As mentioned in a previous post, I enjoyed a recent business trip to Israel. Fortunately for me, the original hotel where I was to stay was over-booked, so I was force to stay on a hotel on the beach in Herzliya. Each morning I went for a nice walk, and on may last day, I had some extra time and made quite a long walk along the beach. I found these rocks along the beach, below the cliffs.
The first appears to be an aggregate of broken shells. With the history of the area, too tough for a neophyte to know if it's natural or of human origin. Really pretty--very reminiscent of a stained glass window. The second piece is just a rock. Seemed to be different from most of the sedimentary rocks I found. No clue as to the minerals, but a guess would be calcite or dolomite, with perhaps a material similar to serpentine as the host.
Both pieces are about six to eight inches, and shown in longwave and natural light.
Importantly, I think there is a lot of potential for fluorescents in the country. The Henkel Journal lists fluorescent calcite in the Judean Hills outside of Jerusalem, as well as fluorescent calcites in the Ramon "crater" area. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to check out those areas. I did found some beautiful, three color, head sized, limestone rocks during my visit. Unfortunately, they were part of a retaining wall at my hotel--the quarry however, certainly would provide some stunning specimens.