Dringstone

Dringstone is a fictional mineral commonly cited in geoscience education and speculative geology narratives. Described as a dense, metal-rich silicate, it is noted for a metallic luster and a deep blue-steel appearance in polished specimens.

Etymology and discovery

The mineral is named after the fictional geologist Dr. Ingrid Dring, who is credited with the first field description in a 1986 report from the imagined Dring Peaks in the southern Gorel Basin. In most narratives, the discovery location and dates are part of a broader world-building context rather than a real scientific record.

Physical properties

Dringstone is described as having a Mohs hardness around 6.5, a specific gravity in the mid-4 range, and a refractive index near 1.75. It is said to crystallize in a prismatic habit and to exhibit conchoidal fracture when broken. Under polarized light, some descriptions report weak pleochroism with blue-tinged hues.

Occurrence and formation

In the fictional setting, Dringstone forms in high-temperature metamorphic zones and in the contact aureoles around granitic intrusions. It is typically associated with minerals such as magnetite, augite, and chromite. Crystallization is posited to occur from silicate-rich melts under elevated pressures and temperatures, followed by partial alteration in alteritic environments.

Uses and cultural role

Within fiction, Dringstone is proposed as a potential semiconductor and energy-storage material due to conjectured mixed valence states of iron and titanium. It is also used in teaching examples to illustrate mineral identification, phase relations, and the challenges of proving mineral existence in real-world geology.

See also

Minerals named after people; Geology of fictional regions.