Follow-Up on an Old Query

yakker · Jan 28, 2015

Quite a while ago, I posted a fairly substantial piece of rutilated quartz. It was a 2.5 x 3 inch terminated crystal which I had found in a nearby reservoir here in Central Virginia. Now, I knew that C. Va is a hell of a p[lace to find all forts of minerals, rocks, gems, but from everything I had read, this simply didn't make sense. I finally brought it to a local rock shop once I moved back down here last fall. I explained my question- and the circumstances under which I'd found it. He smiled. Yes. Brazilian rutilated quartz- polished and probably faceted WAY down south of the boarder... Case finally closed. HOWEVER, the question remains: What the hecky-darn was it doing in the reservoir

All sorts of imaginative fiction could be drawn from that question. Here she is: Thanks for taking a look! Yakker

G Freeman · Jan 28, 2015

Yakker that is real nice. I found a piece looks something like that inside but its a longer piece than yours and not square at all and weighs over 20 lbs. yours is beautiful and I don't see how it got there from Brazil or south of the border.

BurntBear · Jan 28, 2015

There are Quartz specimens scattered throughout Virginia and it could have originated there. I'd get a second opinion.

Here is a resourceful link:

http://pubs.usgs.gov/bul/1072d/report.pdf

A nice, terminated Quartz specimen from Floyd County:

http://www.mindat.org/photo-614365.html

These large, high-quality Quartz specimens are formed from hydrothermal activity and are not associated with the Quartz veins of the regions host rock.

DDancer · Jan 28, 2015

A few possibilities as to how it got there~ a young rock hound lost it, a memorial to someone or something, a piece of religious affect somehow forgotten. Just some thoughts

yakker · Jan 28, 2015

I've definitely thought of those things- and more- like a pissed off lover scorned... and more...
BB- I think the difference here is that mine is rutilated- which I'm still challenged to get a decent pic of. Yeah, we got a ton of quartz, crystals and all, but rutilated is another thing. And I scoured the territory nearby- and there was nada, zippo-nothing at all even close. If it had been natural, it would have fallen or been popped out of a vug or outcropping somewhere up from where it was found. All I could see was milky and massive stuff, a ton of crumbling granite and slippery greenstone. So... although I know rutilated quartz has been found in VA., not like this- and not in this condition. At least- not that I've been able to find- or see in someone else's site. Not this size or shape. Crazy. Totally crazy.
Thanks all for your input and ideas

Yakker