Quartz with Anthroxalite

specimen number:
2062663

location:
Herkimer, New York, USA

description:
A gorgeous loose gem colorless glassy double terminated crystal of quartz black inclusions of anthroxalite. In super condition. The specimen comes with a previous label from the collection of Ray DeMark.

Herkimer, New York, has a rich history rooted in the Mohawk River Valley, where indigenous peoples and later 18th-century European settlers discovered exceptionally clear, double-terminated quartz crystals weathering out of local rock. Geologically, these crystals formed approximately 500 million years ago during the Cambrian period within cavities of the Little Falls Dolostone, a sedimentary carbonate rock laid down in a shallow ancient sea. Mineralizing fluids slowly percolated through these vugs, allowing the quartz to grow unattached and develop distinct points on both ends. Some of these remarkable crystals contain solid inclusions of anthroxalite, a black carbonaceous hydrocarbon that provides valuable clues about the organic and thermal history of the region.

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