Mineral precipitation in agate. Precipitates of iron oxide (can be goethite or haematite) in agate (chalcedony). The mechanisms of such precipitations

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Mineral precipitation in agate. Precipitates of iron oxide (can be goethite or haematite) in agate (chalcedony). The mechanisms of such precipitations are complex and not completely understood. It is not clear whether the precipitation of the iron oxide is simultaneous with the agate, or afterwards along hairline cracks in the solid agate. Here, both mechanisms may have been at work, with the large red patches due to simultaneous precipitation, and the vertical streaks due to precipitation in cracks.

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Photo credit: © DIRK WIERSMA/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
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Keywords: agate, chalcedony, close-, colour, colourful, colours, crystal, crystalline, crystallised, crystals, deposit, deposits, detail, earth, geological, geology, goethite, haematite, hematite, impurities, impurity, iron, layer, layers, mineral, mineralogy, minerals, oxide, pattern, patterns, precipitate, precipitated, precipitates, precipitation, rock, rocks, sample, science, section, sectioned, specimen