101 Amherst Gallery

Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH Return to mindatnh front page. Click on image for larger view
This page is an alphabetical photo gallery of minerals from the Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH. (A locality specific photo set from mindatnh.org) 24 species, 61 mineral photos, 3 EDS analyses, 6 map & site photos. See also: Mindat.org locality link During 1969 – 1971, a Rt. 101 bypass was constructed around the town centers of Amherst and Milford, NH. A major intersection with Rt. 101A at the Amherst-Milford boarder required the blasting of much ledge. Mineral wise, this was a large outcrop of boring biotite gneiss. I moved to Amherst in 1971, and rekindled my childhood interest in minerals in 1974. In the summer of 1997, Bob Whitmore showed me a 1 cm stilbite spray from this 101 – 101A road cut. Exploring the cut, I found nothing in the road cut ledge, but did find some nice chabazite and hematite in a blasted ledge at the end of an adjacent building parking lot. I invited Scott Whittemore to this site on a re-visit. On a later date, Scott did a careful inspection of the road cut ledges. He found many more species. Subsequent visits by Scott, Bob Janules and myself built a substantial suite of minerals from this locality. The access ramps for this intersection were widened in the spring of 2019, but no collectable minerals were found from the new blasting. This locality demonstrates that what appeared to be an uninteresting ledge area, upon close examination, yielded a large selection of mineral species.
SITE LOCATION	Site location Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH Notes: South-central NH
SITE LOCATION	Site location Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH Notes: South-central NH
SITE LOCATION	Site location Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH Notes: South-central NH
BANDED BIOTITE GNEISS	Banded biotite gneiss Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH
Spring 2019 off ramp modification	Spring 2019 off ramp modification Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH
Area bedrock geology	Area bedrock geology Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH Notes: South-central NH
ADULARIA - K feldspar Rt. 101 - 101A road cut Amherst, NH 2.5 cm specimen ADULARIA - K feldspar Rt. 101 - 101A road cut Amherst, NH 3 mm field of view	Species: ADULARIA - K feldspar Locality: Rt. 101 - 101A road cut Amherst, NH Specimen Size: 2.5 cm specimen with magnified 3 mm field of view Field Collected: Tom Mortimer Catalog No.: u2358 Notes: Little contrast in the adularia crystal covered surface. EDs analysis verified a potasium feldspar. Raman analysis pending to differentiate orthoclase from microcline dimorphs.
ALBITE - var. Zygadite Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH 1 mm field of view	Species: ALBITE - var. Zygadite Locality: Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH Specimen Size: 1 mm field of view Field Collected: Bob Janules Catalog No.: A Peter Cristofono specimen and photo Notes: The zygadite variety of albite consists of an unusual crystallographic habit: tabular crystals with a steeply acute morphology.
ALBITE - var. Zygadite Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH 2.5 mm field of view	Species: ALBITE - var. Zygadite Locality: Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH Specimen Size: 2.5 mm field of view Field Collected: Tom Mortimer Catalog No.: u2255 Notes:
ALBITE - var. Zygadite Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH 1 mm field of view	Species: ALBITE - var. Zygadite Locality: Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH Specimen Size: 1 mm field of view Field Collected: Tom Mortimer Catalog No.: u2255 Notes:
ALMANDINE Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH 7 cm specimen.	Species: ALMANDINE Locality: Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH Specimen Size: 7 cm specimen Field Collected: Tom Mortimer Catalog No.: NC Notes: Red garnets in biotite matrix. Almandine species is a visual idendification.
AUGITE Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH 3.5 cm specimen with 8 mm embedded augite AUGITE Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH 3.5 cm specimen with 8 mm embedded augite	Species: AUGITE Locality: Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH Specimen Size: 3.5 cm specimen with 8 mm embedded augite Field Collected: Tom Mortimer Catalog No.: u324 Notes: Augite chemistry: (Ca,Mg,Fe)₂Si₂O₆ A Bill Simmons' article on pyroxene in Brittanica.com states: "The nature of aluminum substitution in pyroxenes varies significantly from one pyroxene to another.... ...In augite there can be extensive substitution of aluminum for tetrahedral silicon." A polished grain EDS analysis (BC241) of this specimen gave: (Ca_0.45,K_0.04,Mg_0.37,Fe_0.41)(Si_1.5,Al_0.5)O_2.2 normalized for Si + Al = 2.
BABINGTONITE Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH 0.8 mm babingtonite on prehnite fan with tiny pyrite crystal	Species: BABINGTONITE Locality: Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH Specimen Size: 0.8 mm babingtonite on prehnite fan with tiny pyrite crystal Field Collected: Tom Mortimer Catalog No.: u327 Notes: This 101 - 101A road cut is the only known NH locality for Babingtonite.
BABINGTONITE Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH 1.0 mm babingtonite on prehnite	Species: BABINGTONITE Locality: Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH Specimen Size: 1.0 mm babingtonite on prehnite Field Collected: Tom Mortimer Catalog No.: u327 Notes:
BABINGTONITE Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH 5 mm crystal group	Species: BABINGTONITE Locality: Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH Specimen Size: 5 mm crystal group Field Collected: Tom Mortimer Catalog No.: u286 Notes:
BABINGTONITE Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH 0.6 mm babingtonite on pale yellow-green epidote	Species: BABINGTONITE Locality: Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH Specimen Size: 0.6 mm babingtonite on pale yellow-green epidote Field Collected: Tom Mortimer Catalog No.: u294 Notes:
BABINGTONITE Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH 4 mm field of view	Species: BABINGTONITE Locality: Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH Specimen Size: 4 mm field of view Field Collected: Tom Mortimer Catalog No.: u2252 Notes:
BIOTITE Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH 4.5 inch specimen. BIOTITE Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH EDS analysis shows this biotite is closest to the annite species, (red star).	Species: BIOTITE Locality: Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH Specimen Size: 4.5 inch specimen. Field Collected: Tom Mortimer Catalog No.: NC Notes: Voucher specimen - not remarkable. EDS analysis shows this biotite is closest to the annite species, (red star).
CHABAZITE Group Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH 4 mm field of view. Chabazite rhombs with pale green prehnite	Species: CHABAZITE Group Locality: Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH Specimen Size: 4 mm field of view. Chabazite rhombs with pale green prehnite Field Collected: Tom Mortimer Catalog No.: u327 Notes: The chabazite is starting to decompose a bit. A tiny pyrite cube is on the prehnite. Photo from a stack of 149 images.
CHABAZITE Group Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH 3 mm field of view. 0.4 to 0.5 mm chabazite rhombs	Species: CHABAZITE Group Locality: Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH Specimen Size: 3 mm field of view. 0.4 to 0.5 mm chabazite rhombs Field Collected: Tom Mortimer Catalog No.: u2258 Notes:
CHABAZITE Group with babingtonite Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH 3 mm field of view	Species: CHABAZITE Group with babingtonite Locality: Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH Specimen Size: 3 mm field of view Field Collected: Tom Mortimer Catalog No.: Notes:
CHABAZITE Group with babingtonite Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH 2 mm field of view	Species: CHABAZITE Group with babingtonite Locality: Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH Specimen Size: 2 mm field of view Field Collected: Tom Mortimer Catalog No.: Notes:
CALCITE Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH 2.2 cm specimen, prismatic calcite with stilbite	Species: CALCITE Locality: Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH Specimen Size: 2.2 cm specimen, prismatic calcite with stilbite Field Collected: Tom Mortimer Catalog No.: NR Notes:
CALCITE Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH 3 mm crystal	Species: CALCITE Locality: Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH Specimen Size: 3 mm crystal Field Collected: Tom Mortimer Catalog No.: u314 Notes:
CLINOCHLORE Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH 0.8 mm field of view	Species: CLINOCHLORE Locality: Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH Specimen Size: 0.8 mm field of view Field Collected: Tom Mortimer Catalog No.: TBC Notes:
CLINOCHLORE Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH 1 mm field of view	Species: CLINOCHLORE Locality: Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH Specimen Size: 1 mm field of view Field Collected: Tom Mortimer Catalog No.: TBC Notes:
EPIDOTE Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH 5 mm field of view	Species: EPIDOTE Locality: Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH Specimen Size: 5 mm field of view Field Collected: Tom Mortimer Catalog No.: u320 Notes:
EPIDOTE Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH 1 mm crystal pair	Species: EPIDOTE Locality: Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH Specimen Size: 1 mm crystal pair Field Collected: Tom Mortimer Catalog No.: Notes: The serrated edges are seen on many of the micro epidote crystals from this locality.
EPIDOTE Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH 3 mm field of view. Dark prismatic epidote on adularia	Species: EPIDOTE - REE rich Locality: Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH Specimen Size: 3 mm field of view. Dark prismatic epidote on adularia. Field Collected: Tom Mortimer Catalog No.: u2253 Notes: These dark crystals from the Rt. 101 - 101A locality were initially thought to be allanite, but EDS analysis showed the rare earth element (REE) was too low to be allanite. They are REE enriched epidote. Epidote chemistry is: Ca₂Al₂(Fe³⁺,Al)Si₃O₁₂(OH) , Fleischer 2008 Allanite-(Ce) chemistry is: CaCeFe²⁺Al₂(Si₂O₇)(SiO₄)O(OH) , Fleischer 2008 A second polished grain, quantitative, EDS analysis , BC343, also indicated a REE rich epidote.
EPIDOTE Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH 2 mm cluster of bladed epidote crystals on adularia.	Species: EPIDOTE - REE rich Locality: Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH Specimen Size: 2 mm cluster of bladed epidote crystals on adularia. Field Collected: Tom Mortimer Catalog No.: u299 Notes: The REE rich epidote also occurs in this tabular habit.
EPIDOTE Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH 1.5 mm high epidote on adularia.	Species: EPIDOTE - REE rich Locality: Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH Specimen Size: 1.5 mm high epidote on adularia. Field Collected: Tom Mortimer Catalog No.: u282 Notes:
FLUORAPATITE Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH 15 mm light green crystal.	Species: FLUORAPATITE Locality: Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH Specimen Size: 15 mm light green crystal. Field Collected: Peter Cristofono Catalog No.: A Peter Cristofono specimen and photo Notes: Fluoresces yellow-orange in SW UV.
FLUORITE Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH 0.8 mm crystal	Species: FLUORITE Locality: Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH Specimen Size:0.8 mm crystal. Field Collected: Bob Janules Catalog No.: A Bob Janules specimen Notes:
FLUORITE Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH 1 mm field of view	Species: FLUORITE Locality: Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH Specimen Size: 1 mm field of view Field Collected: Matt Butler Catalog No.: A Matt Butler specimen and photo Notes:
FLUORITE Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH 1.4 mm field of view	Species: FLUORITE Locality: Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH Specimen Size: 1.4 mm field of view Field Collected: Matt Butler Catalog No.: A Matt Butler specimen and photo Notes:
HEMATITE Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH 3.2 mm cluster of hematite blades	Species: HEMATITE Locality: Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH Specimen Size: 3.2 mm cluster of hematite blades Field Collected: Tom Mortimer Catalog No.: u1824 Notes:
HEMATITE Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH 1.5 mm cluster of hematite blades	Species: HEMATITE Locality: Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH Specimen Size: 1.5 mm cluster of hematite blades Field Collected: Tom Mortimer Catalog No.: u2250 Notes: LED + SOLUX lighting
HEMATITE Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH 3.5 cm specimen. Hematite black, on pink orthoclase	Species: HEMATITE Locality: Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH Specimen Size: 3.5 cm specimen. Hematite black, on pink orthoclase Field Collected: Tom Mortimer Catalog No.: 1630 Notes:
HEULANDITE Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH 2.3 mm crystal with Babingtonite, black	Species: HEULANDITE Locality: Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH Specimen Size: 2.3 mm crystal with Babingtonite, black Field Collected: Tom Mortimer Catalog No.: u305 Notes:
HEULANDITE Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH 3 mm field of view	Species: HEULANDITE Locality: Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH Specimen Size: 3 mm field of view Field Collected: Tom Mortimer Catalog No.: u2259 Notes:
LAUMONTITE Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH 2 mm field of view	Species: LAUMONTITE Locality: Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH Specimen Size: 2 mm field of view Field Collected: Tom Mortimer Catalog No.: u316 Notes:
LAUMONTITE Rt. 101 - 101A road cut Amherst, NH 1.0 mm laumontite crystal	Species: LAUMONTITE Locality: Rt. 101 - 101A road cut Amherst, NH Specimen Size: 1.0 mm laumontite crystal Field Collected: Tom Mortimer Catalog No.: u2359 Notes: Small black crystals are babingtonite.
MAGNETITE Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH 0.5 mm magnetite crystal	Species: MAGNETITE Locality: Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH Specimen Size: 0.5 mm magnetite crystal Field Collected: Peter Cristofono Catalog No.: A Peter Cristofono specimen and photo Notes: This is the only non-embedded magnetite crystal I have seen from this locality.
MAGNETITE Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH 3 inch specimen	Species: MAGNETITE Locality: Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH Specimen Size: 3 inch specimen. Black magnetite embedded in quartz-feldspar matrix. Field Collected: Tom Mortimer Catalog No.: NC Notes: Embedded magnetite is common in the parking lot ledge wall adgacent to the road cut.
MICROCLINE Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH 8 mm field of view. Pink microcline with epidote, babingtonite & prehnite	Species: MICROCLINE Locality: Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH Specimen Size: 8 mm field of view. Pink microcline with epidote, babingtonite & prehnite Field Collected: Tom Mortimer Catalog No.: Notes: Microcline identification by FTIR spectroscopy. June 2019 EDS (BC336, BC342) clearly showed K spar.
MUSCOVITE Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH 5 mm field of view. Sharp hexagonal books of muscovite to 1 mm	Species: MUSCOVITE Locality: Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH Specimen Size: 5 mm field of view. Sharp hexagonal books of muscovite to 1 mm Field Collected: Tom Mortimer Catalog No.: e.g. u317 Notes:
MUSCOVITE Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH 2.5 mm field of view. Hexagonal books of muscovite to 0.8 mm	Species: MUSCOVITE Locality: Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH Specimen Size: 2.5 mm field of view. Hexagonal books of muscovite to 0.8 mm Field Collected: Tom Mortimer Catalog No.: u310 Notes:
PREHNITE Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH 7 cm specimen with glassy pale-green prehnite crystals	Species: PREHNITE Locality: Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH Specimen Size: 7 cm specimen with glassy pale-green prehnite crystals Field Collected: Tom Mortimer Catalog No.: 1029 Notes:
PREHNITE Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH 1.8 mm prehnite bow-tie with tiny pyrite crystals and babingtonite	Species: PREHNITE Locality: Rt. 101 - 101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH Specimen Size: 1.8 mm prehnite bow-tie with tiny pyrite crystals and babingtonite Field Collected: Tom Mortimer Catalog No.: u327 Notes:
PREHNITE Rt. 101 - 101A road cut, Amherst, NH 1.8 mm prehnite fan	Species: PREHNITE Locality: Rt. 101 - 101A road cut, Amherst, NH Specimen Size: 1.8 mm prehnite fan Field Collected: Tom Mortimer, Aug. 1997 Catalog No.: u327 Notes: I have difficulty photo-ing these bright-white, lustrous, prehnite clusters. Increasing the light just washes everything out. Photo from a 66 image stack with Canon T3i, EFS 55-250 lens, plus B&L objective lens, processed with Helicon Focus Method B.
PYRITE Rt. 101 - 101A road cut, Amherst, NH 1.5 mm pyritohedrons. Left one altering to limonite	Species: PYRITE Locality: Rt. 101 - 101A road cut, Amherst, NH Specimen Size: 1.5 mm pyritohedrons. Left one altering to limonite Field Collected: Tom Mortimer. Catalog No.: u288-altered, u310-fresh Notes:
RUTILE Ledge near parking lot of Rt 101 -Rt 101A intersection, Amherst, NH 0.7 mm rutile crystal section on quartz crystal.	Species: RUTILE Locality: Ledge near parking lot of Rt 101 -Rt 101A intersection, Amherst, NH Specimen Size: 0.7 mm rutile crystal section on quartz crystal. Field Collected: Tom Mortimer Catalog No.: u306 Notes: This is a voucher specimen (only one known) for the rutile species at the Rt 101 - Rt 101A intersection locale.
SPHALERITE Rt. 101 - 101A road cut, Amherst, NH 0.9 mm crystal on babingtonite	Species: SPHALERITE Locality: Rt. 101 - 101A road cut, Amherst, NH Specimen Size: 0.9 mm crystal on babingtonite Field Collected: Bob Janules Catalog No.: u2254 Notes:
SPHALERITE Rt. 101 - 101A road cut, Amherst, NH 1.0 mm crystal on babingtonite	Species: SPHALERITE Locality: Rt. 101 - 101A road cut, Amherst, NH Specimen Size: 1.0 mm crystal on babingtonite Field Collected: Bob Janules Catalog No.: A Bob Janules specimen Notes:
SPHALERITE Rt. 101 - 101A road cut, Amherst, NH 0.8 mm crystal on babingtonite	Species: SPHALERITE Locality: Rt. 101 - 101A road cut, Amherst, NH Specimen Size: 0.8 mm crystal on babingtonite Field Collected: Bob Janules Catalog No.: A Bob Janules specimen Notes:
STILBITE Rt. 101 - 101A road cut, Amherst, NH 3 cm specimen of chalk-white Stilbite crystals	Species: STILBITE Locality: Rt. 101 - 101A road cut, Amherst, NH Specimen Size: 3 cm specimen of chalk-white Stilbite crystals Field Collected: Tom Mortimer Catalog No.: 1037 Notes:
STILBITE Rt. 101 - 101A road cut, Amherst, NH 1.4 cm stilbite group with calcite crystals	Species: STILBITE Locality: Rt. 101 - 101A road cut, Amherst, NH Specimen Size: 1.4 cm stilbite group with calcite crystals Field Collected: Tom Mortimer Catalog No.: u2245 Notes:
STILBITE Rt. 101 - 101A road cut, Amherst, NH 4 mm field of view	Species: STILBITE Locality: Rt. 101 - 101A road cut, Amherst, NH Specimen Size: 4 mm field of view Field Collected: Tom Mortimer Catalog No.: u2265 Notes:
STILBITE Rt. 101 - 101A road cut, Amherst, NH 0.5 mm simple orthorhombic prism	Species: STILBITE Locality: Rt. 101 - 101A road cut, Amherst, NH Specimen Size: 0.5 mm simple orthorhombic prism Field Collected: Tom Mortimer Catalog No.: u2266 Notes:
TITANITE Rt 101-101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH 1.3 mm titanite crystal	Species: TITANITE Locality: Rt 101-101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH Specimen Size: 1.3 mm titanite crystal Field Collected: Bob Janules Catalog No.: A Bob Janules specimen Notes:
TITANITE Rt 101-101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH 1 mm group of orange-tan titanite crystals	Species: TITANITE Locality: Rt 101-101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH Specimen Size: 1 mm group of orange-tan titanite crystals Field Collected: Tom Mortimer Catalog No.: u394 Notes:
TITANITE Rt 101-101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH 2 mm group of tan titanite crystals	Species: TITANITE Locality: Rt 101-101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH Specimen Size: 2 mm group of tan titanite crystals Field Collected: Tom Mortimer Catalog No.: u2264 Notes:
ZIRCON Rt 101-101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH 0.5 mm high crystal	Species: ZIRCON Locality: Rt 101-101A Road Cut, Amherst, NH Specimen Size: 0.5 mm high crystal Field Collected: Peter Cristofono Catalog No.: A Peter Cristofono specimen and photo Notes: