Written and designed for the beginner, this book describes and illustrates the most common and interesting rocks and minerals, from simple sandstone to exotic gems. Illustrated with dozens of beautiful color photographs, it tells how these rocks and minerals formed and how to identify them--and includes tips on collecting. 175 color photographs, 12 line drawings.
An easy to use field guide that contains everything rock and mineral enthusiasts need to know with more than 1,000 spectacular illustrations—600 in full color! Practical, concise, and easy to use, Simon & Schuster’s Guide to Rocks and Minerals contains everything that the rock and mineral enthusiast needs to know. This field guide is divided into two large sections—one devoted to minerals and one to rocks, each prefaced by a comprehensive introduction that discusses formation, chemistry, and more. All 377 entries, beautifully illustrated with color photographs and helpful visual symbols, provide descriptions and practical information about appearance, classification, rarity, crystal formation, mode of occurrence, gravity of mineral, rock chemistry, modal classification fields, formational environments, grain sizes of rocks, and much more. Whether you are a serious collector or an information-seeking amateur, this incomparably beautiful, authoritative guide will prove an invaluable reference.
With more than 130 color photographs and 170 drawings, this book shows how to read geological history: plate movements, earthquakes, glaciers, rivers, seas, and other forces that have shaped the earth over millions of years. Each geological region of eastern North America is described vividly and illustrated with detailed maps and cross sections. Highway tours tell where to go to find the best examples of each kind of formation.
It's the classic work revised and updated! Identify over 500 of the most collectible minerals quickly and easily with this fully photographed field guide. And this new reissue makes identification easier, with new cleavability ratings for each entry alongside the handy classifications based on streak colour, Mohs' hardness and specific gravity. A complete introductory discussion of mineral forms and properties explains the essential criteria for recognition, and each of the hundreds of minerals (from Ankerite to Zinwaldite) is accompanied by information on its fracture, luster, chemical formula, aggregates, distinguishing characteristics and localities.
This all-new edition includes descriptions of the habits, habitats, tracks, signs, and ranges of all the mammals of North America, as well as of selected birds, reptiles, amphibians, and insects. More than 1,000 line drawings and 100 color photographs further enhance the text.
Describes more than five hundred minerals, providing such information as the mineral's crystallography, chemical properties, occurence, and names and varieties.