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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.
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.
Shocked quartz is a form of quartz that has a microscopic structure that is different from normal quartz. Under intense pressure (but limited temperature), ...
While silicon dioxide is only poorly soluble in water at low or neutral pH (typically, 2 × 10 −4 M for quartz up to 10 −3 M for cryptocrystalline chalcedony), strong bases react with glass and easily dissolve it. Therefore, strong bases have to be stored in plastic bottles to avoid jamming the bottle cap, to preserve the integrity of the ...
Quartzite can have a grainy, glassy, sandpaper-like surface. Quartzite is a hard, non-foliated metamorphic rock which was originally pure quartz sandstone. [1] [2] Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to tectonic compression within orogenic belts.
Agate (/ ˈ æ ɡ ɪ t / AG-it) is a variety of chalcedony, [1] which comes in a wide variety of colors. Agates are primarily formed within volcanic and metamorphic rocks.The ornamental use of agate was common in ancient Greece, in assorted jewelry and in the seal stones of Greek warriors, [2] while bead necklaces with pierced and polished agate date back to the 3rd millennium BCE in the Indus ...
Smoky quartz is a brownish grey, translucent variety of quartz that ranges in clarity from almost complete transparency to an almost-opaque brownish-gray or black crystals. [6] The color of smoky quartz is produced when natural radiation, emitted from the surrounding rock, activates color centers around aluminum impurities within the ...