| Title | Chrysocolla with malachite and quartz, from Gila, Arizona |
|---|
| Description | The light green-turquoise sugary material is chrysocolla, CuSiO3•nH2O, (hydrated copper silicate). It generally has an attractive blue-green color that is distinctive in the mineral world. Chyrsocolla is really a mineraloid, not a true mineral. Most of the time it is amorphous (meaning that it does not have a coherent crystalline structure). At high temperatures it does demonstrate a distorted crystal structure that seems to be composed of Si4O10 sheets. Chrysocolla forms in the oxidation zones of copper rich ore bodies. In this sample, chrysocolla is accomapanied by dark green malachite, and white quartz. Also present is minor black cuprite. This sample is 10 cm across. |
|---|
| Location | USA ▹ Arizona. Near Gila. |
|---|
| Photographer | Darla Sondrol. 2001-06-18. |
|---|
| Collection | University of North Dakota Mineralogy Collection #1287. |
|---|
| Key words | chrysocolla, malachite, quartz, arizona |
|---|
| Tech details | 803 KB. Hand specimen. Fujifilm FinePix S1Pro digital camera; 60mm AF Nikon micro lens. |
|---|
| GeoDIL number | 751 |
|---|
 |
