Smoky Quartz Crystals

in #crystals6 years ago (edited)
Quartz is made of silicon dioxide. When white or clear quartz is exposed to radiation — either naturally in the earth, or artificially in a laboratory — some of the silicon dioxide molecules can be disrupted, freeing some of the silicon to stand alone. This makes the quartz take on a grayish or brownish "smoky" color. If the radiated quartz was opaque prior to being irradiated, it will remain opaque. If the radiated quartz was previously translucent, it will remain translucent.

This beautiful little crystal is one of my favorite smoky quartz specimens. The white matrix to which it is attached is calcite, another mineral. I love the contrast between the beautiful smoky quartz and the white calcite!

SmokyQuartz.jpg
photo by me

As another example of smoky quartz, here is another crystal in my collection of minerals:

SmokyQuartz-duo.png
photos by me

This crystal is actually a CLEAR smoky quartz — the "stuff" that is visible inside the crystal could be air, water, gas, or bits of silicon dioxide that didn't bond to the structure of the crystal. These are referred to as "inclusions" and add an extra layer of fascination when looking at the crystal. In some crystals, the inclusions take the appearance of wispy "veils" and flat "planes" which can diffuse or reflect light in remarkable ways. I will be sharing photos of other crystals in the future with those types of inclusions.

SmokyQuartzCrystal.jpg
photo by me


SOURCES
   1 Wikipedia: Crystals
   2 Wikipedia: Smoky Quartz

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Love me some Crystals, am way into going to Gem and Mineral shows where you can crack your own Geodes....lovely collection there
b.a.

Interesting I had no clue why they varied. I like that there are pockets of potential elements inside. Thanks for the information 😁

Smoky quartz is one of my favorites!

I love your photos of the pieces of quartz! I have some crystals including smoky quartz but never really knew the process that made it smoky. I haven't done much with my crystals in a long time but this makes me want to get them out and relearn much of what I've forgotten!

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Beautiful! It makes me want to go hunting for some smokey quartz!

Very interesting @thekittygirl. Learn something new everyday. Beautiful :) Thank you

Awwww, smokey is always nice to see, one of my favourites from the quartz family.

Pretty nice specimen of quartz you have there Tiffany.

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