Crystal mountains found on moon

Originally posted by QBSneak000
If this is true, maybe these can explain Richard Hoaglands "Crystal Castle" photos. Most think of the guy as a fraud but with this news, maybe theres more to his findings than meets the eye.

[edit on 16-1-2010 by QBSneak000] to add photo




[edit on 16-1-2010 by QBSneak000]

I think you're right about Hoagland's castles and the Plagioclase spires in the article being the same thing. I don't know that it means they are artificial though. Typically, Plagioclase is found in volcanic plugs. On Earth, the surrounding material sometimes weathers away leaving only the Plagioclase plugs remaining. These Plagioclase spires occur on Earth but I have no idea how they could occur on the moon w/no weathering action.

It should be noted that the term Plagioclase can refer to a number of different crystal minerals. Albite, Labradorite, Bytownite, etc.. These minerals have a glassy lustre and often have chatoyance (like Tigereye).

Here's a Plagioclase Basalt spire in West Texas called Cathedral Mountain.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/cdf01546e669.jpg[/atsimg]

You can see that the softer material surrounding the core is weathering away. If you can picture the core spire without the sloping sides and the vegetation it would look very similar to the Hoagland "castles".

Here's another Plagioclase Basalt spire in West Texas called Needle Peak.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/da401e88aeb5.jpg[/atsimg]

These peaks are not exactly like the Plagioclase crystal mountains reported in the article though. Although they are similar they aren't as pure as the moon mountains and have a matrix of rich iron minerals as well.

Nice connection of the dots there, QBSneak000.

[edit on 16-1-2010 by Anamnesis]

Sorry, I had to..


Cool find, interesting what volcanic activity can do.