Middleville (Herkimer County)
43.1383° N, 74.9694° W · ± 10 km
Quartz from New York, United States, with photos of specimens from this locality.
Minerals found here
Quartz at Middleville (Herkimer County)
Water-clear, doubly-terminated crystals grown free in dolostone vugs and carrying black pyrobitumen (anthraxolite) inclusions are the trademark of the 'Herkimer diamond'.
Photo: Robert M. Lavinsky · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Source
- Formula
- SiO₂
- Morphology
- Doubly-terminated, gem-clear prismatic crystals, singly and in clusters; some pseudocubic; scepter quartz also reported near Little Falls
- Color / luster
- Clear to colorless and glassy; black hydrocarbon inclusions can give a smoky tone
- Surface features
- Negative crystals (hollow crystal-shaped cavities), internal veils and rainbow effects; the rare s-face [2111] is reported on some crystals
Sources: SRC-086
Geology of the locality
- Setting
- Small vugs in dolomitic carbonate rock, with quartz often sitting on dolostone or silicified shale
- Host rock
- Dolostone (dolomitic host rock)
- Region
- New York
- Country
- United States
Several mines and digs around Middleville and Little Falls are listed for doubly-terminated quartz. Coordinates are those of Middleville village (Wikipedia), so the position is village level only.
Sources
- SRC-086 · Database
Herkimer County, New York, USA - quartz localities (Mindat geographic listing)Mindat.org - SRC-087 · Website
Middleville, New YorkWikipedia
Draft data from the Provenite workbook. Check entries against the cited sources before relying on them. Photos are open-licence images from Wikimedia Commons; the author and licence are given with each photo.