• A cup-shaped geode with a thin crust in indirect sunlight. The interior is lined with stalactites of orange chalcedony covered with a milky white layer making the piece quite pale.
  • Detail of the center of the geode in direct sunlight, highlighting small translucent white spheres sprinkled throughout the spires.
  • The geode on its side, with spires pointing into the light showing a deeper orange color. There is a light colored mineral sprinkled across the center of the piece.
  • Looking straight into the center of the geode, with spires pointed straight forward. Many are broken, revealing an orange center with a white layer on top.
  • Angled view of the full geode, with the right side covered with a layer of thick brown mineral.
  • The bottom of the specimen, a cone shape flat on the base. The outside of the geode is a rough light brown rock.
  • Detail of the spires inside the geode in full sunlight, showing deeper orange color and a glitter to the milky white layer. There are small angular light-colored minerals sprinkled over one side of the spires at center, and brown mineral on the right side.
  • Another side of the geode, with orange and orange cream spires with botryoidal texture. There is a slightly offset crack across the top left with some white glue visible.
  • Detail inside the geode, with about a dozen broken spires in the middle that have orange cores surrounded by translucent white. The top section of spires is covered with lumpy brown mineral.
  • Detail of a crack horizontally across the top of the geode, with white glue visible inside the break. The pieces are slightly misaligned.
  • A wider view of the same crack as the previous image, with white glue visible in some portions of the break. The side has good stalactitic growth with broken ends showing a dark core with a wide ring of orange then white.
  • Scale image of the specimen on a measuring mat, measuring a bit under three inches tall and wide.
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Stalactitic chalcedony geode (repaired)

Stalactitic chalcedony geode (repaired)

$40.00 USD
$45.00 USD $40.00 USD
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Locale: Atlas Mountains, Morocco

Approx dimensions: 2.75 x 2.75 x 2"

Approx weight: 172g

**Repaired specimen

 

These unusual geodes from Morocco are like small caves lined with stalactites, botryoidal forms, and swirling agate patterns. While commonly called red chalcedony, I find the color is more orange to red-orange. Hematite causes this coloration, but later phases of growth (“second generation”) don’t contain hematite inclusions. This creates a colorless-to-white growth over the orange chalcedony, which can produce a soft orange-cream druzy coating, or bold Halloween patterns of orange and white stripey stalactites.

This specimen has oodles of stalactites covered in blobby botryoidal growth. There are a lot of broken stalactites, but this creates an interesting effect. Where stalactites have broken you can see a pinpoint of a dark, metallic, mineral at the core, surrounded by vivid orange chalcedony, then translucent white chalcedony.

There is also a dark brown mineral overgrowth (unknown; I have not been able to find info on common associates of this material) that appears to have calcite underneath; it gives a slight UV reaction. I would love to know more about how these geodes formed. I have observed many are “ice cream cone” shaped—technically speaking, “conical.” 

This specimen has been inexpertly repaired from several pieces. Not all pieces were reset evenly so cracks may be offset. 

UV reactivity white chalcedony gives a light white fluorescent reaction under 365 nm UV light.

** Brittle warning! This material has the tendency to be crumbly, shedding pieces when handled. Limit handling and do not place stress on repair joints.

Repaired: This specimen has been repaired, meaning it broke but someone recompiled and glued it back together. These Moroccan geodes are frequently recompiled and glued together—but this is infrequently disclosed :( Read more about how to detect repairs.

I don't know how often breaks occur due to rough techniques in mining or cracking the geodes open, but I suspect many of the breaks are natural based on how few intact pieces I have ever seen. I have observed many of these geodes have a fairly thin, brittle crust which may make them susceptible to fracturing as part of normal geological processes. I have also seen examples where it appeared iron staining had leaked through the breaks, indicating the cracks occurred well before the specimen was mined.

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