Rock collector finds rare gemstone that looks like Cookie Monster
The agate, found in Soledade, a precious stone hotspot in southern Brazil, is a dead ringer for the blue, googly-eyed Sesame Street Muppet. It looks just like Cookie Monster. After its owner, California mineral collector Mike Bowers, posted about the agate on Facebook, it went viral, with write-ups in newspapers from Australia to Israel to the United States.
Agates are a form of quartz, the crystalline form of silicon dioxide, that develop within cavities in volcanic rocks. The cavities are formed by gas bubbles in hot lava. Over time, as the lava cools, water infused with silicon dioxide percolates through the cavities. As the water evaporates, the silicon dioxide is left behind on the cavity walls, creating colorful layers of crystals. The colors are caused by chemical impurities in the silicon dioxide and by the spacing of the crystals.
Some agates completely fill their volcanic voids, but many leave small spaces inside, lined with sparkly, inward-facing quartz crystals. In the case of the Cookie Monster agate, these voids just happen to look like a pair of Muppet eyes and an enthusiastically grinning mouth.
Agates are a form of quartz, the crystalline form of silicon dioxide, that develop within cavities in volcanic rocks. The cavities are formed by gas bubbles in hot lava. Over time, as the lava cools, water infused with silicon dioxide percolates through the cavities. As the water evaporates, the silicon dioxide is left behind on the cavity walls, creating colorful layers of crystals. The colors are caused by chemical impurities in the silicon dioxide and by the spacing of the crystals.
Some agates completely fill their volcanic voids, but many leave small spaces inside, lined with sparkly, inward-facing quartz crystals. In the case of the Cookie Monster agate, these voids just happen to look like a pair of Muppet eyes and an enthusiastically grinning mouth.
https://www.livescience.com/colletor-finds-rare-cookie-monster-rock.html
= new reply since forum marked as read
