Biotite on Calcite
specimen number:
2062716
location:
Swakopmund, Erongo, Namibia
description: Swakopmund was founded in 1892 as the main harbor for German South West Africa, growing from a harsh desert outpost into a thriving coastal city framed by the Namib Desert and the Atlantic Ocean. Geologically, the surrounding Erongo region is dominated by ancient basement rocks of the Damara Orogen intruded by younger Mesozoic granites and alkaline complexes formed during the breakup of Gondwana. Within this diverse geological setting, biotite occurs locally as a primary dark mica component in regional granites and as well-formed crystal aggregates within pegmatitic and carbonate-rich pockets throughout the broader Swakopmund district.
An excellent example for the species, a grouping of lustrous black thick biotite crystals standing free from matrix and 4.0 cm in height coming off calcite. Complete all around, this is in super condition. Note that the previous label gives the species as phlogopite, this is been proven to be biotite. The specimen comes with a previous label from the collection of Ray DeMark.
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