Description

Detailed Description

This is a great piece, a bit different from most of the find. It came out of an area where the crystallized vugs were brecciated and interconnected, and it is therefore quite three-dimensional. The base is etched pink gmelinite. On the gmelinite are a few isolated fans of golden stilbite, and then covering the gmelinite and stilbite are sharp, lustrous analcime crystals. The analcime crystals are colourless and translucent, and include some golden and pink hues from the stilbite and gmelinite beneath. In excellent condition, some contacts and incomplete crystals around the periphery where this was attached. It can be displayed vertically, but I prefer it sitting as photographed, because I love the way the analcime crystals perch on top of the stilbite fans.

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

About These Stilbite-Analcime Specimens from Five Islands

Occasionally over the years, good finds have been made at Five Islands. These have included natrolite, analcime and stilbite, as well as the famous gmelinite-after-chabazite from Pinnacle Island. The specimens from this stilbite-analcime find are beautiful and distinctive, combining the two minerals.

The stilbite crystal groups can vary in hue from one specimen to the next, and it should be noted that the stilbite hues also vary under different sources of lighting – they are richest under halogen lights, less so under cool LED. As with all specimens on the website, the photographs are colour-balanced to daylight.

The vein-pocket zone where these specimens were collected was located in a precarious area, beneath an unstable-looking cliff face. Fortunately it was safe enough to excavate the zone, resulting in these beautiful specimens.