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3.4" Polished Banded Agate Nodule Half - Bou Hamza, Morocco
This is a 3.4" wide, polished agate nodule collected from the Bou Hamza site in the Midelt Province of Morocco. The nodule has been cut in half and polished to a glossy finish to show of it's banded red hues and quartz center. Note: you will only receive the pictured half of the specimen.
It comes with an acrylic display stand.
It comes with an acrylic display stand.
About Bou Hamza agates
The Bou Hamza agate deposit is located in Morocco’s Midelt Province, several kilometers east of Zaïda, in a region between the Middle and High Atlas Mountains. The agates occur primarily as nodules filling cavities within Upper Triassic doleritic basalt, associated with volcanic activity related to the opening of the Central Atlantic around 200 million years ago. Most are relatively small, monocentric nodules with distinctive concentric banding, although agate also occurs within fractures as vein-like deposits.
Bou Hamza agates are particularly noted for their vivid red, orange, yellow, white, and bluish-gray chalcedony, often arranged in intricate, onion-like bands surrounding quartz-rich or druzy centers. Their warm coloration is largely produced by iron-bearing minerals, particularly hematite and goethite, while some specimens contain green celadonite and iron or manganese oxides that produce attractive moss-like patterns. Mineralogical studies have also identified both quartz and appreciable amounts of moganite within the chalcedony. These varied colors, contrasting bands, and occasional crystalline quartz centers make Bou Hamza nodules distinctive examples of Morocco's basalt-hosted agates.
The Bou Hamza agate deposit is located in Morocco’s Midelt Province, several kilometers east of Zaïda, in a region between the Middle and High Atlas Mountains. The agates occur primarily as nodules filling cavities within Upper Triassic doleritic basalt, associated with volcanic activity related to the opening of the Central Atlantic around 200 million years ago. Most are relatively small, monocentric nodules with distinctive concentric banding, although agate also occurs within fractures as vein-like deposits.
Bou Hamza agates are particularly noted for their vivid red, orange, yellow, white, and bluish-gray chalcedony, often arranged in intricate, onion-like bands surrounding quartz-rich or druzy centers. Their warm coloration is largely produced by iron-bearing minerals, particularly hematite and goethite, while some specimens contain green celadonite and iron or manganese oxides that produce attractive moss-like patterns. Mineralogical studies have also identified both quartz and appreciable amounts of moganite within the chalcedony. These varied colors, contrasting bands, and occasional crystalline quartz centers make Bou Hamza nodules distinctive examples of Morocco's basalt-hosted agates.
$39
SPECIES
Chalcedony var. Agate & Quartz
LOCATION
Bou Hamza, Midelt Province, Drâa-Tafilalet Region, Morocco
SIZE
3.4 x 2.7", up to 1.6" thick
CATEGORY
SUB CATEGORY
ITEM
#373303
