Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone! For those of you who are grumpy on Valentine’s Day, here’s a heart of stone. For the geologists, this heart of stone that should make you slightly less grumpy. There are some good stones in there, including gabbros, purple calcite, nummulite-bearing rock, and some excellent shell fossils.

I’ve had a busy Valentine’s Day. I’m tired from spending 12 hours working on my thesis, but at least it was a good, productive day. My husband is away at sea, so at least I’m not missing a romantic evening. Although my two cats are seeking cuddles at the moment, so perhaps I’ll make them my valentines.

A heartstone is a heart-shaped rock. Many different types of rocks can be heartstones; all that matters is the shape. Many heartstones form naturally through tricks of weathering; others are artificially chiseled and polished into a heart shape.

I  often look for heartstones when walking– along a beach, a woodland path, or even a driveway. Whenever I find a heartstone, I think fondly of a bookstore called “Heartstone Books” that I used to visit in Putney, Vermont. Long before I ever studied geology in a formal manner, I used to enjoy looking at this bookstore’s collection of heartstone rocks and was amazed at how many different types of rocks– different colors and textures and sizes– could become heartstones.

I am currently traveling and cannot take photos of my own heartstones, so below are a few heartstone pictures that I’ve scavenged from the interwebs.

Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone!

Here are some more holiday rocks, in case you missed them:

A Birthday Rock: Peridotite

A New Year’s Day Rock: Travertine Icings and Scums

A Christmas Rock: Fossiliferous Coal

A Thanksgiving Rock: Granodiorite

Hearstone 1. Image taken from here.

Heartstone 2. Image taken from here.

Heartstone 3. Image taken from here.

Heartstone 4. Image taken from here.

Heartstone 5. Image taken from here.

Heartstone 6. Image taken from here.

Heartstone 7. Image taken from here.

Heartstone Books in Putney, Vermont. Image taken from here.

Polished heartstone on gypsum roses. Image taken from here.

Heartcut diamond. Image taken from here.