Quartz

specimen number:
2292475

location:
Crystal Park, Beaverhead Co., Montana, USA

description:
Attractive cluster of glassy gemmy smoky to purple quartz crystals. Great luster and in very good condition.

Crystal Park, located in the Pioneer Mountains within the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest of Beaverhead County, Montana, has a history as a popular public recreation and mineral collection site managed by the USDA Forest Service. Geologically, the area was formed approximately 72 million years ago during the Late Cretaceous when molten granite intruded to form the Pioneer Batholith. As the magma cooled, superheated hydrothermal fluids rich in silica moved through fractures in the rock, depositing quartz crystals. Over millions of years, tectonic uplift and weathering broke down the surrounding granodiorite into loose decomposed granite, known as grus, leaving quartz crystals, smoky quartz, and amethyst liberated near or on the surface.

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