Tim Novak's Photo Gallery

7LJ-85NHeulandite Subgroup (Na/Ca/K)_5-6[Al_8-9 Si_27-28 O₇₂]· nH₂O , Calcite CaCO₃

Fairfax Quarry, Centreville, Culpeper Basin, Fairfax County, Virginia, USA

Field of View: 17.5 mm
Largest Crystal Size: 2 mm

Gleaming translucent peach colored Heulandite crystals on white Calcite lining an opened vesicle in gray diabase.

24J-2A6Magnesite MgCO₃

Hunting Hill Quarry, Rockville, Montgomery County, Maryland, USA

Dimensions: 3.0 inches x 2.0 inches x 1.3 inches
Field of View: 3.3 inches
Largest Crystal Size: 1.5 mm
Weight: 119 g

Vuggy light pink Magnesite with sparkling pink and white rhombohedral crystals around the specimen.

5PA-F4VPectolite NaCa₂Si₃O₈(OH) , Thomsonite Subgroup

Fairfax Quarry, Centreville, Culpeper Basin, Fairfax County, Virginia, USA

Dimensions: 3.5 inches x 2.0 inches x 1.3 inches
Field of View: 2.75 inches
Weight: 117 g

Tan Pectolite with overgrowths of translucent gray Thomsonite.

Q07-4JEThomsonite Subgroup, Pectolite NaCa₂Si₃O₈(OH)

Fairfax Quarry, Centreville, Culpeper Basin, Fairfax County, Virginia, USA

Field of View: 1.1 inches
Largest Crystal Size: 1.0 mm

A crystalline druse of translucent gray Thomsonite formed on the surface of tan Pectolite botroyoids.

R59-K13Clinozoisite (CaCa)(AlAlAl)O[Si₂O₇][SiO₄](OH)

Hunting Hill Quarry, Rockville, Montgomery County, Maryland, USA

Dimensions: 4.0 inches x 2.0 inches x 2.0 inches
Field of View: 4.3 inches
Largest Crystal Size: 1.0 inches
Weight: 155 g

Wonderful honey colored Clinozoisite crystal specimen. Crystals were completely embedded in a dark grey Calcite and exposed by dissolution. It is a slow process to properly expose groups such as this, slowly dissolving the overall specimen first to expose all sides and areas of highest crystal formation and their orientation. Then once these features are identified fixtures are created to hold it upside down in proper orientation and heights in the acid such that once certain areas dissolve through, remaining areas do not break free cracking crystals in the process. The fixture is adjusted as the material shrinks; some material is left in certain areas to provide supports.

1T7-WQFDeweylite Mg₄Si₃O₁₀·6H₂O ? , Aragonite CaCO₃

Hunting Hill Quarry, Rockville, Montgomery County, Maryland, USA

Dimensions: 2.0 inches x 0.8 inches x 0.6 inches
Field of View: 7.6 inches
Weight: 19 g

Contrasting yellow translucent Deweylite is interspersed with white Aragonite crystal spray growths making this an attractive combination specimen.

F0Y-M8WTalc Mg₃Si₄O₁₀(OH)₂

Hunting Hill Quarry, Rockville, Montgomery County, Maryland, USA

Dimensions: 1.6 inches x 1.0 inches x 0.8 inches
Field of View: 2.9 inches
Largest Crystal Size: 1 inches
Weight: 10 g

A high grade 1 inch high caribbean blue-green Talc crystal from the upper East side of the quarry. The large vein it came from was about 2 inches in thickness, yielding a large quantity of specimens.

XTG-QM1Clinochrysotile

Hunting Hill Quarry, Rockville, Montgomery County, Maryland, USA

Dimensions: 2.5 inches x 1.2 inches x 0.5 inches
Field of View: 2.5 cm
Largest Crystal Size: .5 inches
Weight: 50 g

The occurrence of multiple veins and colors of minerals in this quarry has left me attempting to classify some that I am unfamiliar with. This attractive, light blue-gray fine-grained material with some deposition layering differentiation appears similar to quartz, but seems to in fact be Clinochrysotile based on the following reference.

'Serpentinite and Rodingite in the Hunting Hill Quarry, Montgomery County, Maryland',
Geological Survey Bulletin 1283, p.20
"Clinochrysotile forms veins 1/8 to 2 inches thick in serpentinite; the largest vein strikes N. 50° W. and dips '25° NE. The mineral is extremely fine grained, pale grayish green to bluish green, massive, waxy, and has an unctuous feel; it is hard and breaks with a conchoidal fracture. The outer surfaces or contacts of the thickest vein are
mammillary or botryoidal; the clinochrysotile is bordered with calcite and dolomite.

22K-E90Epidote (CaCa)(AlAlFe³⁺)O[Si₂O₇][SiO₄](OH) , K Feldspar, K Feldspar (Var: Adularia) KAlSi₃O₈

Old Goose Creek Quarry, Leesburg, Loudoun County, Virginia, USA

Dimensions: 6.2 cm x 4.5 cm x 5.0 cm
Field of View: 2.5 cm
Largest Crystal Size: .8 cm

An upper level of the quarry had exposed multiple veins of this pink to orange K-spar having vugs containing fine sharp cubic pink K-feldspar and white to clear Anorthite crystals with later stage Epidote crystal sprays.

FHL-98FStilbite Subgroup M_6-7[Al_8-9Si_27-28O₇₂]·nH₂O

New Goose Creek Quarry, Leesburg, Loudoun County, Virginia, USA

Dimensions: 1.3 inches x 1.3 inches x 0.4 inches
Field of View: 1.4 inches

The unique form and color of this Stilbite crystalline spray begged to be backlit; hence clearly stated to not represent a daylight view of the specimen. The bulk is a deep salmon pink-orange, grading to colorless translucency at the outermost terminations. See child photo for daylight fluorescent view. A fracture filling in the basalt produced a fair amount of this material.