5.5" Natural Red Quartz Crystal Cluster - Morocco

This is a beautiful cluster of natural red quartz crystals from Tinejdad, Morocco. The red coloration is due to iron oxidation coating the exterior of the crystals. There appears to be a spherical formation of bladed barite on one of the quartz crystals, along with aggregations across what could be considered the underside of the specimen.

Quartz is the name given to silicon dioxide (SiO2) and is the second most abundant mineral in the Earth's crust. Quartz crystals generally grow in silica-rich environments--usually igneous rocks or hydrothermal environments like geothermal waters--at temperatures between 100°C and 450°C, and usually under very high pressure. In either case, crystals will precipitate as temperatures cool, just as ice gradually forms when water freezes. Quartz veins are formed when open fissures are filled with hot water during the closing stages of mountain formation: these veins can be hundreds of millions of years old.

Hematite is a fairly common mineral, typically responsible for the red-brown colorations found in other minerals and rocks. Its chemical composition is Fe2O3, occasionally containing small amounts of titanium (variable formula (Fe,Ti)2O3). Much of the time, non-crystalline hematite specimens are the result of a transformation from limonite following loss of water.

#{barite}
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DETAILS
SPECIES
Quartz with Iron Oxide & Barite
LOCATION
Tinejdad, Errachidia Province, Morocco
SIZE
5.5 x 3.2"
CATEGORY
SUB CATEGORY
ITEM
#134223