January 12, 2011

A Birthday Rock: Peridotite

Posted by Evelyn Mervine

Today is my birthday, so I am going to post some pictures of my favorite rock, which is peridotite. One of my committee members often refers to peridotite as “prettytite.” I agree that peridotite– which is comprised primarily of the minerals pyroxene and olivine– is very, very pretty.

Image taken from here.
Image taken from here.
Image taken from here.
Image taken from here.
Image taken from here.

Peridotite sometimes contains gem-quality olivine, which is called peridot. Peridot can be made into some beautiful jewelry.

My peridot engagement ring on our engagement day, South Africa, March 2009.

For the past two years, I spent my birthday amidst peridotite hills in the desert of Oman. I can think of no better way to spend my birthday than hiking and doing fieldwork surrounded by my favorite rock. Last year, my committee member (the one who says “prettytite”) and another graduate student Lisa even brought me a cake from a grocery store in Muscat as they had gone back to the city the day before for a meeting. The cake survived– sort of– several hours of driving on rough roads in a Land Cruiser and almost a day in the heat of the Omani sun. They also purchased several New Year’s decorations and noisemakers. After dinner that night, the cake appeared and our simple field dinner turned into a birthday party! Thanks, everyone, for that party. I think it might be my favorite birthday party ever.

This year, I am spending my birthday reducing data (and blogging, I suppose) from my apartment in Woods Hole. Because of the winter blizzard, WHOI is closed today, so I’ve decided to play-it-safe and not brave the roads. For my birthday next year, I hope that I am back in Oman amongst the peridotite.

Birthday hike amongst carbonate-cemented peridotite clasts, Oman, January 2009.
Birthday accommodation, Oman, January 2010.
Sunset on another year, Muscat, Oman, January 2010.