New Mexico Mineral Symposium — Abstracts

The southwest quadrant of New Mexico hosts many localities yielding calcium carbonate minerals that fluoresce under short wave and long wave ultraviolet light. These localities correlate geographically with the mapped occurrence of manganese (Mn) deposits. Specimen fluorescent colors range from deep red, orange and pink (Mn activator?) to white, yellow and green (uranium and organic activators?). Samples were selected for a range of fluorescent color and intensity and submitted to a commercial lab for ICP analyses to determine potential UV activator elements. A comparison with other US fluorescent localities is presented.