View allAll Photos Tagged Quartz
Himachal Pradesh, India. At ~ 15k feet. The clarity is amazing! This one is so clear that it has nearly mastered the art of invisibility! Thanks Andy, you picked one I really enjoy!.
Bukit Tabur (Bukit Hangus), Hulu Klang, Selangor, Malaysia.
Rhodoleia championii Hook. f.. Hamamelidaceae. CN: {Malay - Kerlik], 红花荷 hong hua he, Rhodoleia, Hong Kong rose. Distribution - China, Myanmar, Vietnam; Malesia (Indonesia - Sumatra; Malaysia (Peninsular). Shrub or tree to 30 m tall. Habitat in Penin. Malaysia - montane forest above 1,450 m asl, lower on quartzite ridge in Klang Gates. The fruit is a woody, 2-chambered capsule with 4 valves, joined basally into an ovoid head. Although there may be as many as 20 seeds in each chamber, usually only a few are fertile. The seeds are equipped with small wings and are hence wind dispersed. Empty capsules from the previous fruiting season are rather persistent, and are thus helpful in distinguishing this taxon from other look-alike species. One of the six found in Peninsular Malaysia. Hamamelidaceae recorded in Peninsular Malaysia represents an intrusion of the temperate element of the Asian continental flora.
Synonym(s):
Rhodoleia ovalifolia Ridl.
Rhodoleia teysmannii Miq.
Rhodoleia latiovatifolia G.A. Fu
Ref. and suggested reading:
FRIM Fllora Database
www.tfbc.frim.gov.my/Subscribe9.html
www.theplantlist.org/tpl1.1/record/tro-15100096
www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/taxon.pl?31663
www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=2...
A Dictionary of the Economic Products of the Malay Peninsula, I H Burkill et. al., Oxford University Press, 1935
Quartz, Ural, Russia.
Seen in Terra Mineralia, the largest collection of minerals in the world, Freiberg, Germany.
(crack surface)
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A mineral is a naturally-occurring, solid, inorganic, crystalline substance having a fairly definite chemical composition and having fairly definite physical properties. At its simplest, a mineral is a naturally-occurring solid chemical. Currently, there are over 5600 named and described minerals - about 200 of them are common and about 20 of them are very common. Mineral classification is based on anion chemistry. Major categories of minerals are: elements, sulfides, oxides, halides, carbonates, sulfates, phosphates, and silicates.
The silicates are the most abundant and chemically complex group of minerals. All silicates have silica as the basis for their chemistry. "Silica" refers to SiO2 chemistry. The fundamental molecular unit of silica is one small silicon atom surrounded by four large oxygen atoms in the shape of a triangular pyramid - this is the silica tetrahedron - SiO4. Each oxygen atom is shared by two silicon atoms, so only half of the four oxygens "belong" to each silicon. The resulting formula for silica is thus SiO2, not SiO4.
The simplest & most abundant silicate mineral in the Earth's crust is quartz (SiO2). All other silicates have silica + impurities. Many silicates have a significant percentage of aluminum (the aluminosilicates).
Quartz (silicon dioxide/silica - SiO2) is the most common mineral in the Earth's crust. It is composed of the two most abundant elements in the crust - oxygen and silicon. It has a glassy, nonmetallic luster, is commonly clearish to whitish to grayish in color, has a white streak, is quite hard (H≡7), forms hexagonal crystals, has no cleavage, and has conchoidal fracture. Quartz can be any color: clear, white, gray, black, brown, pink, red, purple, blue, green, orange, etc.
Seen here is the interior of a geode. Geodes are small to large, subspherical to irregularly-shaped, crystal-lined cavities in rocks. They form when water enters a void in a host rock and precipitates crystals. The most common geode-lining mineral is quartz. The glassy light-gray material in this sample is macrocrystalline quartz. The milky white material is apparently kaolinite, a clay mineral.
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Geode info. from the Field Museum of Natural History (Chicago, Illinois, USA):
"Geodes are hollow, subspherical bodies, ranging from an inch or two to a foot or more in diameter. Most geodes occur in limestones, rarely in shales. They have an outer chalcedonic silica layer which is separated from the enclosing limestone matrix by a thin clay film. The inner surface of the chalcedonic layer is usually lined with inward projecting quartz crystals, though in many geodes drusy coatings of calcite and dolomite occur commonly. Of less common occurrence, are crystals of magnetite, pyrite, sphalerite, and a few other such minor and rarer constituents.
The mode of origin of geodes in sedimentary rocks is but imperfectly understood. That geodes originate in an initial cavity, such as the unfilled space within a fossil, is well recognized, but whether such a cavity is a necessary prerequisite is open to question; geodes may originate in cavities formed by solution.
Many geodes show evidence of expansion, apparently resulting from pressure. A notable example of this singular phenomenon of expansion of the growing geodes is the "exploding bomb" structure.
"
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Photo gallery of quartz:
Quartz var. Amethyst. Crystal Hill Mine. Beidell District. Saguache Co., Colo. (Collection of the Colorado School of Mines Geology Museum. Golden, Colo.)
Rare 17 Jewel 1333 Quartz Chronometer c1980
Back in pre-2001 days, COSC certified quartz chronometer standards were 0.2 SPD (= 6 SPM = 73 SPY)
Agate and quartz lining a geode. (public display, Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Ohio, USA)
This is a cut slice from the interior of a geode. Geodes are small to large, subspherical to irregularly-shaped, crystal-lined cavities in rocks. They form when water enters a void in a host rock and precipitates crystals. The most common geode-lining mineral is quartz.
This geode is bordered by brownish, yellowish, and grayish agate. "Agate" is a rockhound/collector term for irregularly concentric layers of microcrystalline, fibrous quartz (chalcedony - SiO2). Agate is quartz.
The light gray, glassy & pale purplish material near the center is macrocrytalline quartz.
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Geode info. from the Field Museum of Natural History (Chicago, Illinois, USA):
"Geodes are hollow, subspherical bodies, ranging from an inch or two to a foot or more in diameter. Most geodes occur in limestones, rarely in shales. They have an outer chalcedonic silica layer which is separated from the enclosing limestone matrix by a thin clay film. The inner surface of the chalcedonic layer is usually lined with inward projecting quartz crystals, though in many geodes drusy coatings of calcite and dolomite occur commonly. Of less common occurrence, are crystals of magnetite, pyrite, sphalerite, and a few other such minor and rarer constituents.
The mode of origin of geodes in sedimentary rocks is but imperfectly understood. That geodes originate in an initial cavity, such as the unfilled space within a fossil, is well recognized, but whether such a cavity is a necessary prerequisite is open to question; geodes may originate in cavities formed by solution.
Many geodes show evidence of expansion, apparently resulting from pressure. A notable example of this singular phenomenon of expansion of the growing geodes is the "exploding bomb" structure.
"
Rhodochrosite on Quartz. Rhodochrosite is manganese carbonate. American Tunnel. Eureka District. Silverton, San Juan Co., Colo.
Locality: Huaron Mine, Lima province, Peru
Size: Specimen is 1.88 inches wide and 1.56 inches tall (right side).
SC2-0055
19g
A piece of art made by nature.
A polished Quartz crystal with amazing inclusions and colors
Will be listed soon in my Etsy store
What is straight? A line can be straight, or a street, but the human heart, oh, no, it's curved like a road through mountains. -Tennessee Williams
Here we have a very pretty sparkling Quartz formation from India, the specimen stands 3", and that is a hole in the center.
From the local rockyard comes this 3" wide specimen.
Contains:
Chalcedony (FL Green >UVbc)
Shown under UVabc light.
Key:
WL = White light (halogen + LED)
FL = Fluoresces
PHOS = Phosporescent
UVa = 368nm (LW), UVb = 311nm (MW), UVc = 254nm (SW)
'>' = "stimulated by:", '!' = "bright", '~' = "dim"
Obtained from Highland Rocks and Gems' Rockyard, Burns OR, USA.
Series best viewed in Light Box mode using Right and Left arrows to navigate.
18 Watt Triple Output UV lamp from Polman Minerals - Way Too Cool UV lamps
A collection of synthetic quartz crystals that were manufactured in Russia.
The hydrothermal transport method is used in a large autoclave to grow the quartz. An autoclave is an heated, pressurized container about 10 feet tall. It contains an aqueous solution of sodium carbonate or sodium hydroxide. Fragments of quartz are placed near the bottom of the autoclave. When heated, these fragments dissolve in the basic solution and become the nutrient solution for the growth of the seed crystals. In the upper portion of the container is a basket in which many small seed crystals of quartz are suspended (typically by an inert metal wire). When the temperature is raised to about 700 degrees F, the quartz fragments dissolve. Because the lower section is warmer than the top section, a convective current is created that transports the silica saturated solution up to the seed crystals. The seeds grow by the precipitation of the silica from the solution. This under saturated solution then sinks down to the heated quartz fragment area to become saturated and, again, rise back up to the growing seed crystals.
After World War II, it was obvious that a huge demand for flawless quartz crystals was required for electronic components, The autoclave method was designed in the late 1940's to produce colorless quartz for industrial applications. It was not until 1956 that Western Electric (Bell Systems) laboratories was able to mass produce acceptable quality and quantities of synthetic quartz crystals.
Soon afterwards, impurities were added to create colored quartz crystals, some of which are not naturally known.
Autoclave reference: