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Chert (/ tʃ ɜːr t /) is a hard, fine-grained sedimentary rock composed of microcrystalline or cryptocrystalline quartz, [1] the mineral form of silicon dioxide (SiO 2). [2] Chert is characteristically of biological origin, but may also occur inorganically as a chemical precipitate or a diagenetic replacement, as in petrified wood.
Chalcedony (/ k æ l ˈ s ɛ d ə n i / kal-SED-ə-nee, or / ˈ k æ l s ə ˌ d oʊ n i / KAL-sə-doh-nee) [2] is a cryptocrystalline form of silica, composed of very fine intergrowths of quartz and moganite. [3] These are both silica minerals, but they differ in that quartz has a trigonal crystal structure, while moganite is monoclinic.
A rough specimen of bloodstone. The mineral aggregate heliotrope (from Ancient Greek ἥλιος (hḗlios) 'sun' and τρέπειν (trépein) 'to turn'), also called Indian bloodstone or ematille, is a cryptocrystalline mixture of quartz that occurs mostly as jasper or sometimes as chalcedony (translucent).
Cryptocrystalline is a rock texture made up of such minute crystals that its crystalline nature is only vaguely revealed even microscopically [1] in thin section by transmitted polarized light. Among the sedimentary rocks, chert and flint are cryptocrystalline. Carbonado, a form of diamond, is also cryptocrystalline.
Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, [1] [2] categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Historically, flint was widely used to make stone tools and start fires. Flint occurs chiefly as nodules and masses in sedimentary rocks, such as chalks and limestones.
This sets it apart from rock crystal, amethyst, citrine, and the other varieties of crystalline quartz. Other members of the cryptocrystalline silica family include agate, carnelian, and onyx. Unlike many non-transparent silica minerals, it is the color of chrysoprase, rather than any pattern of markings, that makes it desirable.
Jasper, an aggregate of microgranular quartz and/or cryptocrystalline chalcedony and other mineral phases, [1] [2] is an opaque, [3] impure variety of silica, usually red, yellow, brown or green in color; and rarely blue. The common red color is due to iron(III) inclusions.
Quartz is, therefore, classified structurally as a framework silicate mineral and compositionally as an oxide mineral. Quartz is the second most abundant mineral in Earth's continental crust, behind feldspar. [10] Quartz exists in two forms, the normal α-quartz and the high-temperature β-quartz, both of which are chiral. The transformation ...