1.
Rose
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A rose is a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus Rosa, in the family Rosaceae, or the flower it bears. There are over a species and thousands of cultivars. They form a group of plants that can be erect shrubs, flowers vary in size and shape and are usually large and showy, in colours ranging from white through yellows and reds. Most species are native to Asia, with smaller numbers native to Europe, North America, species, cultivars and hybrids are all widely grown for their beauty and often are fragrant. Roses have acquired cultural significance in many societies, Rose plants range in size from compact, miniature roses, to climbers that can reach seven meters in height. Different species hybridize easily, and this has used in the development of the wide range of garden roses. The leaves are borne alternately on the stem, most roses are deciduous but a few are evergreen or nearly so. The flowers of most species have five petals, with the exception of Rosa sericea, each petal is divided into two distinct lobes and is usually white or pink, though in a few species yellow or red. Beneath the petals are five sepals and these may be long enough to be visible when viewed from above and appear as green points alternating with the rounded petals. There are multiple superior ovaries that develop into achenes, the aggregate fruit of the rose is a berry-like structure called a rose hip. Many of the domestic cultivars do not produce hips, as the flowers are so tightly petalled that they do not provide access for pollination, the hips of most species are red, but a few have dark purple to black hips. Each hip comprises an outer layer, the hypanthium, which contains 5–160 seeds embedded in a matrix of fine. Rose hips of some species, especially the dog rose and rugosa rose, are rich in vitamin C. The hips are eaten by fruit-eating birds such as thrushes and waxwings, some birds, particularly finches, also eat the seeds. While the sharp objects along a stem are commonly called thorns. Rose prickles are typically sickle-shaped hooks, which aid the rose in hanging onto other vegetation growing over it. Despite the presence of prickles, roses are frequently browsed by deer, a few species of roses have only vestigial prickles that have no points. Hesperrhodos contains Rosa minutifolia and Rosa stellata, from North America, platyrhodon with one species from east Asia, Rosa roxburghii
2.
Gypsum
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Gypsum is a soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate dihydrate, with the chemical formula CaSO4·2H2O. It is widely mined and is used as a fertilizer, and as the constituent in many forms of plaster, blackboard chalk. Mohs scale of hardness, based on scratch Hardness comparison. It forms as a mineral and as a hydration product of anhydrite. The word gypsum is derived from the Greek word γύψος, plaster, because the quarries of the Montmartre district of Paris have long furnished burnt gypsum used for various purposes, this dehydrated gypsum became known as plaster of Paris. Upon addition of water, after a few tens of minutes plaster of Paris becomes regular gypsum again, causing the material to harden or set in ways that are useful for casting, Gypsum was known in Old English as spærstān, spear stone, referring to its crystalline projections. Gypsum may act as a source of sulfur for plant growth, which was discovered by J. M. Mayer, american farmers were so anxious to acquire it that a lively smuggling trade with Nova Scotia evolved, resulting in the so-called Plaster War of 1820. In the 19th century, it was known as lime sulfate or sulfate of lime. Gypsum is moderately water-soluble and, in contrast to most other salts, it exhibits retrograde solubility, when gypsum is heated in air it loses water and converts first to calcium sulfate hemihydrate, and, if heated further, to anhydrous calcium sulfate. As for anhydrite, its solubility in saline solutions and in brines is also dependent on NaCl concentration. Gypsum crystals are found to contain water and hydrogen bonding. Gypsum occurs in nature as flattened and often twinned crystals, and transparent, selenite contains no significant selenium, rather, both substances were named for the ancient Greek word for the Moon. Selenite may also occur in a silky, fibrous form, in case it is commonly called satin spar. Finally, it may also be granular or quite compact, in hand-sized samples, it can be anywhere from transparent to opaque. A very fine-grained white or lightly tinted variety of gypsum, called alabaster, is prized for ornamental work of various sorts, in arid areas, gypsum can occur in a flower-like form, typically opaque, with embedded sand grains called desert rose. It also forms some of the largest crystals found in nature, up to 12 m long, Gypsum is a common mineral, with thick and extensive evaporite beds in association with sedimentary rocks. Deposits are known to occur in strata from as far back as the Archaean eon, Gypsum is deposited from lake and sea water, as well as in hot springs, from volcanic vapors, and sulfate solutions in veins. Hydrothermal anhydrite in veins is commonly hydrated to gypsum by groundwater in near-surface exposures and it is often associated with the minerals halite and sulfur
3.
Baryte
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Baryte or barite is a mineral consisting of barium sulfate. The baryte group consists of baryte, celestine, anglesite and anhydrite, baryte is generally white or colorless, and is the main source of barium. Baryte and celestine form a solid solution SO4, the radiating form, sometimes referred to as Bologna Stone, attained some notoriety among alchemists for the phosphorescent specimens found in the 17th century near Bologna by Vincenzo Casciarolo. In practice, however, this is usually the mineral baryte, most crude baryte requires some upgrading to minimum purity or density. Baryte that is used as an aggregate in a heavy cement is crushed and screened to a uniform size, the name baryte is derived from the Greek word βαρύς. Other names have been used for baryte, including barytine, barytite, schwerspath, Heavy Spar, tiff, baryte occurs in a large number of depositional environments, and is deposited through a large number of processes including biogenic, hydrothermal, and evaporation, among others. Baryte commonly occurs in veins in limestones, in hot spring deposits. It is often associated with the minerals anglesite and celestine and it has also been identified in meteorites. It is mined in Arkansas, Connecticut, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Nevada, world baryte production for 2014 was 9.7 million tonnes. The major baryte producers are as follows, China, India, Morocco, United States, Mexico, Iran, Turkey and Kazakhstan. The main users of baryte in 2014 were US, China, Gulf States, 77% of baryte worldwide is used as a weighting agent for drilling fluids in oil and gas exploration to suppress high formation pressures and prevent blowouts. As a well is drilled, the bit passes through various formations, the deeper the hole, the more baryte is needed as a percentage of the total mud mix. Baryte used for drilling petroleum wells can be black, blue, brown or gray depending on the ore body. The baryte is finely ground so that at least 97% of the material, by weight, can pass through a 200-mesh screen, in August 2010 API published specifications to modify the 4.2 drilling grade standards for baryte to include 4.1 SG materials. It is also used to other barium chemicals, notably barium carbonate which is used for the manufacture of LED glass for television and computer screens. Historically baryte was used for the production of barium hydroxide for sugar refining, and as a pigment for textiles, paper. Although baryte contains a metal, it is not a toxic chemical because of its extreme insolubility. It is also used as gemstone
4.
Inclusion (mineral)
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In mineralogy, an inclusion is any material that is trapped inside a mineral during its formation. In gemology, an inclusion is a characteristic enclosed within a gemstone, according to Huttons law of inclusions, fragments included in a host rock are older than the host rock itself. Inclusions are usually other minerals or rocks, but may also be water, liquid or vapor inclusions are known as fluid inclusions. In the case of amber it is possible to find insects and plants as inclusions, the analysis of atmospheric gas bubbles as inclusions in ice cores is an important tool in the study of climate change. A xenolith is a rock which has been picked up by a lava flow. Melt inclusions form when bits of melt become trapped inside crystals as they form in the melt, inclusions are one of the most important factors when it comes to gem valuation. In many gemstones, such as diamonds, inclusions affect the clarity of the gem, in some gems, however, such as star sapphires, the inclusion actually increases the value of the gem. Many colored gemstones, such as amethyst, emerald, and sapphire, are expected to have inclusions, colored gemstones are categorized into three types as follows, Type I colored gems include gems with very little or no inclusions. They include aquamarines, topaz and zircon, Type II colored gems include those that often have a few inclusions. They include sapphire, ruby, garnet and spinel, Type III colored gems include those that almost always have inclusions. Gems in this category include emerald and tourmaline, the term inclusion is also used in the context of metallurgy and metals processing. During the melt stage of processing hard particles such as oxides can enter or form in the metal which are subsequently trapped when the melt solidifies. The term is used negatively such as when the particle could act as a fatigue crack nucleator or as an area of high stress intensity
5.
Crystal habit
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In mineralogy, crystal habit is the characteristic external shape of an individual crystal or crystal group. A single crystals habit is a description of its shape and its crystallographic forms. Recognizing the habit may help in identifying a mineral, when the faces are well-developed due to uncrowded growth a crystal is called euhedral, one with partially developed faces is subhedral, and one with undeveloped crystal faces is called anhedral. The long axis of a quartz crystal typically has a six-sided prismatic habit with parallel opposite faces. Aggregates can be formed of individual crystals with euhedral to anhedral grains, the arrangement of crystals within the aggregate can be characteristic of certain minerals. For example, minerals used for asbestos insulation often grow in a fibrous habit, the terms used by mineralogists to report crystal habits describe the typical appearance of an ideal mineral. Recognizing the habit can aid in identification as some habits are characteristic, most minerals, however, do not display ideal habits due to conditions during crystallization. Minerals belonging to the crystal system do not necessarily exhibit the same habit. Some habits of a mineral are unique to its variety and locality, For example, while most sapphires form elongate barrel-shaped crystals, ordinarily, the latter habit is seen only in ruby. Sapphire and ruby are both varieties of the mineral, corundum. Some minerals may replace other existing minerals while preserving the originals habit, a classic example is tigers eye quartz, crocidolite asbestos replaced by silica. While quartz typically forms prismatic crystals, in tigers eye the original fibrous habit of crocidolite is preserved, the names of crystal habits are derived from, Predominant crystal faces. Abnormal grain growth Grain growth Crystallization
6.
Celestine (mineral)
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Celestine or celestite is a mineral consisting of strontium sulfate. The mineral is named for its occasional delicate blue color, celestine is the principal source of the element strontium, commonly used in fireworks and in various metal alloys. Celestine derives its name from the Latin word caelestis meaning celestial, celestine occurs as crystals, and also in compact massive and fibrous forms. It is mostly found in rocks, often associated with the minerals gypsum, anhydrite. The mineral is found worldwide, usually in small quantities, pale blue crystal specimens are found in Madagascar. The skeletons of the protozoan Acantharea are made of celestine, unlike those of other radiolarians which are made of silica, in carbonate marine sediments, burial dissolution is a recognised mechanism of celestine precipitation. It is sometimes used as a gemstone, celestine crystals are found in some geodes. The worlds largest known geode, a celestine geode 35 feet in diameter at its widest point, is located near the village of Put-in-Bay, Ohio, on South Bass Island in Lake Erie. The geode has been converted into a cave, Crystal Cave. The geode has celestine crystals as wide as 18 inches across, estimated to weigh up to 300 pounds each
7.
Evaporite
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Evaporite is a name for a water-soluble mineral sediment that results from concentration and crystallization by evaporation from an aqueous solution. There are two types of deposits, marine, which can also be described as ocean deposits, and non-marine. Evaporites are considered sedimentary rocks and are formed by chemical sediments, although all water bodies on the surface and in aquifers contain dissolved salts, the water must evaporate into the atmosphere for the minerals to precipitate. For this to happen, the body must enter a restricted environment where water input into this environment remains below the net rate of evaporation. This is usually an arid environment with a basin fed by a limited input of water. When evaporation occurs, the water is enriched in salts. Marine evaporites tend to have thicker deposits and are usually the focus of extensive research. They also have a system of evaporation, when scientists evaporate ocean water in a laboratory, the minerals are deposited in a defined order that was first demonstrated by Usiglio in 1884. The first phase of the experiment begins when about 50% of the water depth remains. At this point, minor carbonates begin to form, the next phase in the sequence comes when the experiment is left with about 20% of its original level. At this point, the mineral gypsum begins to form, which is followed by halite at 10%. Kieserite may also be included, which often make up less than four percent of the overall content. However, there are approximately 80 different minerals that have been reported found in evaporite deposits, common minerals that are found in these deposits include blödite, borax, epsomite, gaylussite, glauberite, mirabilite, thenardite and trona. Non-marine deposits may also contain halite, gypsum, and anhydrite and this, however, does not make non-marine deposits any less important, these deposits often help to paint a picture into past Earth climates. Some particular deposits even show important tectonic and climatic changes and these deposits also may contain important minerals that help in todays economy. Thick non-marine deposits that tend to form where evaporation rates will exceed the inflow rate. The inflow also has to occur in a basin, or one with restricted outflow, so that the sediment has time to pool. Primary examples of this are called saline lake deposits, examples of modern non-marine depositional environments include the Great Salt Lake in Utah and the Dead Sea, which lies between Jordan and Israel
8.
Pea
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The pea is most commonly the small spherical seed or the seed-pod of the pod fruit Pisum sativum. Pea pods are botanically fruit, since they contain seeds and developed from the ovary of a flower, the name is also used to describe other edible seeds from the Fabaceae such as the pigeon pea, the cowpea, and the seeds from several species of Lathyrus. P. sativum is a plant, with a life cycle of one year. It is a crop grown in many parts of the world. The average pea weighs between 0.1 and 0.36 grams. The immature peas are used as a vegetable, fresh, frozen or canned and these are the basis of pease porridge and pea soup, staples of medieval cuisine, in Europe, consuming fresh immature green peas was an innovation of Early Modern cuisine. The wild pea is restricted to the Mediterranean basin and the Near East, the earliest archaeological finds of peas date from the late neolithic era of current Greece, Syria, Turkey and Jordan. In Egypt, early date from ca. 4800–4400 BC in the Nile delta area, and from ca, the pea was also present in Georgia in the 5th millennium BC. Farther east, the finds are younger, peas were present in Afghanistan ca.2000 BC, in Harappa, Pakistan, and in northwest India in 2250–1750 BC. In the second half of the 2nd millennium BC, this pulse crop appears in the Ganges Basin, a pea is a most commonly green, occasionally golden yellow, or infrequently purple pod-shaped vegetable, widely grown as a cool season vegetable crop. The seeds may be planted as soon as the temperature reaches 10 °C. They do not thrive in the heat of warmer temperate and lowland tropical climates. Many cultivars reach maturity about 60 days after planting, peas have both low-growing and vining cultivars. The vining cultivars grow thin tendrils from leaves that coil around any available support, a traditional approach to supporting climbing peas is to thrust branches pruned from trees or other woody plants upright into the soil, providing a lattice for the peas to climb. Branches used in fashion are sometimes called pea brush. Metal fences, twine, or netting supported by a frame are used for the same purpose, in dense plantings, peas give each other some measure of mutual support. In early times, peas were grown mostly for their dry seeds, from plants growing wild in the Mediterranean basin, constant selection since the Neolithic dawn of agriculture improved their yield
9.
Selenite (mineral)
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Selenite, satin spar, desert rose, and gypsum flower are four varieties of the mineral gypsum, all four varieties show obvious crystalline structure. The four crystalline varieties of gypsum are sometimes grouped together and called selenite, all varieties of gypsum, including selenite and alabaster, are composed of calcium sulfate dihydrate, with the chemical formula CaSO4·2H2O. Selenite contains no significant selenium, the similarity of names comes from both substances being named from the Ancient Greek word for the Moon. The etymology of selenite is through Middle English selinete, from Latin selenites, from Greek selēnitēs, literally, moonstone or stone of the moon, the ancients had a belief that certain transparent crystals waxed and waned with the moon. From the 15th century, selenite has referred specifically to the variety of gypsum that occurs in transparent crystals or crystalline masses, all varieties of gypsum are very soft minerals. This is the most important identifying characteristic of gypsum, as any variety of gypsum can be scratched with a fingernail. Also, because gypsum has natural thermal insulating properties, all varieties feel warm to the touch, though sometimes grouped together as selenite, the four crystalline varieties have differences. General identifying descriptions of the related crystalline varieties are, most often transparent and colorless, crystal habit refers to the shapes that crystals exhibit. Selenite crystals commonly occur as tabular, reticular, and columnar crystals, often with no imperfections or inclusions, many collectible selenite crystals have interesting inclusions such as, accompanying related minerals, interior druse, dendrites, and fossils. In some rare instances, water was encased as a fluid inclusion when the crystal formed, selenite crystals sometimes form in thin tabular or mica-like sheets and have been used as glass panes as at Santa Sabina in Rome. Selenite crystals sometimes will also exhibit bladed rosette habit often with accompanying transparent, selenite crystals can be found both attached to a matrix or base rock, but can commonly be found as entire free-floating crystals, often in clay beds. Satin spar is almost always prismatic and fibrous in a crystal habit. Satin spar often occurs in seams, some of them quite long, desert roses are most often bladed, exhibiting the familiar shape of a rose, and almost always have an exterior druse. Desert roses are almost always unattached to a matrix or base rock, gypsum flowers are most often acicular, scaly, stellate, and lenticular. Selenite crystals can also exhibit “arrow/spear-head” as well as “duck-bill” twins, both selenite crystals and gypsum flowers sometimes form quite densely in acicular mats or nets, and can be quite brittle and fragile. Gypsum flowers are attached to a matrix or base rock. Gypsum crystals are colorless, white, gray, brown, beige, orange, pink, yellow, light red, and green. Colors are caused by the presence of mineral inclusions such as, copper ores, sulfur and sulfides, silver, iron ores, coal, calcite, dolomite
10.
Tunisia
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Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia is the northernmost country in Africa, covering 165,000 square kilometres. Its northernmost point, Cape Angela, is the northernmost point on the African continent and it is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisias population was estimated to be just under 11 million in 2014, Tunisias name is derived from its capital city, Tunis, which is located on Tunisias northeast coast. Geographically, Tunisia contains the end of the Atlas Mountains. Much of the rest of the land is fertile soil. Tunisia is a unitary semi-presidential representative democratic republic and it is considered to be the only full democracy in the Arab World. It has a human development index. In addition, Tunisia is also a state of the United Nations. Close relations with Europe – in particular with France and with Italy – have been forged through economic cooperation, privatisation, in ancient times, Tunisia was primarily inhabited by Berbers. Phoenician immigration began in the 12th century BC, these immigrants founded Carthage, a major mercantile power and a military rival of the Roman Republic, Carthage was defeated by the Romans in 146 BC. The Romans, who would occupy Tunisia for most of the eight hundred years, introduced Christianity. After several attempts starting in 647, the Arabs conquered the whole of Tunisia by 697, the Ottomans held sway for over three hundred years. The French colonization of Tunisia occurred in 1881, Tunisia gained independence with Habib Bourguiba and declared the Tunisian Republic in 1957. In 2011, the Tunisian Revolution resulted in the overthrow of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, the country voted for parliament again on 26 October 2014, and for President on 23 November 2014. The word Tunisia is derived from Tunis, an urban hub. The present form of the name, with its Latinate suffix -ia, the French derivative Tunisie was adopted in some European languages with slight modifications, introducing a distinctive name to designate the country. Other languages remained untouched, such as the Russian Туни́с and Spanish Túnez, in this case, the same name is used for both country and city, as with the Arabic تونس, and only by context can one tell the difference. The name Tunis can be attributed to different origins and it is generally associated with the Berber root ⵜⵏⵙ, transcribed tns, which means to lay down or encampment
