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Fort Washington Avenue & 171st Street, Washington Heights, Manhattan (New York County), New York City, New York, USAi
Regional Level Types
Fort Washington Avenue & 171st Street- not defined -
Washington Heights- not defined -
Manhattan (New York County)Borough
New York CityCity
New YorkState
USACountry

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Latitude & Longitude (WGS84):
40° 50' 39'' North , 73° 56' 28'' West
Latitude & Longitude (decimal):
Kรถppen climate type:
Nearest Settlements:
PlacePopulationDistance
Washington Heights152,613 (2017)0.8km
Morris Heights40,982 (2017)1.9km
Fort Lee36,672 (2017)2.6km
Inwood10,082 (2006)2.7km
Tremont22,870 (2017)3.0km
Nearest Clubs:
Local clubs are the best way to get access to collecting localities
ClubLocationDistance
New York Mineralogical ClubNew York, New York9km
New York Paleontological SocietyNYC, New York14km
North Jersey Mineralogical Society, Inc.Paterson, New Jersey21km
Nassau Mineral ClubGlen Cove, New York26km
New Jersey Mineralogical Society, IncMountainside, New Jersey40km
Mindat Locality ID:
13361
Long-form identifier:
mindat:1:2:13361:1
GUID (UUID V4):
0


An earlier detailed description is given in The Mineral Collector for January 1896. This is summarised as follows. Recent excavations at 171st Street and Fort Washington Avenue has brought to light mineral specimens of more than local interest on account of their rarity or size or both. William Niven is credited with discovering and exploiting the find in October 1895. He first obtained permission from the chief of the New York Board of Public Works, and then hired labourers who worked the site with drills and dynamite. The occurrence was a coarse pegmatite dyke (quartz, orthoclase and muscovite) up to 1m thick which had intruded mica schist. The pegmatite was exposed for 24 metres of strike, striking 030 degrees and dipping 85 degrees east. This dip and strike paralleled the foliation in the host mica schist. The minerals of interest occurred in three pockets within the pegmatite. Crystals of xenotime to 6mm were found embedded in quartz, feldspar and mica. Monazite crystals to 18mm were found embedded in quartz and feldspar. Schorl was abundant in the pegmatite and large crystals to 24cm were recovered. Minor minerals included zircon, dumortierite, poorly characterised secondary uranium minerals (autunite? torbernite?), green apatite and almandine. Muscovite crystals were up to 15cm across, and a part trapezohedron of almandine was found, which if complete would have been 23cm across.

In the same issue of the Mineral Collector, mineral dealers Niven and Hopping of New York City offer a large tourmaline crystal (9.5 x 4 inches) from the find for sale at $250 (as a reference gold was $19/ounce at the time). Monazite and xenotime from the same locality were also offered (10c to $15). The schorl crystal was purchased by the American Museum of Natural History in 1896 and the following day the New York Herald published a picture of the crystal together with an article on the sale. The specimen was recently tracked down in the American Museum collection by curator George Harlow. Approximately 50 years ago it had been trimmed of most of its matrix and the termination had been reconstructed with plaster and coloured with black shoe polish. A photograph of this crystal is given in the Mineralogical Record, Vol. 37, No. 4, pg. 306.
Granite pegmatite lens at now defunct construction site

Select Mineral List Type

Standard Detailed Gallery Strunz Chemical Elements

Mineral List


9 valid minerals.

Gallery:

List of minerals arranged by Strunz 10th Edition classification

Group 4 - Oxides and Hydroxides
โ“˜Quartz4.DA.05SiO2
Group 8 - Phosphates, Arsenates and Vanadates
โ“˜Xenotime-(Y)8.AD.35Y(PO4)
Group 9 - Silicates
โ“˜Almandine9.AD.25Fe2+3Al2(SiO4)3
โ“˜Zircon9.AD.30Zr(SiO4)
โ“˜Dumortierite9.AJ.10Al(Al2O)(Al2O)2(SiO4)3(BO3)
โ“˜Schorl9.CK.05NaFe2+3Al6(Si6O18)(BO3)3(OH)3(OH)
โ“˜Muscovite9.EC.15KAl2(AlSi3O10)(OH)2
โ“˜Microcline9.FA.30K(AlSi3O8)
โ“˜Orthoclase9.FA.30K(AlSi3O8)
Unclassified
โ“˜'Monazite Group'-REE(PO4)
โ“˜'Xenotime'-
โ“˜'Apatite'-Ca5(PO4)3A

List of minerals for each chemical element

HHydrogen
Hโ“˜ MuscoviteKAl2(AlSi3O10)(OH)2
Hโ“˜ SchorlNaFe32+Al6(Si6O18)(BO3)3(OH)3(OH)
BBoron
Bโ“˜ DumortieriteAl(Al2O)(Al2O)2(SiO4)3(BO3)
Bโ“˜ SchorlNaFe32+Al6(Si6O18)(BO3)3(OH)3(OH)
OOxygen
Oโ“˜ AlmandineFe32+Al2(SiO4)3
Oโ“˜ DumortieriteAl(Al2O)(Al2O)2(SiO4)3(BO3)
Oโ“˜ MicroclineK(AlSi3O8)
Oโ“˜ Monazite GroupREE(PO4)
Oโ“˜ MuscoviteKAl2(AlSi3O10)(OH)2
Oโ“˜ OrthoclaseK(AlSi3O8)
Oโ“˜ QuartzSiO2
Oโ“˜ SchorlNaFe32+Al6(Si6O18)(BO3)3(OH)3(OH)
Oโ“˜ Xenotime-(Y)Y(PO4)
Oโ“˜ ZirconZr(SiO4)
Oโ“˜ ApatiteCa5(PO4)3A
NaSodium
Naโ“˜ SchorlNaFe32+Al6(Si6O18)(BO3)3(OH)3(OH)
AlAluminium
Alโ“˜ AlmandineFe32+Al2(SiO4)3
Alโ“˜ DumortieriteAl(Al2O)(Al2O)2(SiO4)3(BO3)
Alโ“˜ MicroclineK(AlSi3O8)
Alโ“˜ MuscoviteKAl2(AlSi3O10)(OH)2
Alโ“˜ OrthoclaseK(AlSi3O8)
Alโ“˜ SchorlNaFe32+Al6(Si6O18)(BO3)3(OH)3(OH)
SiSilicon
Siโ“˜ AlmandineFe32+Al2(SiO4)3
Siโ“˜ DumortieriteAl(Al2O)(Al2O)2(SiO4)3(BO3)
Siโ“˜ MicroclineK(AlSi3O8)
Siโ“˜ MuscoviteKAl2(AlSi3O10)(OH)2
Siโ“˜ OrthoclaseK(AlSi3O8)
Siโ“˜ QuartzSiO2
Siโ“˜ SchorlNaFe32+Al6(Si6O18)(BO3)3(OH)3(OH)
Siโ“˜ ZirconZr(SiO4)
PPhosphorus
Pโ“˜ Monazite GroupREE(PO4)
Pโ“˜ Xenotime-(Y)Y(PO4)
Pโ“˜ ApatiteCa5(PO4)3A
KPotassium
Kโ“˜ MicroclineK(AlSi3O8)
Kโ“˜ MuscoviteKAl2(AlSi3O10)(OH)2
Kโ“˜ OrthoclaseK(AlSi3O8)
CaCalcium
Caโ“˜ ApatiteCa5(PO4)3A
FeIron
Feโ“˜ AlmandineFe32+Al2(SiO4)3
Feโ“˜ SchorlNaFe32+Al6(Si6O18)(BO3)3(OH)3(OH)
YYttrium
Yโ“˜ Xenotime-(Y)Y(PO4)
ZrZirconium
Zrโ“˜ ZirconZr(SiO4)

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

North AmericaContinent
North America PlateTectonic Plate
USA

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