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Quartzine
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| Colour: | colorless | Hardness: | 6½ - 7 |
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A variety of Chalcedony
A fibrous variety of chalcedony. It is also called "length-slow chalcedony" and is usually intergrown with another, more common type of fibrous chalcedony, "length-fast chalcedony", that comprises most of the agate, chalcedony and flint specimen. Quartzine is more uncommon.
Quartzine "fibers" are made of tiny quartz crystals that are stacked along the c-axis (the long axis of the crystals).
It is not possible to identify quartzine with the naked eye, one needs a polarizing microscope to do that (which is also the reason for the odd names "length-slow" and "length-fast chalcedony" that refer to a special optical property of the chalcedony fibers).
However, the peculiar patterns seen in some chalcedony specimen, most notably so-called "feather agates", are caused by the intergrowth of quartzine with "ordinary" length-fast chalcedony (see photo).
Quartzine in Polarizing MicroscopeQuartzine and length-fast chalcedony give similar extinction patterns in thin sections, in both cases spherulites show a cross-shaped pattern. Although length-fast chalcedony generally looks more fibrous and quartzine more patchy, the safe way to distinguish them is by using a λ-compensator.
The photo to the left shows a small spherulite of length-fast chalcedony that is surrounded by a ring of quartzine, which in turn is embedded in length-fast chalcedony. In spherulitic growth, quartzine shows the yellow color in the upper left and lower right quadrant, rotated by 90 degrees with respect to length-fast chalcedony.
Top: crossed polarizers
Bottom: crossed polarizers with λ-compensator.
Field of view 980µm.
A fibrous variety of chalcedony. It is also called "length-slow chalcedony" and is usually intergrown with another, more common type of fibrous chalcedony, "length-fast chalcedony", that comprises most of the agate, chalcedony and flint specimen. Quartzine is more uncommon.
Quartzine "fibers" are made of tiny quartz crystals that are stacked along the c-axis (the long axis of the crystals).
It is not possible to identify quartzine with the naked eye, one needs a polarizing microscope to do that (which is also the reason for the odd names "length-slow" and "length-fast chalcedony" that refer to a special optical property of the chalcedony fibers).
However, the peculiar patterns seen in some chalcedony specimen, most notably so-called "feather agates", are caused by the intergrowth of quartzine with "ordinary" length-fast chalcedony (see photo).
Quartzine in Polarizing Microscope
The photo to the left shows a small spherulite of length-fast chalcedony that is surrounded by a ring of quartzine, which in turn is embedded in length-fast chalcedony. In spherulitic growth, quartzine shows the yellow color in the upper left and lower right quadrant, rotated by 90 degrees with respect to length-fast chalcedony.
Top: crossed polarizers
Bottom: crossed polarizers with λ-compensator.
Field of view 980µm.
Classification of Quartzine | ||
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Physical Properties of Quartzine | ||
| Lustre: | Waxy | |
| Diaphaneity (Transparency): | Translucent | |
| Comment: | Vitreous when polished | |
| Colour: | colorless | |
| Comment: | all colors depending on embedded impurities | |
| Streak: | white/colorless | |
| Hardness (Mohs): | 6½ - 7 | |
| Fracture: | Conchoidal | |
| Density (measured): | 2.6 - 2.65 g/cm3 | |
| Comment: | varies with type and amount of impurities | |
Other Names for Quartzine | ||
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Other Information | ||
| Health Warning: | No information on health risks for this material has been entered into the database. You should always treat mineral specimens with care. | |
References for Quartzine | ||
| Reference List: - + | Keene, J.B. (1983) Chalcedonic quartz and occurrence of quartzine (length-slow chalcedony) in pelagic sediments. Sedimentology, 30: 449-454. Flörke, O.W., Graetsch, H., Martin, B., Röller, K., Wirth, R. (1991) Nomenclature of micro- and non-crystalline silica minerals based on structure and microstructure. Neues Jahrbuch der Mineralogie Abhandlungen, 163: 19-42. Graetsch, H. (1994) Structural characteristics of opaline and microcrystalline silica minerals. Reviews in Mineralogy, Vol.29, Silica - Physical behavior, geochemistry and materials applications. Xu, H., Buseck, P.R., Luo, G. (1998) HRTEM investigation of microstructure in length-slow chalcedony. American Mineralogist, 83: 542-545. | |
Internet Links for Quartzine | ||
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Localities for Quartzine | ||
(TL) indicates type locality. ? indicates mineral may be doubtful at this locality. All other localities listed without reference should be considered as uncertain and unproven until references can be found.
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