Quartz (Var: Smoky Quartz)

Locality: Benedict Creek area (Devil's Den), Sawtooth Batholith/Sawtooth Mts, Boise Co., Idaho, USA

This exceptional smoky quartz crystal was found during a tremendous lightning storm, at an elevation of about 8,500 feet, in a boulder field where no shelter was available. Note the multiple terminations typical of Sawtooth miarolitic smokies. An hour after collecting this miarolitic cavity, I returned after unloading the specimens at my campsite, and found a tree nearby had been hit with a lightning bolt and completely stripped of its bark, from top to bottom; all the bark was neatly piled around the base of the tree, but not a single burn was evident. Size of specimen: 8.3 x 5.1 x 4.5 cm.; self-collected.

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Photo added: 29th Nov 2008

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Copyright © Jolyon Ralph and Ida Chau 1993-2012. Site Map. Locality, mineral & photograph data are the copyright of the individuals who submitted them. Further information contact the Site hosted & developed by Jolyon Ralph. Mindat.org is an online information resource dedicated to providing free mineralogical information to all. Mindat relies on the contributions of hundreds of members and supporters. Mindat does not offer minerals for sale. If you would like to add information to improve the quality of our database, then click here to register.
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