Celestine with Strontianite

specimen number:
2063219

location:
Travis Co., Texas, USA

description:
A neat cluster of very pale blue bladed Celestine crystals, these translucent, complete all around with no points of attachment. Colorless crystallized strontianite is present as well. In very good condition. The specimen comes with a previous label from the collection of Ray DeMark.

Celestine in Travis County, Texas, occurs within Cretaceous sedimentary formations, notably as nodules, geodes, and cavity fillings hosted in the dolomitic limestones and marls of the Glen Rose Formation. Geologically, these deposits formed in ancient shallow marine and lagoonal evaporite environments, where strontium-rich solutions replaced earlier calcium sulfate precursor nodules. While Texas celestine was historically extracted on a minor scale elsewhere in the state during the early twentieth century for drilling mud weighting agents, Travis County locations like Mount Bonnell and Bull Creek near Austin became famous primarily among mineral collectors. Collectors have long sought out these Travis County specimens for their attractive pale blue to colorless crystal sprays, sharp tabular habit, and well-formed geode interiors, making the region a historic benchmark locality for Central Texas mineral collecting.

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