Michigan Man Credited With Discovering New Rock in Upper Peninsula
Last year Erik Rintamaki discovered new kind of rock in the Upper Peninsula...and I'm not talking about a new up and coming Michigan band called the Yooperlites. I'm talking about a really cool rock that actually glows and is now being referred to as 'Yooperlites.'
According to WDIV, Eric hit the beach one night in 2017 with a UV light and came home with rocks that have an orange glow under certain UV lights.
After selling a few rocks to Michigan Tech University they told him he had found something new that had never been found in Michigan before. He was then published in the Mineral News in 2018. I had no idea there was something called mineral news either lol.
Yooperlites can be found mostly found on Lake Superior between Whitefish Point an Grand Marais, and on the Keweenaw Peninsula.
To think, these rocks have been around forever and probably wouldn't have been found unless this guy thought to take a UV light with him while looking for rocks on the beach at night.
Geologists say syenite rocks are rich in fluorescent sodalite, which explains the glow.
If you'd like to buy some Yooperlites to add to your rock collection you can visit the Yooperlites Facebook page.