Am I the only one who had a rock from Lake Superior turn out to be something else?

I picked up what I thought was a cool piece of basalt on the shore near Marquette last fall, but when I got it home and looked closer with my hand lens, I saw it was full of tiny garnet crystals. I was just looking for a good skipping stone, not a metamorphic sample. Has anyone else found a surprise mineral in a seemingly plain rock from the Great Lakes?

3 comments

3 Comments

tara_patel2mo ago

Honestly that happened to me with a piece I grabbed near Pictured Rocks. Tbh I just wanted a solid grey rock for my garden. Got home and saw this weird sparkle, so I checked it under a bright light. Turns out it was loaded with tiny, perfect little cubes of pyrite. Ngl I felt like I won the lottery with a free garden rock.

rubyshah2mo ago

Pyrite cubes that small are actually pretty rare.

harperg762mo agoProlific Poster

Pictured Rocks is on Lake Superior, right? That's wild to find something that perfect just sitting there as a plain garden rock.