clay in an arrowhead shape cracks are evident as this material has a hardness of 2.5 and perfect cleavage.
This is a half football of nontronite that is electic lime green across the surface, which seems to have no pattern of formation.
A dull green sample of nontronite, with dark green speckled surface. No real discernible shape as this is a close up photograph, but it does show the varying coloration from the mineral inclusions.
Light green and puffy a human hand adjust one of the 4 pieces of nontronite on the right. These pieces range from roughly oblong on the top with a triangle in the center and a small piece on the bottom left.
#Nontronite is a greenish to brownish-green clay mineral and a member of the smectite group, characterized by a silicate structure with iron replacing aluminum. It forms under specific environmental conditions. Nontronite has a dull, earthy luster, perfect basal cleavage, and a hardness of 1.5–2.
Penultimate Rond in Round 1 of the #MinCup25 #R1M15.
SPACEROCK #taenite vs the clay #nontronite
Gotta choose #teamspace in this contest, only because Kaolinite did so well last year.
Check out pics and info below for why!
#MinCup25 Round 1, Match 15: 💫 #Taenite vs 🌍 #Nontronite. An iron-nickel meteorite alloy meets an iron-rich clay mineral.
#minerals #mineralogy
#MinCup25
“Minerals as Genetic Material”
Mentions biogenesis, biosignature, Mars, origin of life … ✅ ✅ ✅✅
Brought to my attention by #MinCup25 … ✅
Mentions #nontronite once. ✅
Okay … voting for Nontronite!
(Though meteorite IS pretty and cool.)
pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
#taenite has a cool artsy design on its surfaces but #nontronite went with just a green blobby. I think the decision is obvious.
(picture stolen from the voting page)
#Taenite is a space rock.
#Nontronite is common clay.
...Clay isn't common. It's fascinating, and fun. I'm voting for nontronite.
#MinCup25
#MinCup25 phylosilicate friends unite! #Nontronite is another clay involved with the preservation of my billion year old fossils.
#Nontronite is one of the most common clay minerals found on Mars, another compelling clue to Mars’ watery past. Scientists confirmed that these clay minerals met the nutrient needs for microbial life.
ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citation...
#MinCup25
Declay exists as an extant form of life
#Nontronite
#MinCup25
C'mon, no alloy ever deserves the denomination "cool rock".
Want to choose it because it comes from space, OK, but it is just a Fe-Ni alloy.
Nothing could be duller. (if such a concept exists).
Vote #Nontronite!
Because clays may look dull but are the hell complex chemically and structurally.
El Match 15 de #MinCup25 enfrenta al mineral taenita #taenite encontrado solo en meteoritos vs nontronita #nontronite una arcilla presente en todo el mundo. Lo más raro vs lo más común.
Votá: www.mineralcup.org/2025/vote/r1...
Yo voy por la nontronita.
NO HESITATION CLAY VOTE.
Let's go #nontronite!!!!!!!!
Opting for the humble clay known for absorbing wastewater byproducts and environmental pollutants.
Sure, space rock is sexy but I don’t live in space and I’m not holding out for Planet B at my age. A vote for #nontronite is a vote for our planet. Insert <shameless guilt vibe> here 😏
#MinCup25 Round 1 Match 15 - It's a mineral found mostly in the farthest reaches of space vs one so common an exhaustive list of localities is nigh impossible as alloy #taenite faces off against clay #nontronite.
Vote: www.mineralcup.org/2025/vote/r1...
Results: www.mineralcup.org/2025/results...
