2.4" Polished Dendritic Agate Sphere - Madagascar

This is agate from Madagascar which has been hand-polished from its original rough/natural state, into a sphere. There are small black/brown dendritic formations throughout the agate.

Comes with the pictured display stand.

Agate is a variety of microcrystalline quartz (chalcedony) that displays translucence and, in some cases, banding. Agate primarily forms when silica-rich fluids fill pockets within rocks and/or fossils, depositing the silica along the walls of the rock. This process can result in banding patterns, as the compositions and impurities of these depositing fluids change over time. These banding patterns can either form as flat layers, creating linear patterns known as waterline agate, or as rounded layers, forming more common ring-like patterns. These patterns depend on the surfaces available for deposition.

Dendrites that occur within rock are most often a result of intruding (percolating) mineral solutions that contained manganese and/or iron. These solutions can work their way through microscopic cracks in the rock, leaving behind unique branching patterns. To an untrained eye, these can be mistaken for plant fossils within the rock.
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DETAILS
SPECIES
Chalcedony var. Agate
LOCATION
Madagascar
SIZE
2.4" in diameter
CATEGORY
SUB CATEGORY
ITEM
#157637