Gypsum after Glauberite

specimen number:
2062922

location:
Camp Verde, Yavapai Co., Arizona, USA

description:
A loose floater grouping of what were once glauberite crystals, these now replaced by gypsum. Famous material for this locality. In very good condition all around. The specimen comes with a previous label from the collection of Ray DeMark.

Camp Verde, located in Yavapai County, Arizona, sits within the Verde Valley, where extensive Miocene to Pliocene lakebed deposits known as the Verde Formation preserve rich evaporite layers. Mining history here dates back centuries, beginning with prehistoric indigenous groups harvesting salt and local minerals, followed later by historic commercial operations targeting salt, sodium sulfate, and gypsum deposits. The area is globally famous among mineral collectors for its remarkable pseudomorphs, these specimens where one mineral replaces another while preserving the original crystal shape. Specifically, pristine crystals of glauberite formed in the ancient alkaline evaporating basin, and groundwater later dissolved them or replaced them molecule by molecule with gypsum (often varieties like selenite). This left behind sharp, highly sought-after monoclinic crystal clusters and standalone forms composed of gypsum that still retain the distinct, original morphology of the long-gone glauberite.

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