Detailed Description

A great plate of classic Wasson’s Bluff dark red chabazite crystals, with penetration twins among them. These are sharp crystals with nice lustre. The specimen has a subtle saw cut underneath so it stands perfectly for display.  In excellent condition – no damage, a small number of incomplete crystals around the edges where the specimen was removed from the rock. The matrix has been reinforced to ensure its stability. This is a super “Red Zone” chabazite (see below) and a very good size for the Red Zone – most specimens are smaller.

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

About The 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.

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.

Please Note: the colour representation in the still photographs has been carefully calibrated and adjusted to approximate an accurate rendition of this specimen in daylight (shade). The colours in the video are not similarly adjusted.