Quartz

specimen number:
2072207

location:
Hot Springs area, Arkansas, USA

description:
A loose gem colorless glassy crystal of quartz.

The Hot Springs area of Garland County, Arkansas, is globally recognized as the source of the world's finest clear quartz crystals. Geologically, these crystals are hosted within the Ouachita Mountains, where intense tectonic activity during the Pennsylvanian-Permian Ouachita Orogeny fractured the Ordovician-aged Crystal Mountain and Blakely Sandstones. Hydrothermal fluids circulating through these fractures at temperatures between 200 and 250 degrees Celsius allowed for the slow growth of exceptionally pure, colorless quartz in large open vugs. Historically, while the crystals were utilized by indigenous peoples for thousands of years, commercial mining surged in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as the area became a major health resort. During World War II, from 1941 to 1945, the region saw intensive federal oversight to extract quartz for its piezoelectric properties in radio oscillators. Today, numerous fee-mining quarries, such as those at Mount Ida and Jessieville, remain active, transitioning from industrial suppliers to premier destinations for specimen collectors and tourists seeking "Arkansas Diamonds" of remarkable clarity and form.

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