This is the rock that put Greenland on the map. Sure, tugtupite has been known for years, but not until I visited Greenland in 2001 did we really learn about the other spectacular minerals found in the complex. This rock was the reason I made my first visit. Over the next ten years we made many amazing discoveries - but this remains one of my favorites.
The orange fluorescence is of course sodalite, very tenebrescent. But this piece also has area of bluish fluorescence from an unknown activator, as well as some areas of very bright green fluorescence (vugs) - another unknown.
Greenland sodalite comes in all colors. I find the blue and green varieties the most attractive. This piece is gemmy green sodalite in a lujavrite matrix. The patterning is very attractive and it’s a very bright piece under both SW and LW. It was found in the middle of a glacial deposit as an “erratic”. A large boulder had been transported to the area a long time ago, far far away (my theory). It just sat there for millennia waiting for me to come along and put a lamp to it. All the material from this boulder (about 4’ x 4’) was a nice gemmy green and very tenebrescent. The fluorescence was knock-your-socks-off bright and we collected as much as we could in that first year. I brought the haul to Franklin and most of it was scarfed up before I had even gotten my table set up. I returned the next year (along with a few new Geo-Adventurers) and the boulder was quickly reduced to rubble. Despite extensive searching we never found the source for this material and pieces from this boulder are the only ones that exist.
