Vonsenite

specimen number:
2354166

location:
New City Quarry, Riverside Co., California, USA

description:
Sparkling black crystallized vonsenite across the top of matrix. Good rich example for the species.

Located just east of Victoria Avenue near Riverside in Riverside County, California, the New City Quarry is a former municipal limestone quarry situated within a contact metamorphic deposit. The geology is characterized by pre-Cenozoic metasedimentary carbonate rocks and dolomite that were intruded by granitic magma, creating a high-grade contact metamorphic skarn zone featuring periclase, spinel, and monticellite facies. Active extraction took place primarily in the early twentieth century as municipal workers quarried the limestone and dolomite for local construction and industrial uses. During operations, the exposure of altered marble contact zones caught the attention of mineralogists and local collectors, gaining notable fame in 1939 when rare dark blue bands of serendibite were identified alongside associated skarn species like diopside, brucite, and skeletonized apophyllite. Modern collecting at the quarry site is now defunct and restricted as the area has been surrounded by urban development in the city of Riverside.

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