Babingtonite with Calcite

specimen number:
1605114

location:
Lane's Quarry, Westfield, Hampden Co., Massachusetts, USA

description:
Good thumbnail for this East Coast classic with lustrous black babingtonite crystal 1.0 cm in size on a calcite matrix.

Lane's Quarry, located in Westfield, Hampden County, Massachusetts, is a historic trap rock quarry that operated during the late 19th and 20th centuries to supply crushed stone and construction aggregate for regional infrastructure. Geologically, the site is situated within the Mesozoic era formations of the Hartford Basin, featuring basalt flows and intrusive trap rock where mineral-rich hydrothermal solutions filled vesicles and fractures. Mineralogically, the quarry became famous among collectors for producing exceptional specimens of zeolites and associated minerals, most notably fine crystals of prehnite, datolite, quartz, calcite, and distinct black crystal clusters of babingtonite.

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