This is a cross section of a blue agate nodule from The Carver Agate Field.

Rock #4914

The small nodule, approximately 2 inches across, was initially cut and lightly shaped to capture the fortification agate in the center of the stone, as well as the ‘white eye’ on the left-hand side of the stone. And for even more interest, there was a contrasting brown spot on the upper right-hand part of the stone. That explains why I was cutting this stone in the way it was cut.

Rock #4914 magnified

Well, once cut and polished and subjected to modest magnification, the brown spot suddenly and unexpectedly became the highlight of the stone and the subject of this blog. Magnification, as shown above, produced a highly angular brown crystalline structure and not shards of broken or fragmented stone encased later in the agate. When this agate nodule formed inside of a hardened lava gas bubble, a crystalline mineral structure formed first inside the gas bubble void and was then encased by the blue agate which filled in the rest of the void. The closeup of the structure shows two areas that indicate that these crystals are three dimensional, e.g., they have length, width, and also, thickness.

Rock #4915

We also see a tiny shard like crystal which has grown off of another triangular crystal. These crystals have not heretofore been seen by me in Carver agate field material. Therefore, while I don’t know what the crystals are, they are fascinating and rare. This blog posting is dedicated to exploring and displaying the geological wonders of The Carver Agate Field. While some of this is pretty nerdy, I hope you are enjoying seeing what I found near Alpine, Texas, in over 12 years of rock hunting.