Description

Detailed Description

This piece features sharp, lustrous red chabazite crystals with a bit of varriation in hue – a few of the crystals near the upper centre and right are a particularly intense color for red chabazite. Among the chabazite crystals there is a penetration twin and also a contact twin. There are small pearly heaulandite crystals in association. In excellent condition, one incomplete crystal at bottom left, and some incomplete crystals around the outer periphery where this was attached. Stands perfectly for display as photographed. A great red chabazite.

About the Minerals and Localities of the Bay of Fundy (click here)

About These Red Chabazites From Wasson’s Bluff

In one relatively small zone at Wasson’s Bluff, the chabazite crystals are a particular dark red hue – more intense and lighter than a brown, and most are a bit deeper and darker than a brick red or deep orange. This zone has produced sporadically over history. Most often, days of very hard work in this area yield absolutely nothing, but a few isolated finds in recent years have produced a small number of excellent pieces – these specimens are from those finds. There have been no finds from this zone since 2017.

In historic times, these particular deep-coloured chabazites from Wasson’s Bluff were known as “acadialite”, named for Acadia (which is the English for L’Acadie, the colonial-era name for this part of Canada). The name “acadialite” is sometimes still seen on older collection labels, sometimes as a species name and sometimes as a varietal name. Under current nomenclature, these specimens are known as chabazite, with “acadialite” now considered a historical synonym.