3.3" White and Teal Aragonite Formation - Pilhuatepec, Mexico
This is a beautiful, 3.3" wide cluster of aragonite crystals with spots of blue-green coloration that can be attributed to copper minerals/impurities. The material was collected from a mine near the small town of Pilhuatepec, Mexico.
Aragonite is one of two common calcium carbonate (CaCO3) minerals: the other is calcite, of which aragonite forms as a pseudomorph. Its crystal lattice differs from calcite, resulting in a different crystal shape. It displays a translucent to white color when pure, and when impure can vary between yellow, green, pink, blue and brown. It typically forms in low-temperature hydrothermal veins, in hot springs, and as precipitates from chemicals in sedimentary rock. It can also form under biological processes: aragonite forms naturally in most mollusk shells, and as the calcareous endoskeleton most corals.
SPECIES
Aragonite with Copper
LOCATION
Near Pilhuatepec, Estado de Veracruz-Llave, Mexico
SIZE
3.3 x 2.4"
CATEGORY
ITEM
#242666