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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.
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 ...
Cryptocrystalline. 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.
Tool stone. In archaeology, a tool stone is a type of stone that is used to manufacture stone tools, [1] or tools that use stone as raw material. [2] Generally speaking, tools that require a sharp edge are made using cryptocrystalline materials that fracture in an easily controlled conchoidal manner. [1] Cryptocrystalline tool stones include ...
Cryptocrystalline silica, such as chert, or flint, with this material property were widely sought after, traded, and fashioned into sharp tools in the Stone Age. Conchoidal fractures often result in a curved breakage surface that resembles the rippling, gradual curves of a mussel shell; the word "conchoid" is derived from the word for this ...
Cryptocrystalline silicates, such as flint and chert, are sometimes heat-treated in order to improve the flaking properties of the material. This heating can be used as a zeroing point, and the date since the material was last heated can be established through fission track counts, thermoluminescence, or, in some rare cases, paleomagnetism.
Quartz. Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO 4 silicon–oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall chemical formula of SiO 2. Quartz is, therefore, classified structurally as a framework silicate mineral ...
These magnesites are often cryptocrystalline and contain silica in the form of opal or chert. Magnesite is also present within the regolith above ultramafic rocks as a secondary carbonate within soil and subsoil, where it is deposited as a consequence of dissolution of magnesium-bearing minerals by carbon dioxide in groundwaters.