LEOPARD SKIN JASPER (CUT AND POLISHED) - Mexico
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'LEOPARD SKIN JASPER'
Cut and polished
Mexico
A very good piece of this unusual rock that is now a popular gemstone. It has one cut and polished face with the other surfaces natural.
Leopard skin jasper is not a true jasper but an unusual variety of rhyolite: an extrusive igneous rock. Rhyolite is a lava with a high quartz content. It forms other types of rock such as pumice and obsidian and is associated with very violent volcanic eruptions.
Leopard skin jasper is notable for the spherical aggregates of crystals and it is often called orbicular rhyolite. A similar type of rhyolite from Madagascar is known as ocean jasper.
Leopard skin jasper is not a true jasper but an unusual variety of rhyolite: an extrusive igneous rock. Rhyolite is a lava with a high quartz content. It forms other types of rock such as pumice and obsidian and is associated with very violent volcanic eruptions.
Leopard skin jasper is notable for the spherical aggregates of crystals and it is often called orbicular rhyolite. A similar type of rhyolite from Madagascar is known as ocean jasper.
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Size: 9 x 5 x 3.5 centimetres
Weight: 194 grams