Wavellite

specimen number:
2063527

location:
Montgomery County Quarry, Mauldin Mountain, Montgomery Co., Arkansas, USA

description:
Attractive ball of crystallized green wavellite 1.2 cm in diameter set at the top edge of a meta-chert matrix. In perfect condition. Classic for the species and locality. The specimen comes with a previous label from the collection of Ray DeMark. Note that the label gives an erroneous locality, there is no doubt that this is from the locality we provide.

Located on the southern slope of Mauldin Mountain near Mount Ida, Arkansas, the Montgomery County Quarry consists of open-cut workings originally operated by the local government to produce crushed road metal. Geologically, the quarry cuts through the highly fractured Ordovician Bigfork Chert, where circulation of supergene aluminum- and phosphate-rich solutions through fractures formed colorful secondary phosphate mineralization. Operational activities in the 1970s exposed exceptional mineral pockets that yielded world-class wavellite specimens, celebrated by mineral collectors for their vibrant green hues and distinctive radial, botryoidal spherical habits. Related aluminum phosphate species like planerite, which forms light blue-green crusts, and variscite are also found deposited alongside the wavellite throughout the fractured chert matrix.

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