8 November 2011

Mystery mineral molds

Posted by Callan Bentley

Here’s a piece of vein quartz with a series of interesting “cubist disc” shaped holes in it. I interpret these cavities as external molds of some mineral which has now been physically removed or chemically weathered away. So only its exterior shape remains, and I wonder if that’s enough to identify the mineral that used to be here. Both images below can be enlarged by clicking on them:

And the other side; same sort of impressions:

The cobble of vein quartz was found in the Virginia Piedmont, but it could have originated anywhere.

Anyone have any idea what these might be?