• A conical 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 a section of light orange spires with fine white needle-like stalactites growing down off of them. A crack is visible through the piece.
  • A view of one broad side of the inside of the geode covered with bumpy tall spires light orange at the tips and more white at the bases. Even smaller stalactite are angled off the spires up and to the right. A crack is visible through the piece and covered in mud-like material in the upper center, with glue visible nearby
  • A bird-eye view looking down into the geode with spires pointed forward. Some have rings of white quartz growth around them like a tutu. One near the center has a square ring.
  • A side of the specimen, with the right-hand side tall. The outside of the geode is a rough brown rock, with a stripe of darker brown dirt across it hiding a repair
  • The base of the specimen, conical but flat instead of pointed at the base. The darker line of the repaired crack is visible ringing the geode.
  • Detail of a few dozen broken spires along one side, which have a dark point at the center ringed with orange, and then a thick layer of white. The spires have radial growth out from the center line.
  • Detail view of one side in direct sunlight, with a crack visible horizontally across the midsection. Yellow-orange iron staining is much brighter
  • Detail of a section of orange-tinted spires, with a crack visible at the base
  • Detail of the spire with a square formation, showing it has a banded white and colorless pattern.
  • Detail of a section where the crack cleanly cut spires in two, repaired leaving a slight gap where the rings of the spires are visible.
  • Detail of the juncture between four broken pieces of the geode, showing they were not evenly set during repairs and some white glue is visible, as well as a dark brown dirt-like material that has been used to cover it. The cracks are highlighted by iron staining.
  • Scale image of the specimen on a measuring mat, measuring a bit over four inches tall and wide.
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Stalactitic chalcedony geode (repaired)

Stalactitic chalcedony geode (repaired)

$48.00 USD
$54.00 USD $48.00 USD
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Locale: Atlas Mountains, Morocco

Approx dimensions: 4 x 4 x 3"

Approx weight: 405g

**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.

I would love to know more about how these formed. I have observed many are “ice cream cone” shaped—technically speaking, “conical.” This specimen is filled with orange-cream stalactites. It features a unique second set of fine stalactites growing in a different direction off of the larger stalactites, indicating a shift in position of the mineral and a second generation of stalactitic growth.

Since chalcedony and quartz are closely related you often see them grow together. They have the same chemical composition (silica) but different crystal structure (cryptocrystalline vs. crystalline). Specimens including this one feature unusual "tutus" of quartz or chalcedony growth on some of the spires—in this case it has curiously taken on a square shape and banded agate appearance.

Where stalactites have broken you can see a pinpoint of a dark, metallic, mineral at the core, surrounded by orange chalcedony, then a thick layer of translucent white chalcedony. The specimen has more of a matte appearance, not glittery, and yellow iron staining along some breaks.

This specimen has been inexpertly repaired from several pieces. Not all pieces were reset evenly so cracks may be offset or have wide gaps in places. Dirt was used to "hide" visible glue in the crack inside one side of the specimen (best visible in the second image and the last two photos).

** 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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