Gypsum

specimen number:
2062924

location:
Great Salt Plains, Jet, Alfalfa Co., Oklahoma, USA

description:
An aesthetic cluster of brown slightly translucent gypsum crystals without matrix. Some of these show and hourglass structure on the interior typical of the locality. No points of attachment and in great condition. The specimen comes with a previous label from the collection of Ray DeMark.

The Great Salt Plains of Alfalfa County, Oklahoma, formed through the evaporation of an ancient inland sea that left behind extensive salt deposits and a shallow saline water table. Beneath the flat, shimmering plains lies the Blaine Formation, a geological layer rich in sulfate minerals from which groundwater dissolves and redeposits material. As groundwater mixes with iron-rich clay and sand near the surface, it evaporates and crystallizes around sand grains, producing the unique hourglass-shaped selenite crystals found nowhere else in the world. Historically, this area has attracted mineral collectors and tourists since the early 20th century, culminating in the establishment of the Salt Plains State Park and National Wildlife Refuge, which famously allows public digging for these remarkable crystals.

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