{"id":21827,"date":"2023-08-21T03:00:59","date_gmt":"2023-08-21T10:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rockngem.com\/?p=21827"},"modified":"2023-08-21T06:30:50","modified_gmt":"2023-08-21T13:30:50","slug":"micro-quartz-mineral-basics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rockngem.com\/micro-quartz-mineral-basics\/","title":{"rendered":"Micro Quartz Mineral Basics"},"content":{"rendered":"

Quartz minerals<\/a> are usually thought of as large single crystals. Microcrystalline quartz, however, is dense with crystal grains so small that an optical microscope is necessary to view the individual crystals. When those crystals are so small they cannot individually be seen using a specialized microscope, they are called cryptocrystalline.<\/p>\n

Chalcedony<\/h2>\n
\"quartz-minerals\"
Pin this post to save this information for later.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The general term, chalcedony, refers to varieties of quartz<\/a> where microcrystalline and cryptocrystalline crystals intertwine and grow together. There are many varieties of chalcedony in different colors and patterns. They are plentiful and popular. Gem-grade chalcedony is generally light blue<\/a>, white or gray and often called holly blue. Chalcedony\u2019s name is said to come from the Greek port of Chalcedon.<\/p>\n

Varieties of Microcrystalline Quartz<\/h2>\n

Agate<\/strong><\/a> \u2013 Curved banded variety<\/p>\n

Jasper<\/strong><\/a> \u2013 Opaque, red or green varieties<\/p>\n

Chert<\/strong><\/a> \u2013 General name used for compact, hard rocks that contain microcrystalline quartz<\/p>\n

Flint<\/strong><\/a> \u2013 Afiner-grained, harder type of chert, Ohio\u2019s official gemstone<\/p>\n

\"quartz-mineral\"
Chrysoprase is a type of microcrystalline quartz prized for use in the jewelry trade. Photo by Richard Gross<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Carnelian<\/strong> \u2013 Orange-red opaque mineral<\/p>\n

Onyx<\/strong><\/a> \u2013 Parallel banded variety<\/p>\n

Sardonyx<\/strong> \u2013 Red sard and white chalcedony<\/p>\n

Chrysoprase<\/strong><\/a> \u2013 Translucent, apple-green color<\/p>\n

Bloodstone<\/strong> \u2013 Dark green with red spots of iron oxide<\/p>\n

Petrified Wood<\/strong><\/a> \u2013 Over time chalcedony replaces wood while preserving the growth rings<\/p>\n

Happy Micro Quartz<\/h2>\n

Microcrystalline quartz has so many beautiful varieties that it\u2019s often interwoven into our pop culture. It\u2019s a happy birthday for these micro quartz birthstones – bloodstone (May) and sardonyx (August). Chalcedony itself is said to bring stability and balance to its bearer.<\/p>\n

This story about micro quartz minerals<\/span> previously appeared in Rock & Gem magazine. <\/em>Click here to subscribe.<\/a> Story by Richard Gross and Pam Freeman.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Quartz minerals are usually thought of as large single crystals. Microcrystalline quartz, however, is dense with crystal grains so small that an optical microscope is necessary to view the individual crystals. When those crystals are so small they cannot individually be seen using a specialized microscope, they are called cryptocrystalline. Chalcedony The general term, chalcedony, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2974217,"featured_media":21832,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2068,1,2066,1854,186],"tags":[404,641,232],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rockngem.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21827"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rockngem.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rockngem.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rockngem.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2974217"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rockngem.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21827"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.rockngem.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21827\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21865,"href":"https:\/\/www.rockngem.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21827\/revisions\/21865"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rockngem.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21832"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rockngem.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21827"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rockngem.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21827"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rockngem.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21827"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}