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Crystal Frost Inclusions
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At the gem festival in Herkimer NY, July, 2016, the discovery of crystal frost in the Herkimer Mining District,  was announced.  Here we will describe its major forms.
The crystal frost occurs in a range of forms with the arched form being most common. The arches can stack in rows, in different directions and of varying height, forming a hopper weave pattern. These have been found most often as inclusions inside quartz that was contacting hydrocarbon. But they also occur FREE STANDING on a matrix of hydrocarbon and silica. The slide show provides examples of the different forms of crystal frost.
Updated - 03/09/2019
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The importance of the crystal frost event is that it formed a base (seed crystals), over dolomite/oil filled rock, upon which some (not all) Herkimer diamonds then grew. The crystal frost helps to explain how it is possible to grow quartz in an oil filled dolomite rock. The crystal frost is especially important in the formation of small “flower” groups, small “wings” groups (TCR) and hopper Herkimer diamonds
Donations from collectors made the 25 slides in the show on crystal frost possible. These slides are the result of many years of sample analysis. Thanks to Stephen Sheets for his Alaskan crystal frost.
See also the following pages on this website:
New Discoveries New Discoveries Ongoing Research Ongoing Research Quartz and Hydrocarbons Quartz and Hydrocarbons Changes at the Boundary Changes at the Boundary
Thank you Shannon Haley Wilbur for the donation of 30 samples from the Fonda region.1/05/2019 and 3/2/2019 Check out her Facebook.
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