hematitehearts: Turquoise after bone (odontolite) Locality: near…

hematitehearts:

Turquoise after bone (odontolite)

Locality: near Searchlight, Clark County, Nevada, USA

Amazingly, the mineral turquoise has totally pseudomorphed an animal bone, turning it a light green color. On rare occasions animals and humans die in the vicinity of ore bodies, primarily copper, and their skeletons are replaced cell by cell by the minerals. A bone replacement is essentially a pseudomorph similar to Turquoise after Apatite, and this is a very educational example of how we ourselves are “mineralized.” From the well-known pseudomorph collection of Ken Roberts. Specimens of this quality are very rare.

Geology Nerd

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