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Quartz is the second most abundant mineral in Earth's continental crust, behind feldspar. [9] Quartz exists in two forms, the normal α-quartz and the high-temperature β-quartz, both of which are chiral. The transformation from α-quartz to β-quartz takes place abruptly at 573 °C (846 K; 1,063 °F).
Individual layers consist of translucent or opaque, microcrystalline, fibrous quartz called chalcedony. Impurities in different layers cause variations in color. Many agate masses are simply geodes that have completely filled up with quartz. Common agate colors are clearish-whitish-grayish, brownish-red, and yellowish-brown.
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's standard chemical structure (based on the chemical structure of quartz) is SiO 2 (silicon dioxide). Chalcedony has a waxy luster, and may be semitransparent or translucent. It can assume a wide range of colors, but those most commonly seen are white to gray, grayish-blue or a shade of brown ranging from pale to nearly black.
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. Jasper breaks with a smooth surface and is used for ornamentation or as ...
Optical properties of common minerals Name Crystal system Indicatrix Optical sign Birefringence Color in plain polars Anorthite: Triclinic: Biaxial (-) 0.013
Its color is normally apple-green, but varies from turquoise-like cyan to deep green. The darker varieties of chrysoprase are also referred to as prase . (However, the term prase is also used to describe chlorite -included quartz, and to a certain extent is a color-descriptor, rather than a rigorously defined mineral variety.)
A piece of flint 9–10 cm (3.5–3.9 in) long, weighing 171 grams. 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.