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Beauty of Stone Agate

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Beauty of Stone Agate

These extraordinary and colorful patterns were discovered in rare Idaho gemstones. The official name for the stone is agate, which as a mineral variety is not all that rare, but incredible mineral assemblages and depositional textures like these are very rare. In fact, preliminary investigations by geologists show a one-of-kind discovery, unmatched anywhere on earth in texture, form, and color. Specialized equipment is used to cut the stone into slabs, revealing astonishingly intricate shapes and forms. These remarkable designs were naturally created in the Alder Creek Eruptive Center of the Challis Volcanics. Intrusive magma served as a heat source that created a convective (rising) mineral-bearing solution that interacted with the surrounding rock. Temperature, pressure and chemically controlled reactions between the mineral-bearing solutions and the surrounding rock wall resulted in the deposits that eventually hardened within open spaces or cracks in an epithermal (hot springs like) system. Temperature and pressure variations created a wide variety of textures and forms that can resemble impressionistic landscape paintings. An exquisite example of art in nature.