Deccan Flood Basalts, Maharashtra State, India
The quarries of the Deccan Flood Basalts are among our Top 12 Mineral Localities.
The localities hosted by the Deccan flood basalts in India are the source of the world’s finest zeolite and “zeolite-related” specimens. Specifically, the mesolite, scolecite, stilbite, stellerite, goosecreekite, fluorapophyllite, okenite, gyrolite, cavansite, pentagonite and powellite are easily among the world’s best.
The basalt, from which these magnificent minerals are extracted, formed when lava spewed from cracks in the earth's crust and then spread out over a wide area, cooled and hardened. The cavities in which these crystals grew are actually gas bubbles that formed in the flowing lava as it escaped from the pressures deep within the earth, much like the bubbles that form in a soda pop when the cap is removed. Groundwater carrying dissolved minerals flowed through the porous rock and entered the pockets, precipitating these delicate crystals inside the voids.
The term "pillow" basalts is often used to describe some of the rocks of these flows. This term is used for basalts that erupted under water or flowed into water. In doing so, the lava formed as piles of flattened, lobate masses that look like a stack of pillows. The basalt flows of the Deccan Plateau, cover more than 200,000 square miles and have yielded countless fine quality zeolite specimens. The name "zeolite" refers to a group of silicate minerals characterized by crystallographic structures that form distinct channels at the atomic level. These channel ways have distinct measurements and properties in each zeolite mineral, which allows them to be used as chemical filters. Ironically, although zeolites are common and found worldwide, many of the industrial varieties are grown synthetically by the ton.
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Stellerite, Epistilbite, Fluorapophyllite
Jalgaon, Maharashtra, India
$950
130mm x 90mm x 70mm
From: The Arkenstone
Fluorapophyllite and Stilbite
Jalgaon, Maharashtra, India
$1250
70mm x 60mm x 40mm
From: The Arkenstone
Fluorapophyllite with Stilbite (old style)
Pashan, Pune Quarries, near Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
$1850
70mm x 50mm x 40mm
From: The Arkenstone
Stellerite (Illustrated)
Ahmadnagar District (Ahmednagar District; Ahmed Nagar District), Maharashtra, India
$17500
170mm x 150mm x 100mm
From: The Arkenstone
Pentagonite
Wagholi Quarry, near Poona, Maharashtra, India
$1800
40mm x 20mm x 10mm
From: The Arkenstone
Pentagonite
Wagholi Quarries, Pune Dist., Pune Div., Maharashtra, India
$1250
20mm x 10mm x 10mm
From: The Arkenstone
Chalcedony on Scolecite from India
Chandanapuri, Maharashtra, India
$325
62mm x 56mm x 34mm
Cavansite with Stilbite
Pune District, Maharashtra, India
$75
33mm x 27mm x 15mm
From: Bob Griffis Minerals
Stilbite on Quartz over Calcite
Jalgaon, Maharashtra State, India
$500
105mm x 40mm x 20mm
From: Marin Minerals
Fluorapophyllite and Stilbite
Jalgaon, Maharashtra, India
$950
70mm x 60mm x 50mm
From: The Arkenstone
Apophyllite with Celadonite Inclusions
Jalgaon, Maharashtra, India
$2000
50mm x 40mm x 40mm
From: The Arkenstone
Fluorapophyllite-K with Stilbite
Momin Akhada, Rahuri, Ahmadnagar, Maharashtra, India
$500
135mm x 80mm x 55mm
From: Weinrich Minerals
