Detailed Description

This is a gorgeous specimen – sharp, lustrous chabazite crystals offset by bright pearly little heulandite crystals. There are two crystals on this specimen that exhibit both penetration twinning _and_ contact twinning (ie in one twin). In excellent condition – this is a truly classy Wasson’s Bluff specimen with remarkable twinning.

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.