National Museum of Natural History

The National Museum of Natural History is a natural history museum administered by the Smithsonian Institution, located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., United States. With free admission and open doors 364 days a year, it is the most visited natural history museum in the world. Opened in 1910, the museum on the National Mall was one of the first Smithsonian buildings constructed exclusively to hold the national collections and research facilities. The main building has an overall area of 1,320,000 square feet (123,000 m2) with 350,000 square feet (33,000 m2) of exhibition and public space and houses over 1,000 employees.
The museum's collections total over 126 million specimens of plants, animals, fossils, minerals, rocks, meteorites, and humancultural artifacts. With 7.4 million visitors in 2009, it is the most visited of all of the Smithsonian museums that year and is also home to about 185 professional natural history scientists — the largest group of scientists dedicated to the study of natural and cultural history in the world.

Panoramic Virtual Tour

This comprehensive virtual tour allows visitors using a desktop computer (Windows, Mac, Linux) or a mobile device (iPhone, iPad, Android) to take a virtual, self-guided, room-by-room walking tour of the whole museum. You can even browse a list of past exhibits, which is included on the ground floor map (see upper right map buttons). The visitor can navigate from room to room by clicking map locations or by following blue arrow links on the floor that connect the rooms. The desktop version includes camera icons to indicate hotspots where the visitor can get a close-up view of a particular object or exhibit panel.

IN THIS LINK , YOU WILL SEE THING , YOU DON'T SEE IT BEFORE THIS MOMENT

http://www.mnh.si.edu/vtp/1-desktop/

SOURCE : http://www.mnh.si.edu/

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Meteor Buquenj

Meteor "Buquenj" an estimated $ 1.6 million.
When you hear the news of the fall of the meteorite on the ground Vipadr to your imagination certainly doom the Earth, but what happened with the meteor "Vukanj" which took place in the Gobi Desert in the Xinjiang province of China was published Alrsalheks this view entirely, since he carried the treasures inside the magnificent shape.

Actinzak rocks coming from outer space contains mineral olivine with a honey-colored component of iron and nickel .. Rare meteor shape and weighs approximately of 925 kg, and Bi in the air during reversed towards De sun is very stunning.

He estimated the price of this piece of meteorite in 2008, a public auction in Bonham, New York $ 1.6 million, but up to this moment not to let it go, because China and called the greatest discoveries of the 21st century.

It is believed that he came from a depth of meteors during the formation of the solar system since about 4.5 billion years ago, and is believed to be a very small number of samples that survived the fall through the Earth's atmosphere.

When found, there was little sign of the beauty you have. But by cutting the meteorite named Fukang and be open, it had a nice surprise. The rock had translucent olivine crystals, wrapped in an alloy of iron and nickel.

The rare meteorite weighed the same as a small car when it was discovered in 2000 in the Gobi desert in Xinjiang. It has since been divided into slices that give a nice effect when the sun shines through the crystals of olivine.

It is so valuable that even small pieces are sold for about 65-95 dollars per gram. The Laboratory Southwest Meteorite from Arizona, which holds about 32 kg of the meteorite, says the remarkable discovery is going to be "one of the greatest discoveries of meteorites in the 21st century

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Desert Rose

 
is the name given to rosette formations of the minerals gypsum and barite with sand 
inclusions. The 'petals' are crystals flattened , fanning open along characteristic gypsum cleavage 
planes. The rosette crystal habit tends to occur when the crystals form in arid sandy conditions, such as 
the evaporation of a shallow salt basin.

Desert roses are mineral formations that are found on the surface and are beautiful examples of the 
natural power of the shaping forces of wind, water and pressure in dry, arid regions. These formations 
are also called Sand Roses, Rose Rocks, Selenite Roses, Gypsum Roses, and Barite Roses

Desert roses are crystal-like formations and may produce a rose shape, multiple plates adjoining at 
angles or the formations may look like a cluster of cereal flakes. They can look like flowers that have 
turned to stone. Native American stories told us that these were rocks carved into flowers by our 
ancestors to let us know they were here before us. Desert Roses take on the color of the sand because 
Selenite is a fibrous mineral and fine sand becomes trapped between the fibers as it crystallizes.

Desert roses form out of two minerals. One of those is Barite, which is the heavier of the two. The other 
is a type of Gypsum called Selenite. Selenite is the more fragile of the two. Gypsum (Selenite) roses 
usually have better defined, sharper edges than barite roses.

Desert roses are only found in deserts, which is how they got the name. Gypsum Selenite Desert Roses 
are mostly from the Sahara Middle East Region, Southwest USA and Mexico. The Barite Rose Rocks 
are more abundant in Oklahoma than anywhere else in the world and are the state rock of Oklahoma. 
Once these rock formations reach the surface, they are eroded quickly by the forces of wind and water. 
The quality of the specimen reflects how quickly it was collected. Larger multiple rosette specimens are 
always in demand and draw much higher prices.
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Desert Rose is a name given to specimens of Gypsum, Baryte, Celestine and other minerals that form this particular shape.

Desert Roses usually form in arid conditions (such as deserts, hence the name) when the mineral precipitates from the groundwater, with sandy inclusions giving the distinctive texture.

There are few minerals, other than diamonds, that have been name-checked in pop songs. The Desert Rose is one such mineral. In 1987 U2 released the album “The Joshua Tree”. One song, “In God’s Country”, actually has “Desert Rose” in the opening lines!

Desert Rose is also a name given to both a real and a mythological type of plant. The mythological variety was supposed to act as a love potion if you fed the petals to the object of your desire!
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This listing is for a great piece of barite desert rose rock. Rose rocks are aggregates of barite (barium sulfate) crystals and sand whose iron content gives them a reddish hue. The barite crystals form a circular array of flat plates, giving the rock a shape similar to a rose blossom. Rose rocks appear either as a single rose-like bloom or as clusters of blooms, with sizes ranging from pea sized to four inches (20 cm) in diameter. This is a beautiful specimen piece.

This piece measures about 2.75 inches in diameter.

From Wikipedia

"Desert rose is the colloquial name given to rosette formations of the minerals gypsum and barite with poikilotopic sand inclusions. The 'petals' are crystals flattened on the c crystallographic axis, fanning open along characteristic gypsum cleavage planes.

The rosette crystal habit tends to occur when the crystals form in arid sandy conditions, such as the evaporation of a shallow salt basin. Gypsum roses usually have better defined, sharper edges than barite roses.

The desert rose may also be known by the names:

* sand rose
* rose rock
* selenite rose
* gypsum rose
* gypsum rosette
* barite rose"
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Identification
Formed in arid areas, desert roses are crystal-like in nature and have a rosette shape. They can look like flowers that have turned to stone. They can also appear like breakfast cereal flakes bound together haphazardly. Since the outsides of the stone have bonded with sand, they take on the color of the sand.

Types
Desert roses form out of two minerals. One of those is barite, which is the heavier of the two. The other is a type of gypsum called selenite. Selenite is one of the softer minerals, able to be scratched with something that is as soft as a fingernail. On the Moh's scale of hardness designed for minerals, selenite rates a 2. To put this in perspective, a diamond is a 10 and talc is a 1. Desert roses made of gypsum have more defined edges than those composed of barite.

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Geography
Desert roses are found in areas of the Earth where arid conditions exist, hence the desert part of the name. Countries such as Egypt, Mexico, Libya, and Saudi Arabia produce desert roses, as do New Mexico, Oklahoma and California in the U.S. The barite rose rock has been named the state rock of Oklahoma. Once these rock formations reach the surface, they are eroded quickly by the forces of wind and water unless collected.

Size
The largest single desert rose ever found that was formed from barite measured 17 inches long and 10 inches high. It weighed 125 pounds, but most desert roses are considerably smaller, ranging from a half inch to 4 inches. The selenite desert roses are smaller and lighter than those that formed from barite.

Considerations
Desert roses are collected and sold as decorative ornaments. The barite types can "grow" in clusters, sometimes weighing several hundred pounds. These can come in some odd shapes, resembling animals, hollow logs and bird's nests. Some collectors of desert roses will sell their finds to shops that in turn sell them to the public.Sources : 
http://www.ehow.com/about_4577488_desert-roses.html

http://www.etsy.com/listing/48827361/desert-rose-barite-specimen-geology-rose

http://www.boltonmuseums.org.uk/collections/geology/rocksminerals/desert-rose/

http://www.spiritrockshop.com/Desert_Rose.html

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Sandstone columns in a middle of a crater , Occupied Palestine

Columnar basalt is definitely beautiful and interesting rock formation but it is nothing new to a seasoned geologist. Columnar sandstone, however, is probably different story. I had never heard anything about such rocks when I accidentally just stumbled upon one.

There is a large “crater” named Makhtesh Ramon in the Negev Desert in Occupied Palestine . It is described as the largest makhtesh in the world. That really sounds impressive until you learn that these landforms actually occur nowhere else than in the Negev desert.

So it is simply largest in the Negev but it is impressive anyway. What is makhtesh? It is neither a meteorite crater nor is it a volcanic caldera although it is frequently described as a crater. It is an erosional landform of a structural dome which has softer rocks (sandstone) below and harder (limestone) on top of it. Intermittent rivers called wadis erode the softer rocks faster and create sharp escarpments like crater walls. Makhtesh Ramon has pretty impressive measures. It is 40 km long, 2-10 km wide and 500 meters deep.

The Ramon Crater is 40 kilometers long, but just a few kilometers wide. The craters were formed when the Arava rift valley was formed, and the rivers changed course, carving out the inside of the crater. The walls of the crater keep their vertical angle, while the bottom deepens, exposing ancient rock stata. The bottom of the crater is 500 meters deep, and the rocks at the bottom are 200 million years old!

Makhtesh Ramon no doubt is worth a visit in its own right but I was most impressed by what I saw in the middle of the makhtesh. There was a hill made of sandstone. But what kind of sandstone! It was like a huge pile of columnar logs. No wonder that this hill is named Ha-Minsara (The Carpentry Shop).

I don’t know exactly how it was formed but I believe the mechanism had to be very similar to the formation of a columnar basalt. Something had to provide lots of heat. There are volcanic rocks nearby in the crater, so it probably was magma. What else could it be? After this baking episode the sandstone slowly cooled and cracks formed when the cooling rock mass contracted. I’d be glad to hear if anyone has a better explanation.
Here are some pictures of Makhtesh Ramon and Ha-Minsara in the middle of it.

Source / Photos / http://www.sandatlas.org/2011/12/sandstone-columns-in-the-middle-of-a-crater/ 

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Powerful earthquake strikes Pakistan, raises new island

People walk on an island that rose from the sea following an earthquake, off Pakistan's Gwadar coastline in the Arabian Sea September 25, 2013. The earthquake was so powerful that it caused the seabed to rise and create a small, mountain-like island about 600 meters off Pakistan's Gwadar coastline. Television channels showed images of a stretch of rocky terrain rising above the sea level, with a crowd of bewildered people gathering on the shore to witness the rare phenomenon.



Hundreds are dead following a large quake that struck in a mountainous region of Pakistan. A new island has risen off Pakistan’s coast.

September 25, 2013, 2 a.m. CDT (0700 UTC). The BBC is now reporting that at least 238 people died in a mountainous region of southwest Pakistan on Tuesday, when a powerful 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck there. The earthquake struck in Pakistan’s Balochistan region, its largest but least populated province. The quake was felt in the Indian capital Delhi, where some buildings shook. It caused a new island to rise from the sea, just off the Pakistan’s southern coast.

elevision stations in the region were the first to report a small, mountain-like island. It is about 60 to 70 feet (18 to 21 meters) high, up to 300 feet wide and up to 120 feet long, according to Times of India, which also said it sits about 200 meters away from the coast. NBCNews.com reports that John Armbruster, a seismologist at the Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University, called the new island a “mud volcano.” It is apparently a jet of mud, sand and water that gushed to the sea surface following the earthquake. Nidhi Subbaraman of NBCNews.com wrote:

The shifting sand layers are compacted and pressurize the water, which gushed upwards, carrying mud and sand along with it.

This ‘liquefaction’ of sand and mud layers take place after any earthquake, but these sudden islands are usually spotted after strong earthquakes, at least 7- or 8-magnitude events.

Earth is dynamic, and new islands do sometimes appear, often to slip beneath the waves again some time later. The image above is from 2010, when an island arose from the Arabian Sea off the southern coast of Pakistan. Older residents of the coastal town of Gwadar, Pakistan told NBCNews.com that a 1968 earthquake produced an island that stayed for one year and then vanished. Still earlier, an earthquake in this same region in the 1940s produced an island that was solid enough for people to walk on, but it washed away within weeks.

Details of the quake from the USGS are below:

Event Time
2013-09-24 11:29:48 UTC
2013-09-24 16:29:48 UTC+05:00 at epicenter

Location
27.016°N 65.547°E

Depth=15.0km (9.3mi)

Nearby Cities
69km (43mi) NNE of Awaran, Pakistan
115km (71mi) NW of Bela, Pakistan
171km (106mi) NW of Uthal, Pakistan
174km (108mi) S of Kharan, Pakistan
795km (494mi) ENE of Muscat, Oman

Large earthquakes are relatively common in Pakistan in contrast to other part of the world. Check out this list of Pakistan earthquakes from Wikipedia, and note that today’s earthquake is at least the third one since 2005 that measures 7.2 or greater on the Richter Scale. No fewer than four major tectonic plates (Arabia, Eurasia, India, and Africa) and one smaller tectonic block (Anatolia) are responsible for seismicity and tectonics in the Middle East and surrounding region, according to the USGS.

Bottom line: A large and powerful earthquake struck on September 24, 2013 in a remote, mountainous region of Pakistan. The quake measured 7.7 on the Richter Scale; that is a very large earthquake. It struck in Pakistan’s Balochistan region, its largest but least populated province. Reports are now suggesting that at least 238 people were killed in the quake. A new island formed from a “mud volcano” on the sea floor following the quake, according to scientists at the Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University.


شاهد تقرير تلفزيون عمان عن الظاهرة
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQzCstcD_CE
- SOURCE http://earthsky.org/earth/powerful-7-8-magnitude-earthquake-strikes-pakistan-today


- الفيديو / المصدر . http://www.alarabiya.net/ar/last-page/2013/09/25/بطول-60-وارتفاع-30-مترا-وسبق-للأعماق-أن-تقيأت-واحدة-شبيهة-بها-ثم-اختفت.html 

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