Geological Information

Herkimer Crystal Quartz Formation

About 550 million years ago, what we now know as New York State was a vast shallow sea. The first forms of colonial life were starting to flourish, and one form that has left it's mark is called a stromatolite. These algae structures were similar to a coral reef of today. They attached silt from the surrounding warm tropical waters, building themselves up, layer by layer. Over time, millions of years, these stromatolites grew in close proximity to each other, not really touching, but forming vast gardens of life. Eventually, the sea retreated, and they died. Years passed, and our Earth was changing, plate tectonics was alive and well reshaping our landforms. The seas reappeared, covering over these algae colonies, to a depth of 3500 feet. This weight, along with heat and hydrostatic pressure, soon transformed the stony reefs into fossils. The surface, being a life form before, became fossilized in the form of a hydrocarbon, called anthraxolite. However, the stony colonies eroded away, leaving a void. What was once solid is now a hole. Eventually the ancient sea and its life forms deposited 4.5 miles of sediment, which turned into limestone. Then, Mother Nature kicked into action. The limestone, being porous, was able to transfer dissolved quartz, due to a hot brine solution and intense pressure, into these voids. The slurry, along with microbial life, started to form double terminated crystals. These limpid quartz crystals incorporated the carbon, the fossilized algae, into the bodies of the quartz, making them unique.

The Herkimer “Diamond” Quartz crystals are harder than regular quartz, 7.5 on the Moh's scale, not 6.8 like Arkansas Quartz, and are brighter. They took about a million years to cool. Over time, this deep deposit was raised, and erosion took hold from the last glacier, revealing the deposit for us to see. The whole deposit, called the Little Falls Dolostone Deposit, is only 400 feet deep. The only place where this can be seen in its entirety is in Little Falls, New York. The other sights are only partially exposed. These beautiful quartz crystals have been collected for years, being written about since the mid 1800's. The Native Americans used them in sacred ceremonies and bartering. Today, people from the beginner, to the advanced collector appreciate their beauty.

Nancy Marie Koskie B.S. Geo., Earth Science