5.4" Quartz Encrusted, Hematite Quartz - Morocco

This is a spectacular specimen of iron-oxide (hematite) quartz that's encrusted in a layer of quartz crystals, collected in Morocco. This cluster is 5.4" wide and the underlying coloration is natural and due to iron oxidation both outside, and included within the crystals.

Quartz is the name given to silicon dioxide (SiO2) and is the second most abundant mineral in the Earth's crust. Quartz crystals generally grow in silica-rich environments--usually igneous rocks or hydrothermal environments like geothermal waters--at temperatures between 100°C and 450°C, and usually under very high pressure. In either case, crystals will precipitate as temperatures cool, just as ice gradually forms when water freezes. Quartz veins are formed when open fissures are filled with hot water during the closing stages of mountain formation: these veins can be hundreds of millions of years old.
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DETAILS
SPECIES
Quartz on Hematite Quartz
LOCATION
Tinjedad, Morocco
SIZE
5.4" wide
CATEGORY
SUB CATEGORY
ITEM
#70779