VOLCANIC PUMICE STONES FROM MT. MEAGER CANADA
These wonderfully light natural Pumice stones are lovingly hand harvested by a local family in Mt. Meager in British Columbia, Canada. Mt. Meager is the only known source of natural Pumice in all of Canada. These are gathered from a site nearest the volcano's vent where the Pumice is naturally purest. The stones are not treated in any way. They are gently tumbled to smooth out the sharp edges.
The froth from Lava
Pumice is a volcanic rock that is a solidified frothy lava typically created when super-heated, highly pressurized rock is violently ejected from a volcano. It's basically lava froth or solidified foam! It is formed from lava with a high content of water and gases. When the molten rock is effervescing to the point of forming a froth and then solidifies, pumice is the result. This unusual formation is due to the simultaneous actions of rapid cooling and rapid depressurization. The depressurization creates bubbles by lowering the solubility of gases (including water and CO2) dissolved in the lava, so that they rapidly exsolve (like the bubbles of CO2 that appear when a carbonated drink is opened).The simultaneous cooling then freezes the bubbles in the matrix. LIGHT AS AIRPumice has numerous open spaces or vesicles in the form of round bubbles, linear tubes or irregular cavities. There is so much porosity in pumice that there is often more empty space than actual rock and in fact some pumice can float on water. Some ocean related volcanoes have produced what are known as pumice rafts, which are actual floating mini islands made of rock. These pumice islands can exist for years floating along the ocean currents. Some may have been responsible for the distribution of island hopping animals and plants of the Pacific Ocean. Some pumice islands have been found with plants actually growing on them.
Glass
Pumice is actually a kind of glass and not a mixture of minerals. Pumice differs from obsidian in that obsidian is all glass and lacks the extensive vesicles (which is basically a bubble of liquid within another liquid) of pumice.
It's everywhere
This amazing stone is found all around us and we don't realize it. It is used in the cosmetics industry as an exfoliating pad, scouring stones and as an additive in creams and lotions. Pumice's hardness makes it useful as an abrasive and its light weight gives it an advantage for use as large decorative rocks for landscaping. Its porous nature makes it a natural for filters.
The Magic of Pumice
Pumice is not often thought of as a metaphysical stone. We can learn a lot about a stone's metaphysical properties by learning about its physical properties. When I began to delve into the physical qualities of this stone, I was amazed. Then these magical stone beings shared a song that took me even deeper.
These Pumice stones vary in size but average 3"