I found this Torbernite for sale at the North Pennines Mineral Expo today. It had to come home with me. I hope to do more in-depth analysis including some amazing crystal structure later, it's a stunner under the microscope.
Found a fossil that sets off the Geiger counter - turns out shark teeth make excellent uranium sponges. Made a video breaking down the science of why a 3-million-year-old Megalodon tooth is radioactive. TL;DR - phosphate chemistry + a lot of time.
Full video: https://youtu.be/2LKG5Kkkhqo
Found a fossil that sets off the Geiger counter - turns out shark teeth make excellent uranium sponges. Made a video breaking down the science of why a 3-million-year-old Megalodon tooth is radioactive. TL;DR - phosphate chemistry + a lot of time.
Full video: https://youtu.be/2LKG5Kkkhqo
I spend hours researching my every hunt. Maps, old papers, other YouTube videos. And yet often I manage to find a way to get lost in my hunt for Radioactivity. Scanning the Tyndrum Lead Mine with the Radiacode for Uranium promised in 1950’s research was a success - however I was in the completely wrong place.
I cleaned up my radioactive rock from Tyndrum, whilst there are no botryoidal 'bubbles', the black tar is most certainly uraninite. Nominally this is on a calcite matrix with hematite to give it a pink-ish colour. But with the macros you can definitely see some green, pinky quartz and a bit of pyrite.
It's certainly a rock i'm proud of :)
30 uSv on the radiacode.
We just shattered our radiation record in the Cheviots. Exploring a localized "spicy" occurrence at Harden Edge, the Radiacode 102 hit absolute barnstormers.
We’re talking about a localized signal that Dr. Haslam first clocked at ~6 μSv/hr back in the '70s. We found the exact seam where mineral-rich fluids were trapped in a Silurian "sponge," creating a radioactive signature hidden for 500 million years.
For the hardcore "Glowies" following the Haslam research: we finally reached the fourth location mentioned in the 1975 Geochemical Survey. Located at Harden Edge [NT 795 072] inside the Otterburn Military Range, this site is a localized copper-uranium occurrence that has remained largely untouched for half a century.
The Mission: Accessing the site required navigating the "Danger Area" of a 250 sq km firing range. The goal was to find the contact point between the Silurian Riccarton Group and the Carboniferous Ballagan Formation.
The Findings: We identified a striking angular unconformity featuring vibrant "Rainbow Rocks" - stained with oranges, purples, and greens indicating iron, copper, and manganese. While the unconformity itself gave ~1 μSv, the "Barnstormer" moment came ten meters away. At a joint between the steeply dipping Silurian basement and the overlying limestone, we found a "baked" fan of vein material yielding 3 μSv.
The Science: Why such high readings here compared to the granite edges? It’s the "Sponge" effect. The Riccarton mudstones are chemically reducing and porous, acting as a permanent trap for uranium transported by hydrothermal fluids. These fluids were likely activated by post-pluton heat engines like the Whin Sill (~301 Ma) or the Tertiary Acklington Dyke (~60 Ma).
This confirms a "mineralised corridor" along the southern bank of the river, and we’ve already spotted targets further downstream for the next trek.
Full video of the hunt and the technical breakdown here:
For the hardcore "Glowies" following the Haslam research: we finally reached the fourth location mentioned in the 1975 Geochemical Survey. Located at Harden Edge [NT 795 072] inside the Otterburn Military Range, this site is a localized copper-uranium occurrence that has remained largely untouched for half a century.
The Mission: Accessing the site required navigating the "Danger Area" of a 250 sq km firing range. The goal was to find the contact point between the Silurian Riccarton Group and the Carboniferous Ballagan Formation.
The Findings: We identified a striking angular unconformity featuring vibrant "Rainbow Rocks" - stained with oranges, purples, and greens indicating iron, copper, and manganese. While the unconformity itself gave ~1 μSv, the "Barnstormer" moment came ten meters away. At a joint between the steeply dipping Silurian basement and the overlying limestone, we found a "baked" fan of vein material yielding 3 μSv.
The Science: Why such high readings here compared to the granite edges? It’s the "Sponge" effect. The Riccarton mudstones are chemically reducing and porous, acting as a permanent trap for uranium transported by hydrothermal fluids. These fluids were likely activated by post-pluton heat engines like the Whin Sill (~301 Ma) or the Tertiary Acklington Dyke (~60 Ma).
This confirms a "mineralised corridor" along the southern bank of the river, and we’ve already spotted targets further downstream for the next trek.
Full video of the hunt and the technical breakdown here:
My first ever radioactive fossil - this is a megalodon tooth is anywhere between 2 and 20 million years old. Why radioactive? Well during the fossilisation process the organics of a specimen are replaced by minerals in the host rock. And if the rock contains radioactive minerals...you know the drill.
About an hour on the Radiacode reveals it to be 50/50 uranium and thorium.
Cool find and something I've been hunting for a while.
My first ever radioactive fossil - this is a megalodon tooth is anywhere between 2 and 20 million years old. Why radioactive? Well during the fossilisation process the organics of a specimen are replaced by minerals in the host rock. And if the rock contains radioactive minerals...you know the drill.
About an hour on the Radiacode reveals it to be 50/50 uranium and thorium.
Cool find and something I've been hunting for a while.
40 years later. 662 keV. Still there.
Devoke Water, Cumbria. Took the Radiacode into the peat and found the Chernobyl ghost. Clear 662 peak. Cesium-137, still mobile, still cycling through soil and sheep.
But the radiation is only half the story. Wait for "Sheep Poo Gate" - the feedback loop that fooled government scientists and turned a 3-week ban into 26 years of restrictions.
Gamma Spectrums. Radiacode Maps. Upgraded Lead Pigs. And a Bonus Element: Americium-241.
I thought I’d add to the fascinating videos of people like me finding Cs-137 now in nature, 40 years later. Just goes to show how widespread it was. And still is.