Agate
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Pockets of botryoidal nodules of chalcedony that have been stained by iron and manganese oxides lie in erosional ‘pockets’ within Paton’s Hole near Leavitt Reservoir in Big Horn County Wyoming. When cut these nodules are gray to white inside and have faint banding. The colorful hills in the “Hole” and around it are made up of beds of the Cretaceous Cloverly Formation. The Sykes Mountain Member or “Rusty Beds” lie at the top of the Cloverly Formation. The gray hills on the horizon are the Cretaceous Thermopolis, Mowry and Frontier Formations which are composed mostly of shale with some sandstone interbeds. Currently the reservoir has been drained and a new dam is planned. This area may be partially inundated when the lake is refilled behind the new dam.
My recently acquired and rather splendid Carnelian pyramid. It's the largest pyramid I've bought, 6cm square at the base, 7 cm high and weighing 218 grams.
Carnelian is a glassy, translucent stone, an orange-colored variety of Chalcedony, a mineral of the Quartz family.
Carnelian restores vitality and motivation, and stimulates creativity. It gives courage, promotes positive life choices, dispels apathy and motivates for success. Carnelian is useful for overcoming abuse of any kind. It helps in trusting yourself and your perceptions.
Definitely Dreaming 'beginning with C', 10/52
120 pictures in 2020 (89) pyramid
rock of chalcedony
in a mind of lumpen thought
a levee of illumined rock was wrought
limned with herbs of winter’s green
it would repel the hordes of proles unseen
but spoil befell the brittle chalcedony
the onyx wall usurped by misanthropy
(from: Ditties and Doggerels by FF Whitamore)
This quartz, var. chalcedony, "geode" was found along a small drainage off of the North Fork of the Shoshone River in the Absaroka Mountains west of Cody, Wyoming. The specimen was backlit with a small flashlight.
Chalcedony is a cryptocrystalline (microscopic to submicroscopic) variety of quartz. Most chalcedony contains small amounts (1%-20%) of the silica mineral Mogánite which has the same chemical formula as quartz (SiO₂) with some water and a different crystalline structure. With time the mogánite slowly converts into quartz. This conversion process results in mogánite-free chalcedony.
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This specimen of Quartz, variety chalcedony and agate, was found in the Lysite agate beds in the Bridger Mountains north of Lysite, in Fremont County, Wyoming. Botryoidal chalcedony on banded agate is common in these beds.
Chalcedony and agate are cryptocrystalline (microscopic to submicroscopic) varieties of quartz. Most chalcedony and agate contains small amounts (1%-20%) of the silica mineral mogánite which has the same chemical formula as quartz (SiO₂) with some water and a different crystalline structure. With time the mogánite slowly converts into quartz. This conversion process results in mogánite-free chalcedony/agate.
Donated by a member of the Northeast Wyoming Rockhounds, this petrified wood was collected in the Powder River near the Montana border. Its age is undetermined because it was not found in situ.
Petrified wood forms when fallen trees are rapidly buried by sediment—such as volcanic ash or river silt—that cuts off oxygen and slows decay. Over millions of years, mineral-rich groundwater seeps through the buried wood.
During permineralization, the dissolved minerals fill the tiny pores and spaces within the wood. If mineralization continues, replacement occurs—where the original cellular material is gradually replaced, atom by atom, with minerals such as quartz, chalcedony, or jasper. Both processes often occur together, though sometimes mineralization stops at the permineralization stage.
Over time, silica-rich fluids deposited quartz (SiO₂) in forms such as agate, chalcedony, or jasper, preserving the wood’s structure and growth patterns in beautiful detail. Occasionally, other minerals such as calcite, pyrite, opal, or hematite may serve as the permineralizing material. In some cases, even uranium ores—notably uraninite and carnotite—can fill the pore spaces, giving the fossil distinctive coloration and added scientific interest.
Paleontologists prefer terms like permineralization and replacement over petrifaction because they accurately describe the processes involved. Not all fossils form this way—others may result from carbonization, molds and casts, preservation in amber or tar, or natural mummification.
Specimen WY-2025-17-01
The colors of this necklace reminds me of the soothing waters of Magen's Bay in St. Thomas, Virgins Island.
My husband and I vacationed there when I was pregnant with our first daughter! AHHH the life we had there! It was so relaxing and serene that that calmness still carries with me (especially since my life is chaotic with 3 crazy girls!)
This is a new variation ot my Eliza necklace. This one has Neon blue apatite rondelles, Peruvian Chalcedony, and Mystic Blue Quartz. I especially love the assymetrical vermeil charm on the side.
Elongated teardrop chalcedony in a very subtle pastel green topped with blue topaz, spinel rondelles with tints of yellow and orange. a 30mm drop from earwire. Made using 925 silver wires and earwire.
Called by some locals, rockhounds and lapidarists Medicine Bow agate, this white chalcedony is full of dendrites of manganese oxides that were incorporated into the material during formation. As the name suggests, the chalcedony comes from an area northeast of Medicine Bow and west of the Laramie Range in Albany County, Wyoming. It is also called black plume agate, Medicine Bow plume agate, Marshall agate (for a nearby place) and white moss agate. This sample is approximately 6” across and 3” high.
Depending on the context, the term "chalcedony" has different meanings. Some apply the term to all varieties of quartz that are made of microscopic or submicroscopic crystals. Some geologists refer to these varieties of quartz as cryptocrystalline quartz. Examples are the different types of agate, jasper, flint; chert, chrysoprase, onyx, pietersite, etc. An agate is a very translucent and often banded form of chalcedony. The Medicine Bow agate does not fit this definition so some would say it is not a true agate.
The name, chalcedony, can also used in more restrictive ways by both mineralogists and rockhounds. There is not enough space to discuss those definitions in this caption but if the definition given above doesn’t fit your view of what chalcedony is, one of the others probably will. A good resource for a discussion on the different uses of the term chalcedony is: www.mindat.org/min-960.html#anchortopapproximately
A good size Blue Chalcedony stone set in a ring.
Calcedony is a mineral in the Quartz family. This is a dark blue one with lots of lights in it as well as milky areas .Some of them very solid that looks like clouds.
Captured with iPhone and Olloclip Macro Lens. Edited in In Snapseed.
These beautiful silicon creatures live in only one place on the planet. in Marocco. According to their structure, these are quartz druses of crystals and chalcedony. Both are silicon oxide (Si O2). Some attribute them to the Gobi Agate, but this is not correct. Other equally beautiful silicon creatures live in the Gobi Desert, but not Panda Agates.
This mineral also known as Truffle Chalcedony, Womb Stone, Chalcedony Nodules.
These are living organisms of silicon life form. This form of life appeared on our planet before water-carbon. They live, feed and grow, multiply, can get sick and die. The silicon world has its own parasites and food chains, and they also differ in the complexity of their structure and defrosting.
The diversity of silicon life is very large, but not as great as the water-carbon life form we are used to. In addition, the silicon life form exists in a different time corridor. For us, they are motionless, therefore they do not seem alive to us. Scientists disagree about longevity. Some scientists suggest that Agates, for example, live for hundreds of thousands of years, some for hundreds of millions.
I am very closely engaged in the study of this issue and will soon acquaint you with my discoveries.
"Carbon chauvinism"
This term is a consequence of the assumption that everything that can be called living must be built primarily from carbon. It is clear that this form of life is closest to us, so it is extremely difficult for us to imagine a different biochemistry.
The author of the term, astrophysicist Carl Sagan, criticizing this point of view, suggested that the basis for its nomination is only the fact that its adherents themselves consist of carbon and water and absorb oxygen in the process of metabolism.
Continuing a dynasty can be much harder than starting one. The successors of Augustus, the first Roman emperor, worked hard to demonstrate their connection to Augustus and hence their right to rule. Antonia Minor, shown here in this large cameo, was Augustus's niece and the mother of possible heirs to the throne.
The cameo depicts Antonia wearing a veil and a diadem in the guise of a priestess of the cult of the deified Augustus. Stars and a portrait of Augustus wearing a laurel wreath decorate the diadem. The cameo was probably carved after Antonia's death in A.D. 37, during the reign of her son Claudius, the fourth Roman emperor.
Small-scale portraits carved in the round from precious stones were probably once set into statues made of gold or silver, although no complete examples survive today. Elaborate cameo carvings such as this one were part of the production of commemorative luxury goods at the Roman imperial court.
Roman, white chalcedony, ca. 41-54 CE
Getty Villa Museum (81.AN.101)
Gorgeous elongated teardrops of pale blue chalecodony are wrapped in tons of sterling silver wire to make this elegant pair of earrings.
Pockets of botryoidal nodules of chalcedony that have been stained by iron and manganese oxides lie in erosional ‘pockets’ within Paton’s Hole near Leavitt Reservoir in Big Horn County Wyoming. When cut these nodules are gray to white inside and have faint banding. Currently the reservoir has been drained and a new dam is planned. This area may be partially inundated when the lake is refilled behind the new dam.
Chalcedony with Colloidal Cinnabar. Cinnabar is mercury sulfide, the primary ore of the metal. The host rock for mecury deposits at this site is a highly silicified rhyolite tuff, originally deposited as an ash fall in a lake within a collapsed caldera. The cinnabar in this deposit is characterized by trace amounts of chlorine which cause the bright red mineral to turn black very quickly after exposure to light, often within hours. In this freshly uncovered nodule, the cinnabar that previously had been exposed at the surface has already turned black. McDermitt Mine. Opalite District. Near McDermitt, Humboldt Co., Nevada.
Some crystals glow in the sunlight while others hide in the shadows. Chalcedony stalactite formation, Nashik, Maharastra, India. 5cm.
Found this moth on a window screen. Sent it to the experts to get an id. Turned out to be a new species for me. Very little info on it with a internet search other than what the larvae eat and where they can be found. The name Chalcedony comes from "CHALCEDONY: a precious stone, usually gray and/or whitish, sometimes mixed with other colors, resembling the colors on the moth's forewing" (Bugguide) Midget moths in general get their names from their tiny size and this one was really small.
Chalcedony Midget Moth (Elaphria chalcedonia)
My photos can also be found at kapturedbykala.com
The blue/purple example on the left is known as eyed agate; this particular specimen comes from Uruguay. The white material between the coloured spheres is also agate. The red/yellow example on the right features concentric rings and comes from New South Wales in Australia. Both rocks have been polished to emphasise their details. They are on display behind glass in the Minerals section of the Natural History Museum in South Kensington, London.
Agate is a rock consisting primarily of cryptocrystalline silica, chiefly chalcedony, alternating with microgranular quartz. It is characterised by its fineness of grain and variety of colours.
Most agates occur as nodules in volcanic rocks or ancient lavas, in former cavities produced by volatiles in the original molten mass, which were then filled, wholly or partially, by siliceous matter deposited in regular layers upon the walls. Agate has also been known to fill veins or cracks in volcanic or altered rock underlain by granitic intrusive masses. Such agates, when cut transversely, exhibit a succession of parallel lines, often of extreme tenuity, giving a banded appearance to the section.