New Jersey’s Watchung Mountains: The Three Lava Flows Behind a Century of Mineral Collecting
Quick answer: New Jersey’s Watchung Mountains are three long ridges made from three separate basalt lava flows that erupted about
Weston, Ohio: The Quarry Behind the Shop’s Golden Calcite
Quick answer: Weston, in Wood County in northwestern Ohio, sits beside quarries such as the Pugh Quarry, where ancient dolostone
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The Mohawk Valley: The Specific Rock Layer Behind New York’s Herkimer Diamonds
Quick answer: Herkimer diamonds come from one specific rock layer: the Little Falls Dolostone, a roughly 500-million-year-old Cambrian formation exposed
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Chihuahua, Mexico: The Quartz Locality Most Collectors Never Learn the Name Of
Quick answer: Chihuahua, Mexico’s largest state, is one of the world’s great mineral regions, though collectors rarely learn its name.
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How Petrified Wood Ended Up on Long Island
Quick answer: Long Island has no petrified forests and no bedrock that makes petrified wood; pieces found there were carried
Paterson, New Jersey: The Trap-Rock Quarries That Put American Minerals on the Map
Quick answer: The trap-rock quarries of Paterson, New Jersey, cut into the 200-million-year-old Watchung basalt flows, produced some of America’s
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Travertine at Ilion Gorge: The Same Rock Behind the Colosseum, Growing in Upstate New York
Quick answer: Travertine is a banded form of calcite deposited by springs as carbonate-rich water releases carbon dioxide, and it
Rockhounding the Northeast: The Geology Behind New York, New Jersey, and New Hampshire’s Best-Known Localities
Quick answer: The Northeast offers some of America’s best rockhounding because of its varied geology: Herkimer diamond quartz in New
Milky Quartz: The Everyday Crystal Hiding Inside New Hampshire Granite
Quick answer: Milky quartz is ordinary quartz turned white by countless microscopic fluid-filled bubbles trapped as it grew, which scatter
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Ohio’s Honey-Gold Calcite: A Classic Midwest Crystal Find
Quick answer: Ohio’s honey-gold calcite comes from cavities in ancient dolostone exposed in northwestern Ohio quarries, including those around Weston
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