Impressive Black Quartz Crystal
Large quartz terminated crystal with a smaller crystal on one side. There's a second tiny crystal below the terminated point. A further partially developed crystal is also embedded into one side.
It seems like there was once another tiny crystal underneath the main point but there's not much of it left now. What's there acts as a support which enables this piece to stand unaided (see photo 1).
In its purest form quartz is colourless and translucent. The presence of impurities causes a wide variation of colours. Examples include amethyst, rose quartz, citrine and chrysoprase to name just a few.
Very dark brown to almost black varieties of smoky quartz are also known as morion.
The colour of smoky quartz is caused when natural radiation emitted from the surrounding rock interacts with impurities of aluminium.
The texture of this quartz crystal varies from rough to smooth. It boasts a vitreous lustre and is a wonderfully unique piece.
It comes from the Ouachita (wosh-i-taw) and Ozark Mountains which stretch from west central Arkansas to south eastern Texas in the United States.
