Datolite

specimen number:
1791260

location:
River's Bend, Cook Co., Minnesota, USA

description:
Neat locality example, a cut and polished datolite nodule half.

The bedrock geology of Cook County in northeastern Minnesota is characterized by billion-year-old midcontinent rift systems, featuring ancient volcanic basalt lavas, intrusive gabbro, and deep terrain shaped by glacial activity and complex faulting. Within this geologic framework, low-temperature hydrothermal processes fill cavities and veins in the mafic rocks. Datolite, a calcium boron silicate mineral, forms in these secondary vugs and fractures alongside zeolites and prehnite. Historically, the rugged terrain along the North Shore of Lake Superior has been explored for its diverse mineralogy and localized economic deposits tied to these ancient magmatic events.

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