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This specimen is nicknamed "King" material. It was an early find of tugtupite, ussingite, polylithionite, chkalovite from the cliffs above Tugtup Agtakôrfia. An area of particular note is the large chkalovite crystal fluorescing bright blue under longwave contrasting against the bright orange ussingite/sodalite, we've not seen this before, very unusual. You'll see the distinct tugtupite veining replacing the chkalovite under shortwave 254nm UV.
Tugtup Agtakôrfia is a small area right on the water in the Tunulliarfik Fjord. It is the type locality for tugtupite – discovered in 1962 by Sorensen. All of the pink/red tugtupite has since been mined and all that was left in the vein were some remarkable specimens of sodalite.
Ussingite is a major mineral found within the complex (of interest to the fluorescent community). It is a fine-grained mineral (similar to quartzite in texture) and ranges in color from white to a deep gem purple. Deeply colored pieces are used for cabochons and can be quite attractive. The fluorescent properties of ussingite remain a mystery. Many pieces do not fluoresce at all (or very dimly), while others fluoresce orange identically to sodalite. A few fluoresce a brilliant green. Tenebrescent ussingite has not yet been found. Most often ussingite is found associated with chkalovite, polylithionite, sodalite and tugtupite and is a good field indicator of the presence of these other minerals.
They were nicknamed "Yooperlites" which is derived from the name “yooper”. A yooper is a nickname for the Upper Peninsula natives and these fluorescent stones quickly gained fame. After data was published on these fluorescent stones, it was discovered that sodalite is the actual true mineral that is fluorescing orange.
365nm UV light is often called "blacklight". Before the advent of longwave UV LEDs, blacklight fluorescent tubes, (the kinds used in hippie days to light up psychedelic posters) were the standard longwave UV light for our hobby. They were not very powerful but they did light a large area.
Enter 365nm UV LEDs
First, an animation showing the difference between the UV flashlight we recommend (365nm filtered UV flashlight) versus unfiltered 395nm UV flashlights we see many folks carrying around at shows. So. much. visible purple light. We selected a bunch of rocks as a demonstration. Took pictures of them under his flashlight without the filter and then with the filter.
