Myst Comic Notes #1: Minerals

A few weeks ago, I went to the Harvard Museum of Natural History. It was a real delight. It's got that great old-timey naturalist vibe that I associate with Atrus.

They had a great collection of minerals. I got really excited when I saw ones some Myst related ones. I took some pictures.

There's some sulfur, which is all over the volcano where Atrus and Anna live.



Atrus uses galena (lead sulfide) for his battery.



In my Myst comic, Anna points out a chunky white mineral as a type of feldspar:

Given the rock is andesite, then the feldspar is more specifically andesine, a plagioclase feldspar.




I was somewhat confused by the display though. It says on the "Feldspar Group" paper that they don't have Plagioclase feldspars on display. But they did have andesine.

 In fact, my understanding is andesine, albite, oligoclase, labradorite and anorthite are all part of a series known as plagioclase feldspars. I don't understand why plagioclase is on the list as an individual species name.

Any geology lovers out there know why that would be? Is there a single feldspar species known as plagioclase?