214 |
Marmo pavonazzo dell'Alpi, from the Alps |
Micaceous ?siltstone (siliceous), with calcite-filled veins. |
722 |
Aventurine quartz, from Siberia, Russia; or possibly from Egypt |
Quartzite coloured by hematite and goethite, in places the grain coatings giving some aventurine effect. |
721 |
'Aventurine' (ferruginous sandstone), perhaps from Gebel Ahmar, Cairo or Gebels Gulab or Tingar, Aswan, all in the Nile Valley, Egypt |
Quartzite with a hematitic clay inclusions in the silica cement. |
780 |
Sicilian jasper, diaspro di Taormina, from Taormina, Messina, Sicily, Italy |
Quartzite, coloured red by iron-bearing solutions emanating from fractures. |
749 |
Diaspro della Tolfa, from Monti della Tolfa, near Civitavecchia, Rome, Lazio, Italy (not confirmed) |
Quartzite composed of fine-grained granular quartz with flecks of brown siderite. Cavities contain buff-grey filler. |
720 |
'Aventurine' (ferruginous sandstone), perhaps from Gebel Ahmar, Cairo or Gebels Gulab or Tingar, Aswan, all in the Nile Valley, Egypt |
Orthoquartzite; a poorly sorted coarse siliceous sandstone/fine conglomerate with goethite coating grains and a silica cement. |
686 |
Breccia delle Alpi, from the Alps |
Poorly sorted quartz/quartzite conglomerate with subsidiary lithic clasts. It is silicified, note clay matrix and quartz veins. |
553 |
Pietra rota degli Appennini, from the Apennines, Italy |
Quartzite with limonitic cement. |
211 |
Verde di Bagnaia, from Bagnaia, island of Elba, Livorno, Tuscany, Italy; or perhaps ribbon jasper from the Ural Mountains, Russia. |
Siliceous rock featuring abundant green reduction spots; it may possibly be a metamorphosed burrowed mudstone. The specimen is coated with beeswax. |
772 |
Sicilian jasper, diaspro di San Stefano di Quisquina, from Santo Stefano Quiquina, Bivona, Agrigento, Sicily, Italy |
Silicified limestone breccia with agate/crystalline quartz matrix and filling of fractures. Darker brown areas are filler. |
743 |
Diaspro antico, locality unknown |
Siliciified limestone or ironstone rich in relic shells of microfossils, and crossed by many slender fractures filled with colourless quartz. Some stylolites are present. |
719 |
Jasper, locality unknown |
This appears to be a largely silicified oolitic ironstone or oolitic ironstone breccia. Swarms of sub-parallel dark brown fractures give the impression of wood grain. |
770 |
Sicilian jasper, probably diaspro di Troina, from Troina, Enna, Sicily, Italy |
Radiolarian chert coloured by included limonite mainly concentrated between radiolaria tests. The few thin fractures are agate-banded. |
681 |
Pudingo antico, locality unknown |
Poorly sorted synsedimentary breccia/conglomerate. Red clasts are chert, containing igneous grains. |
699 |
Pudingo delle Alpi, from the Alps |
Lithic breccia-conglomerate with siliceous clasts. |
863 |
'Granito di Perosa', from Perosa Argentina, Chisone valley, Turin, Piedmont, Italy |
Arkosic grit formed by weathering of quartz and feldspar-rich igneous or metamorphic rocks. Brownish red, well bedded; with scattered larger clasts of carbonate rock. |
535 |
Marmo rosso di Siracusa, from Syracuse, Sicily, Italy |
Perhaps a deep-water mudstone. The colours are diagenetic. |
870 |
Sandstone, from the Alps |
A quartz sandstone with abundant mafic mineral grains, scattered large forams and other shell fragments, and some calcareous grains/cement. |
878 |
'Granito delle Alpi', from the Alps |
Sandstone with abundant green siliceous clasts and with a calcareous cement. |
977 |
Sicilian jasper, diaspro di Sicilia, from Sicily, Italy |
Brecciated orange-brown jasper with fractured agate matrix. Goethite forms inclusions in matrix and full/partial rims to clasts. Dendritic manganese oxides emanate from clast fractures, crystalline quartz fills smaller voids, microcrystalline calcite the larger ones. |
718 |
Petrified wood, locality unknown |
Silicified wood with very well-preserved cell structure, most probably opal rather than quartz. |
717 |
Petrified wood, locality unknown |
Silicified wood, cavities infilled with quartz crystals. |
716 |
Petrified wood, locality unknown |
Silicified wood, partly stained and banded with brown goethite and red hematite. |
715 |
Petrified wood, locality unknown |
Silicified wood; but lacking knots and very much paler than Corsi describes. |
714 |
Petrified wood, locality unknown |
Wood with bivalve borings (mainly visible on sides of specimen) infilled with limestone, the whole subsequently silicified. Note scattered pyrite crystals in borings. |
726 |
Rhodonite, from Maloe Sedelnikovo, Ekaterinburg, Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia |
Massive pink rhodonite, with brown bustamite and other manganese silicates. Black manganese oxides emanate from fractures. |
750 |
Opal, resinite della Tolfa, from Monti della Tolfa, near Civitavecchia, Rome, Lazio, Italy |
Massive resinite, a variety of opal; ferruginous coloration. |
711 |
Quartz 'rock crystal', from Madagascar |
Part of a large single crystal of rock crystal, the colourless variety of quartz. Some gas inclusions are evident along internal crystal planes. |
753 |
Diaspro delle Alpi, from the Alps |
Green/brown banded jasper; a siliciified limestone or ironstone showing some recognisable tests of microfossils. It is crossed by many slender fractures filled with colourless quartz. Some stylolites and fractures are present. Chlorite inclusions colour the darkest bands. |
768 |
Sicilian jasper, probably diaspro di Collesano, probably from Collesano, Palermo, Sicily, Italy |
Yellow-brown jasper with cavities and fractures infilled with chalcedony which is agate-banded in places, or with colourless crystalline quartz. Some dendrites of manganese/iron oxides are evident. |
755 |
probably Sicilian jasper, diaspro di Sicilia, from Sicily, Italy |
Jasper - a silicified ferruginous limestone, with agate-filled voids and patches of creamy white crystalline calcite. Goethite forms spherular inclusions in orange jasper. |
769 |
Sicilian jasper, diaspro di Piano Maglio, from Piano Maglio, Altofonte, Palermo, Sicily, Italy |
Heavily fractured banded jasper with rhombohedral carbonate mineral inclusions (dolomite/siderite?). Fractures are filled with grey agate, in turn filled with colourless quartz. Fine calcite or ankerite veins cross the specimen. |
773 |
Sicilian jasper, diaspro di Cammerata, from Cammarata, Agrigento, Sicily, Italy |
Jasper partly coloured by yellow-brown goethitic inclusions, partly by a mixture of goethitic and green silicate mineral inclusions. |
782 |
Sicilian jasper, diaspro di Monreale, from Monreale, Palermo, Sicily, Italy |
Heavily fractured red jasper, fractures are agate-filled. Side view shows some yellowish agate with platy inclusions of pyrite/marcasite. There are some small infills of crystalline quartz and a few quartz-filled fractures. |
754 |
Calcedonio di Volterra, Diaspro di Monterufoli, from Monterufoli, near Pomarance, Pisa, Tuscany, Italy |
Off-white chert clasts in a partially silicified, partly calcite or more probably dolomite matrix. |
756 |
Diaspro di Barga, from Barga, Lucca, Tuscany, Italy |
Milky white chalcedony with aggregates of red hematitic inclusions is cut by a rhombohedral network of fine calcite-filled fractures. Later chalcedony/colourless quartz replaces and is coloured by orange brown siderite. Secondary fractures are more sinuous and random. Dark brown areas are filler/polishing compound. |
763 |
Sicilian jasper, diaspro di Adrano, from Adragno, near Sambuca, Trapani, Sicily, Italy |
Yellow-brown jaspery areas are cemented by opague white or colourless chalcedony, agate-banded in place. Cavities are infilled with colourless quartz crystals. Fractures crossing specimen are filled with agate. Larger brown patches are filler. |
778 |
Sicilian jasper, diaspro di Giuliana, from Giuliana, Palermo, Sicily, Italy |
Brecciated jasper. Red hematitic pellitic clasts are brown, goethitic at margins and along fractures, and are surrounded by milky agate. Matrix is creamy white granular/drusy calcite with patchy iron-staining. |
731 |
Sicilian jasper, diaspro-agata di Giuliana, from Giuliana, Palermo, Sicily, Italy |
Brecciated brown jasper; agate matrix is patchy with hematitic inclusions in some bands; crystalline quartz fills voids. Buff-coloured areas are filler. |
736 |
Calcedonio di Volterra, Diaspro di Monterufoli, from Monterufoli, near Pomarance, Pisa, Tuscany, Italy |
Brecciated jasper; relatively unfractured large yellowish clasts, many with halos of yellow goethite banded with cream-coloured microcrystalline quartz. Matrix further away from clasts is colourless-milky agate. |
762 |
Sicilian jasper, diaspro di Misilmeri, from Misilmeri, Palermo, Sicily, Italy |
Brecciated jasper. Heavily fractured clasts are green or transparent with patchy yellow inclusions. Cement is crystalline quartz and pale green microcrystalline calcite. Dark brown and dark green speckled areas are filler. |
759 |
Calcedonio di Volterra, Diaspro di Monterufoli, from Monterufoli, near Pomarance, Pisa, Tuscany, Italy |
Fractured, rounded jaspery clasts, haloes with banded colourless/ferruginous quartz, in a matrix of colourless granular dolomite. |
747 |
Sicilian jasper, from Sicily, Italy |
Brecciated yellow jasper, heavily fractured, with chalcedony/agate-filled fractures and cement. Orange red 'veins' are artificial filler in open fractures. |
730 |
Agata del San Stefano, from Santo Stefano Quisquina, Agrigento Sicily, Italy; or more probably quarzo di Monterufoli, from Monterufoli, near Pomarance, Pisa, Tuscany, Italy |
Brecciated agate, colourless crystalline quartz cement with spherular limonitic inclusions. Agate-lined quartz-filled fractures. |
732 |
Sicilian jasper, diaspro-agata di Monreale, from Monreale, Palermo, Sicily, Italy |
Brecciated brown jasper with matrix and fracture fills of colourless crystalline quartz. |
746 |
Sicilian jasper, from Sicily, Italy |
Brecciated jasper; part red with colourless agate/crystalline quartz matrix, part yellow-brown with colourless crystalline quartz matrix. Later fractures are also filled with colourless quartz. |
771 |
Sicilian jasper, diaspro di Giuliana, from Giuliana, Palermo, Sicily, Italy |
Brecciated red jasper with heavily-fractured agate matrix. Wider fractures are filled with white fine-grained quartz and yellowish carbonate mineral, the latter also present as colourless-yellow zoned rhombohedral crystals in both jasper and agate matrix. Pinkish-brown areas are filler. |
767 |
Sicilian jasper, diaspro di Giuliana, from Giuliana, Palermo, Sicily, Italy |
A banded brown, yellow and green jasper breccia, matrix and fracture fills are part chalcedony part colourless quartz, fractures also with bands of pyrite. Microfossils are evident in some bright yellow areas. |
764 |
Sicilian jasper, diaspro di Giuliana, from Giuliana, Palermo, Sicily, Italy |
A fractured banded yellow and green jasper breccia, matrix and fracture fills are part chalcedony part colourless quartz. Microfossils are abundant in bright yellow areas. |
741 |
Sicilian jasper, diaspro di Sicilia, from Sicily, Italy, and most probably from Giancavallo, Bisaquino, Grattieri, or Santa Caterina, all in the province of Palermo. |
Brecciated jasper (ferruginous compact fine-grained quartz); brown/yellow/green translucent clasts in colourless crystalline quartz matrix. Yellow speckled 'clasts' and brown 'veins' are wax filler. |
748 |
Diaspro della Tolfa, from Monti della Tolfa, near Civitavecchia, Rome, Lazio, Italy (not confirmed) |
Colourless fine-grained quartz with bands and scattered inclusions of pyrite. Brown areas are filler/polishing compound. Circular aggregates of quartz crystals visible on side of specimen resemble silicified coral. |
761 |
Sicilian jasper, diaspro di Santa Cristina Gela, from Santa Cristina Gela, Palermo, Sicily, Italy |
Breccia of yellow-brown jasper clasts cemented by agate, with cavities infilled by colourless quartz crystals. The whole rock has been heavily fractured, and recemented with quartz or with brown to black iron/manganese oxides, which also emanate as dendrites from fractures. A wide vein of granular orange calcite crosses the back of the specimen. |
738 |
Sicilian jasper, diaspro-agata di Giancavallo, from Feudo Giancavallo, near Bisaquino, Palermo, Sicily, Italy |
Brecciated jasper, clasts mainly yellow, in places altered grey-brown. Matrix of colourless crystalline quartz has some inclusions of iron sulphides on ghost faces. Agate is present as late stage infill within quartz matrix. |
774 |
Sicilian jasper, diaspro di Giuliana, from Giuliana, Palermo, Sicily, Italy |
Breccia or red jasper clasts in a white quartz/agate matrix, re-fractured and cemented with colourless crystalline quartz containing scattered inclusions of green chlorite. |
735 |
Sicilian jasper, diaspro-agata di Adrano, from Adriano, Sicily, Italy |
Brecciated yellow jasper, clasts heavily fractured, fracture-fill and matrix are greyish white chalcedony stained yellowish away from clasts. Brown patches on specimen are filler, generally in crystalline quartz-lined cavities. |
739 |
Sicilian jasper, diaspro-agata di Milazzo, from Milazzo, Messina, Sicily, Italy |
Brecciated jasper; matrix forms faint agate halos around clasts, elsewhere it is colourless quartz. Single crystals may enclose many small clasts or fill a whole fracture. |
744 |
Diaspro antico, locality unknown |
Brecciated jasper with black-speckled clasts, many with full or partial rims of opaque white chalcedony. Colourless/white/grey agate matrix has patchy yellow speckling, euhedral crystal inclusions of goethite, and minor late-stage crystalline quartz. No sardonyx is present. |
737 |
Sicilian jasper, diaspro-agata di Caccamo, from Caccamo, Palermo, Sicily, Italy |
Brecciated jasper with yellow brown-dark brown clasts. Colourless crystalline quartz matrix has areas of chalcedony with botryoidal surface clearly visible in some places. |
776 |
Sicilian jasper, diaspro di Palermo, probably diaspro di Navurra, from Palermo, Sicily, Italy; most probably from Feudo Navurra, near Casteldaccia. |
Brecciated jasper, clasts mottled orange/red with colourless/scarlet banded agate around rims. Matrix is impure grey or pure white coarsely crystalline calcite. |
779 |
Sicilian jasper, diaspro di Giuliana, from Giuliana, Palermo, Sicily, Italy |
A breccia of green and brown jaspery siliceous clasts in a red, iron-stained, calcareous matrix |
757 |
Diaspro di Barga, from Barga, Lucca, Tuscany, Italy |
A breccia of brown jaspery fragments in colourless crystalline quartz, in turn surrounded by white chalcedony, voids are filled with yellowish crystalline quartz. |
733 |
Sicilian jasper, diaspro-agata di Cefalú, probably from Cefalà Diana or Bagni di Cefalà, Palermo, Sicily, Italy |
Yellow-brown brecciated jasper with narrow chalcedony-filled fractures and agate matrix, matrix voids filled with crystalline quartz. Pale speckled areas are filler. |
745 |
Sicilian jasper, most probably diaspro di Giuliana, from Sicily, Italy, and most probably from Giuliana, Palermo. |
Brecciated red jasper with rims of opaque white chalcedony. Colourless crystalline quartz matrix is iron-stained and vughy away from clasts. Clasts have colourless quartz-filled fractures. |
734 |
Sicilian jasper, diaspro-agata di Selinunte, from Selinunte, near Marinella, Trapani, Sicily, Italy |
Yellow brecciated jasper with chalcedony matrix, faintly agate banded in places with few translucent red/yellow bands. Note crystalline quartz-filled fractures contain layers of ?muscovite crystals. |
740 |
Calcedonio di Volterra, Diaspro di Monterufoli, from Monterufoli, near Pomarance, Pisa, Tuscany, Italy |
Brecciated grey-white chalcedony, agate in part; many clasts have halos of yellow goethite banded with cream-coloured microcrystalline quartz, the latter present elsewhere as matrix. |
982 |
Sicilian jasper, diaspro di Sicilia, from Sicily, Italy |
Brecciated yellow-brown jasper, agate-filled fractures and matrix, voids filled with crystalline quartz. |
978 |
Sicilian jasper, diaspro di Sicilia, from Sicily, Italy |
Brecciated red jasper with heavily fractured agate matrix patchily speckled with hematitic inclusions. Diffuse brown goethite forms inclusions and full/partial rims to clasts. Dendritic manganese oxides are common along fractures in matrix, crystalline quartz fills smaller voids, microcrystalline calcite the larger ones. |
713 |
Quartz, only slightly amethystine, locality unknown |
Very coarsely granular quartz, showing iridescence due to internal flaws, and containing inclusions of small aggregates of specular hematite crystals. It is barely amethystine in colour. |
724 |
Chalcedony, locality unknown |
Chalcedony (cryptocrystalline quartz) with small cavities lined with quartz crystals. There is no evidence of agate banding. |
728 |
Agata, locality unknown |
Chalcedony (cryptocrystalline quartz) with aligned pink jaspery inclusions showing a few relic fossils suggesting silicified limestone; and with scattered black dendrites and other small dark sulphide/oxide mineral inclusions. The stone has been sheared and fractured, the thin fractures filled with calcite. |
729 |
Agata del San Gottardo, from San Gottardo - perhaps St Gotthard, Ticino, Switzerland |
Chalcedony (cryptocrystalline quartz) - perhaps from a large chert pebble, jaspery towards rim. |
723 |
Agata bianca antica, locality unknown |
Part of a grey agate (colour banded quartz var. chalcedony) with an inner ‘core’ of quartz var. rock crystal, in turn enclosing pinkish chalcedony. |
727 |
Agata delle Alpi, from the Alps |
Chalcedony (cryptocrystalline quartz) showing local small-scale cloudy agate-banding; heavily fractured, the fractures iron-stained. |
725 |
Moss agate, agata di Sardegna, from Sardinia, Italy |
White chalcedony (cryptocrystalline quartz) with subtle agate banding, and extensive dendritic iron/manganese oxides. |
707 |
Quartz chalcedony or more probably flint, locality unknown |
Quartz var. chalcedony, coloured by included iron silicates. |
752 |
'Diaspro delle Alpi', from the Alps (not confirmed) |
Breccia of white granular quartz and other clasts, many rimmed with muscovite, in a red ferruginous quartz matrix. Some fractures are filled with calcareous cemented sandstone. The whole rock is sheared and folded. |
742 |
almost certainly quarzo di Monterufoli, from Monterufoli, near Pomarance, Pisa, Tuscany, Italy |
Brecciated banded crystalline slightly smoky-amethystine quartz with some included euhedral black crystals, and aligned white 'feathers' of bubble inclusions. The reddish-brown bands are artificial filler in fracture cavities. |
712 |
Amethyst, locality unknown |
Amethyst, the purple variety of quartz, part of a vein or geode showing the typical colour zoning of the crystals described by Corsi. |
705 |
Labradorite, from St Paul's Island, Labrador, Newfoundland, Canada |
Labradorite, a variety of plagioclase feldspar. |
706 |
Orthoclase 'adularia', from the Alps; probably from St Gotthard, Ticino, Switzerland |
Adularia, a variety of orthoclase feldspar. |
704 |
Amazon stone, from Russia; most probably from Miass, Chelyabinsk Oblast. |
Amazonite or amazon stone, a variety of microcline feldspar. |
678 |
Basalte di Bolsena, from Bolsena, Viterbo, Lazio, Italy |
Metatuff with abundant quartz and hornblende crystals of varying size up to 2mm in a poorly sorted crystal-lithic matrix. Shows weakly defined flow-banding. |
562 |
Lavagna di Genoa, ardesia di Lavagna, from Genoa, Liguria, Italy |
Black slate. Fine-grained with fine layering and a few vein stringers parallel to the cleavage. |
568 |
Serpentina 'verde ranocchia', locality unknown |
Strongly-sheared and serpentinised ultramafic rock with abundant veinlets (some en echelon) and grains of oxide mineral within the serpentine, and minor veins of calcite. |
567 |
Serpentina verde ranocchia, from Wadi Umm Esh, Wadi Atalla region, Eastern Desert, Egypt; or a variety of verde di Polcevera, from Pietra Lavazzara, Genoa, Liguria, Italy |
Strongly sheared and serpentinised ultramafic rock with abundant granular patches and veinlets of black oxide minerals within the serpentine. Later veinlets of yellow serpentine cut the rock in sub-linear arrays. |
710 |
Serpentina delle Alpi, from Perhaps the Western Alps |
Sheared serpentinite with oval augen (former pyroxene) and fairly abundant iron oxide. Shear fabric is present throughout, but one part of sample has paler (leached) serpentine. |
602 |
Serpentina di Cagliari, from Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy |
Serpentinite crossed by a reticulated array of veins rich in black oxide mineral grains. |
618 |
Serpentina di Genova, from Genoa, Liguria, Italy |
Mottled quartz-serpentinite rock. Coarse mottles of green-brown net-veined serpentine in a massive quartz matrix. Note paler rims to serpentine patches. |
605 |
Serpentina delle Alpi, from the Alps (not confirmed) |
Serpentinite with disseminated pyrite and with yellow carbonate flecks. |
576 |
Serpentina dell'Elba, from the island of Elba, Livorno, Tuscany, Italy |
Dark green serpentinite with colourless plagioclase porphyroblasts. |
709 |
Serpentina delle Alpi, from the Alps |
Serpentinite with colourless plagioclase porphyroblasts. Orange coloration is wax filler. |
580 |
Verde di Prato, from Prato, Florence, Tuscany, Italy |
Serpentinised peridotite with coarse original texture, and fine detail in the serpentinisation (low temperature alteration) preserved. Vein is quartz. |
581 |
Verde di Prato, from Prato, Florence, Tuscany, Italy |
Serpentinisied peridotite with pyroxenitic vein or band. |
577 |
Verde ragano dell'Elba, from the island of Elba, Livorno, Tuscany, Italy |
Serpentinised peridotite with clear dextral shear fabric and augen up to a centimetre across. |
589 |
Verde di Prato, from Prato, Florence, Tuscany, Italy |
Serpentinised coarse peridotite, and clear milky and fibrous serpentine veins. Various microstructures of alteration and exsolution in pyroxene visible on the slab surface. Note opaque white ?quartz veins and a few small calcite veins. |
604 |
almost certainly verde di Prato, from Prato, Florence, Tuscany, Italy |
Serpentinised coarse peridotite with very dark olivine domains. Note the reticulated distribution of Fe/Cr oxides, and presence of some pale acicular inclusions. |
590 |
Verde di Prato, from Prato, Florence, Tuscany, Italy |
Serpentinised peridotite (lherzolite) - coarse-grained, former olivine, orthopyroxene and clinopyroxene are still evident. |
579 |
Verde di Prato, from Prato, Florence, Tuscany, Italy |
Serpentinised peridotite (lherzolite) - coarse-grained, former olivine, orthopyroxene and clinopyroxene are still evident. |
599 |
Serpentina delle Alpi, from the Alps (not confirmed) |
A hydrothermally altered mafic or ultramafic rock, most probably a serpentinised peridotite. |
578 |
Verde ranocchia, from Wadi Umm Esh, Eastern Desert, Egypt |
Serpentinite; a metamorphosed gabbro; most probably the Wadi Umm Esh/Atalla serpentinite. |