Colorado Mines Museum of Earth Science Part 2

In my last blog post--click here-- I showed part one of the Mines Museum of Earth Science located at the Colorado School of Mines  On the upper floor of the museum is a vast collection of rocks and minerals and other fascinating Earth Science related materials. On the lower level, located inside a large safe display is one of two Goodwill Moon Rocks collected during the Apollo Moon Mission. (All the photos in this blog post will enlarge for easier viewing if clicked on)

The full moon rock display of the largest moon rock.

In 1974, President Nixon gave each state and 160 countries a set of two “Goodwill” moon rocks collected during the Apollo 17 mission. 

More information from the display.

Another display had this small portion of a moon rock from the Taurus Littrow Valley, along with a small flag of the State of Colorado that accompanied the astronauts to the moon!

The full display of this moon rock

Further info about the rock from the display.

Colorado has a rich history of space exploration, with 21 astronauts either born or having attended college in Colorado. The state is home to one of the largest aerospace industries in the country, boasting 300 aerospace-related companies

 

Inside another safe is the Miss Colorado Crown containing over 600 gemstones and 21 diamonds. 

The Miss Colorado competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Colorado in the Miss America pageant. Colorado has won the Miss America crown on three occasions.

Please click on the photo to enlarge it

The tiara was worn by Miss Colorado for the first time in July 1973.

The crown features a variety of gems, including aquamarine, the state gemstone. White zicrons at the top of the crown represent the snow and ice of the Rocky Mountains, while dark blue sapphires below symbolize water. Twenty-one diamonds in the centers of Columbine flowers feature amethyst petals, the leaves around them made from dark green tourmalines and light green peridots. At the base of the crown, lightly golden and orange citrine and topaz resemble wheat.

More info about the crown from its display.

Most of the museum's collections of gemstones and minerals are on display on the upper level, but there was this interesting map of the USA with the most common minerals found in each state.

There were also collections in the lower level from all around the world. This display showed minerals from Europe

Minerals from Africa

Minerals from India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Australia, and Asia

There are also some displays of fossils in the museum.  An Ursus Spilaeus or Cave Bear skull from Romania is in the photo above.

A Mastodon tusk from Alaska, and two Mastodon teeth.

Various other fossils

A 67-pound Canyon Diablo Meteorite was found in a crater in Coconino County, Arizona.

There was a walk-through mine exhibit in the museum that contained this amazing ultraviolet mineral display.  With the flick of a switch, the minerals on the left would glow with their natural fluorescence under short and long-wave ultraviolet light.

One could spend hours reading all the displays showing mining tools, the ways minerals are incorporated into objects that are in use today, and many other aspects of earth science.  Visiting the Mines Museum of Earth Science is certainly a wonderful way to learn more about the scientific richness of our earth.

After our museum visit, our friends and my husband and I drove over to the nearby Fossil Trace Golf Course in Golden, Colorado, where we had a delicious lunch at Schnepf's Restaurant inside the clubhouse. The golf course and restaurant views are very scenic and inside are other examples of fossils found in the area.

 It was the culmination of a perfect day out together!

Wishing all who celebrate this week a very Happy Thanksgiving! I'll be taking next week off from blogging as it will be a very busy time for me. I'll be back in December,  See you then!

You can also find me on

Instagram Twitter Facebook 

Pinterest

Colorado Mines Museum of Earth Science Part 1

Mines Museum, located at 1310 Maple Street, in the Colorado School of Mines campus in Golden, Colorado had its beginnings in 1874 with the collection of geologist, Arthur Lakes.  It includes the historic Colorado State Mineral Collection created by the Bureau of Mines in the 1890s. The museum serves as the state repository for Colorado’s mineral heritage. It showcases the most extensive public collection of minerals from Colorado, along with examples from around the USA and the world, as well as two goodwill moon rocks collected during the Apollo 17 mission.

My husband and I arranged a visit to the museum with friends in October.  It was the second time that we had visited the museum-- click here to see that post--and we knew the friends who had not been here would enjoy the visit. 

If you click on each photo x 2 it will enlarge to its fullest size for easier viewing of the labels in the displays of minerals, fossils, meteorites, and gems.

There were so many displays on two floors, so I decided to make this a two-part blog post so I can include most of my photos.

I was always a rock hound, an avid collector of rocks when I was a child and I wish I had a museum such as this one to visit when I was young, as I might have pursued geology as a career!  

 I still pick up rocks from different locations so that I can learn more about them. Colorado has a very diverse geology, so I'm constantly fascinated by all that I see as we travel around the state.

The Mines Museum is housed in a newly built building that was completed in 2003.  It also displays gold, silver, and copper in their original form, fossils, meteorites, and mining artifacts, in its well-lit clear glass display cases and shelves.

There is an entire room full of examples of gold mined from different areas in Colorado and also around the world. It was easy to see how this element created the Gold Rush frenzy in the middle 1800s both in the mountains of California and Colorado.

The Mines Museum attracts 30,000 visitors a year!

The Mines Museum has more than 2,000 items currently on display and more than 40,000 total items in its collection, so there will always be something new to see. They regularly rotate exhibits to provide fresh educational experiences and displays for their visitors to enjoy.

I particularly enjoyed seeing the display of these North Table Mountain rocks and minerals. as seen in the collage above. There was a view of North Table Mountain in the distance from the window next to the display. My husband and I hiked to the top of that mountain a few summers ago and it was like entering another world! You can see that post on this link.

The museum also has Mineral ID days where one can bring in objects from your private collection to have a geologist identify them.  Those days are posted on the website.

One of the best things about the museum is that Admission is FREE!

Regular Hours: Mon. – Sat. 9AM-4PM and Sun. 1PM-4PM

(CLOSED JULY 4TH, CHRISTMAS DAY, AND NEW YEAR’S DAY)

All groups of 10 or more visitors are required to schedule their visit at least 48 hours in advance. If you do not schedule your visit in advance, you may not be admitted into the museum due to current capacity limits.  See the website for more information.

The Museum also offers paid guided tours for groups of 15 people or less. For groups larger than 15 people, please email museumevents@mines.edu.  See the website for more information.

Click on and enlarge more photos to view just a small sample of the displays  ...

Weren't they all so beautiful?

In my next post, I'll show the moon rocks, meteorites, fossils, and the sparkling Miss Colorado Crown containing over 600 gemstones and 21 diamonds that we also viewed at the museum.  I hope you'll come back to see more!

You can also find me on

Instagram Twitter Facebook 

Pinterest