Calcite is abundant, and often is the only mineral in a cavity. It generally grows directly on the vugh walls, but also occurs on phillipsite, and may have phillipsite, erionite or barite growing on it. Perhaps the commonest form is clear to white “castles” of a rounded tapering crystal with...
Quartz occurs as small prismatic crystals or drusy coatings on other minerals. There are also seams of agate at Moeraki Point. Below: Small colourless quartz on white calcite, on brown nontronite(?), Moeraki Point Quarry, Otago, New Zealand. Width of view 11.5mm. Ex Jo Price Collection.
Twinned phillipsite crystals on and with calcite. Ex Jo Price Collection. Below: Phillipsite on calcite, Moeraki Point, Otago, New Zealand. Width of view 5.75mm.
These crystals were noted early in investigations, and were thought of as aragonite sixlings. However Ruth Jacobsen sent some specimens to William Henderson who wrote up the mineral in the Mineralogical Record, Vol 14, No 1, 1983. “It was immediately sight-identifiable as erionite, being identical in crystal form to that...
Phillipsite is very common at Moeraki. It may occur as large single crystals or clusters with distinctive cross-hatching on the faces. Water-clear balls of phillipsite are very common, recognised by the four sides to each point on the ball. These balls often have a milky centre or a hollow core....
Moeraki Point (also known as the Moeraki Headland) is the rocky promontory that forms the southern arm of the bay where the Moeraki Boulders are found, in the Otago region of New Zealand. While the boulders are a sedimentary phenomenon, the point itself is volcanic. The rocks at Moeraki Point...
These crystals were noted early in investigations, and were thought of as aragonite sixlings. However Ruth Jacobsen sent some specimens to William Henderson who wrote up the mineral in the Mineralogical Record, Vol 14, No 1, 1983. “It was immediately sight-identifiable as erionite, being identical in crystal form to that...
