Spending time in the desert at night is a great experience and can be greatly enhanced by the use of an ultraviolet light. Besides finding spiders and scorpions, the large quantity of flourescence minerals, rocks and even gems that you can find will surprise you. Greg Watson was kind enough to give us 3 great examples of flourescence rocks that he found in the desert southwest. His before and after shots make them even more interesting. Don't hesitate to go out and explore with a blacklight yourself, one of the lights is now very reasonable. See below.
Calcite
Scheelite
Common Opal
(not precious opal)
Calcite is a carbonate mineral and the most stable polymorph of calcium carbonate. On the Mohs scale of mineral hardness it has a value of 3.
Photos courtesy of Greg Watson
Photos courtesy of Greg Watson
Photos courtesy of Greg Watson
It's a calcium tungstate mineral with the chemical formula CaWO4. It is an important ore of tungsten (wolfram). Well-formed crystals are sought by collectors and are occasionally fashioned into gemstones when suitably free of flaws. In this example the sheelite is fluorescing blue - the surrounding matrix is unknown. This is a great example of using a UV light to find minerals that you'd not normally see.
Opal is a hydrated amorphous form of silica (SiO2-nH2O); its water content may range from 3 to 21% by weight, but is usually between 6 and 10%. Because of its amorphous character, it is classed as a mineraloid, unlike crystalline forms of silica, which are classed as minerals. It is deposited at a relatively low temperature and may occur in the fissures of almost any kind of rock, being most commonly found with limonite, sandstone, rhyolite, marl, and basalt.
uv 365nm UV Light
While this is great for finding neat minerals in the desert, what else can you do with a uv light? There are a lot of animals, reptiles, insects and plant life that responds to uv light too! For examples of that -- visit HERE
There are a lot of UV flashlights available on web sites. This is basically the same light as the earlier model we recommended here, EXCEPT, (and this is a big plus), this one comes with the battery, charger and a UV Bandpass filter already installed in the light. Price - $40.00
Greg Watson has one and has been using it for a while now. He said it's just like the original one, except this one is ready right out of the box. And it's cheaper since you don't have to buy a battery and charger or a UV Bandpass filter for it. Light range 25+ ft.
Here's an even more powerful version with 3 - 365nm LED's. This light also comes with the batteries and charger and UV Bandpass filter. Plus a holster. The range of this light is 50+ ft. in the dark. This could light up your hiking path and enble you to find some flourescence along the way. Price - around $80.00
The product links above were added here to give you an idea of the cost involved to enjoy this really unique hobby. If you spend time in the desert, then this is just another way to see some of the neat geologic and animal wonders that exist there.
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Updated 10-20-22
A big "Thank you" to Greg Watson for the help with the update on these new lights that are available now from Amazon.
Our latest excursion to find new minerals with a UV Light, join us!
