Small Chlorite Crystal

Recently, I shared photos of a quartz crystal with a Chlorite Phantom Pyramid encased within it. Sometimes, just a little bit of chlorite is present when a quartz crystal forms, so it is dispersed here-and-there within the quartz rather than clumping together into a pyramid (or some other) shape. The following is an example of one such crystal.

Three or four little splashes of chlorite can be seen in this crystal, all clinging to the internal walls of the quartz. Chlorite is not a single mineral, but a name for a group of minerals. I don't know with certainty which species of chlorite this is, but is possibly the most common variety: clinochlore (Mg,Fe²⁺)₅Al(Si₃Al)O₁₀(OH)₈. It is showing a lovely shade of pale green here because of its translucency in small quantities.

The host crystal, quartz, is composed of silicon and oxygen, SiO₄, and is one of the most abundant minerals on earth. As can be seen in the photos, this is a rather small crystal, but is still charming and a good example of another of the many ways one mineral can be trapped inside another.