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Motorway Mayhem M18 J5 EarthCache

Hidden : 3/3/2019
Difficulty:
1.5 out of 5
Terrain:
1 out of 5

Size: Size:   other (other)

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Geocache Description:


So its time for a stop, and what do you do? Well you park up, and then walk across to the services to get some food, have a leg stretch, answer the call of nature, and then you stop - what is here - well some geology


Take your time to look around the boulders here, and you need to find one which is veined with quartz. 


What we are looking at is quartz

Quartz is the second most abundant mineral in the continental crust. It is a defining constituent of granite and other felsic igneous rocks, and is very common in sedimentary rocks such as sandstone and shale. While the majority of quartz crystallizes from molten magma, much quartz also chemically precipitates from hot hydrothermal veins as gangue, sometimes with ore minerals like gold, silver and copper. It is formed from silicone and oxygen, with the chemical formula SiO2. The most important distinction between types of quartz is that of macrocrystalline (individual crystals visible to the unaided eye) and the microcrystalline or cryptocrystalline varieties (aggregates of crystals visible only under high magnification). The cryptocrystalline varieties are either translucent or mostly opaque, while the transparent varieties tend to be macrocrystalline. Some macrocrystalline (large crystal) varieties are well known and popular as ornamental stone and as gemstones.

Types of Quartz 

Amethyst is the purple gemstone variety.

Citrine  is a yellow to orange gemstone variety that is rare in nature but is often created by heating Amethyst.

Milky Quartz is the cloudy white variety.

Prasiolite is a leek-green gemstone variety that is rare in nature but is created by heating Amethyst from certain locations.

Rock Crystal is the clear variety that is also used as a gemstone.

Rose Quartz is a pink to reddish pink variety.

Smoky Quartz is the brown to gray variety.


This being an earthcache, in order to log it, I ask that you answer some questions. Please send them to me, and do not include them in your log. You can send them to me by using the message facility or email, both of which can be found by looking at my profile.

(1) What type of quartz is there here?

(2) Is it macrocrystalline or  microcrystalline?

(3) What does the rock feel like, what colour is it? 

Additional Hints (No hints available.)