Chabazite

specimen number:
9302299

location:
Ober-Widdersheim quarry, Nidda, Wetteraukreis, Darmstadt, Hesse, Germany

description:

Good sharp twinned crystals of chabazite to 1.0 cm in size on matrix. In great condition. Very choice for this German locality and species.

The Ober-Widdersheim quarry, located near Nidda in the Wetteraukreis district of Hesse, Germany, is a classic European mineral locality renowned for producing exceptionally sharp crystals of zeolites and carbonates. Geologically, the quarry extracts raw material from a massive, thick volcanic deposit belonging to the tertiary Vogelsberg basalt field, which is the largest contiguous basalt volcanic area in Central Europe. As the thick basalt flows slowly cooled, volcanic gases formed numerous amygdaloidal vesicles and cavities within the dark gray to black olivine basalt rock matrix. Subsequent low-temperature hydrothermal activity filled these vesicular openings with highly distinct, well-crystallized specimens of phillipsite, chabazite, calcite, and radiating needles of natrolite. Commercial open-pit quarrying operations began at the site during the late nineteenth century to supply hard volcanic basalt stone for railway ballast, road construction, and industrial aggregates. The massive quarry remained in continuous, large-scale industrial operation through the twentieth century and early twenty-first century, serving as a highly prolific and tightly monitored source of mineral specimens for European field collectors before formal extraction work eventually winding down in recent years.

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