Scolecite from Estopiñán
If you draw a line across northern Spain from Barcelona on the Mediterranian coast to San Sebantian on the Atlantic coast near the French border, then Estopiñán del Castillo, Huesca, Aragón, Spain is about 1/3 of the way. The area around Estopiñán del Castillo contains outcrops of tholeite dolerites (ophites) dating from the Jurassic-Upper Triassic. Estopiñán del Castillo itself is the type locality for Aerinite, a distinctively blue to blue-green, fibrous mineral found in only 2 localities outside Spain.
Scolecite : CaAl2Si3O10·3H2O is the most characteristic zeolite found in the Estopiñán del Castillo area. Here it is present as radial sprays of white acicular crystals that have clearly been forced to fill fractures in the host rock.
Aerinite is a hydrothermal mineral of the zeolite facies, formed at relatively low temperature, in fractures cutting mafic igneous rocks. Interestingly, it is a rare, carbonate-bearing silicate: (Ca5.1Na0.5) (Fe3+,Al,Fe2+,Mg)4(Al,Mg)6 [HSi12O36(OH)12][(CO3)1.2(H2O)12]
These fascinating rocks were brought to Tucson 2011 by Josep Sanchez-LaFuente i Mariol, having been collected in the previous year by a friend of his.
click on images
for larger views
SCOL11-27
Scolecite and Aerinite (TL) $45
Estopiñán del Castillo, Huesca, Aragón, Spain
9.1 cm x 5.7 cm x 3.1 cm
Silky white sprays of Scolecite with patches of fibrous blue Aerinite.
click on images for larger views
SCOL11-25
Scolecite and Aerinite (TL) $50
Estopiñán del Castillo, Huesca, Aragón, Spain
11.0 cm x 8.0 cm x 4.4 cm
Silky white sprays of Scolecite with patches of fibrous blue Aerinite.
click on images for larger views
SCOL11-26
Scolecite and Aerinite (TL) $26
Estopiñán del Castillo, Huesca, Aragón, Spain
8.2 cm x 7.3 cm x 4.3 cm
Silky white sprays of Scolecite with patches of fibrous blue Aerinite.
click on image for larger view
SCOL11-24
Scolecite and Aerinite (TL) $25
Estopiñán del Castillo, Huesca, Aragón, Spain
5.3 cm x 4.2 cm x 4.0 cm
Silky white sprays of Scolecite with patches of fibrous blue Aerinite.
click on image for larger view
SCOL11-22
Scolecite and Aerinite (TL) $22
Estopiñán del Castillo, Huesca, Aragón, Spain
7.5 cm x 4 cm x 1.8 cm
Silky white sprays of Scolecite with patches of fibrous blue Aerinite.
click on image for larger view
SCOL11-23
Scolecite and Aerinite (TL) $15
Estopiñán del Castillo, Huesca, Aragón, Spain
8.2 cm x 3.5 cm x 2.2 cm
Silky white sprays of Scolecite with patches of fibrous blue Aerinite.
click on image for larger view
SCOL11-21
Scolecite and Aerinite (TL) $18
Estopiñán del Castillo, Huesca, Aragón, Spain
6.5 cm x 5 cm x 3.3 cm
Silky white sprays of Scolecite and patches of fibrous blue Aerinite, with good coverage on 4 sides.
click on image for larger view
SCOL11-20
Scolecite $22 SOLD
Estopiñán del Castillo, Huesca, Aragón, Spain
6.6 cm x 3.3 cm x 2.2 cm
Silky white sprays of Scolecite in a formation like an ice-cream sandwich. Where the Scolecite breaks free of the matrix, the terminations are nice & fuzzy.
click on image for larger view
SCOL11-19
Scolecite and Aerinite (TL) $20 SOLD
Estopiñán del Castillo, Huesca, Aragón, Spain
4.0 cm x 2.2 cm x 7.0 cm
Silky white sprays of Scolecite and a patch of fibrous blue Aerinite. You get both the flat-lying sprays and hemispheres with tan ends.
click on image for larger view
SCOL11-18
Scolecite and Aerinite (TL) $44 SOLD
Estopiñán del Castillo, Huesca, Aragón, Spain
11.1 cm x 9.7 cm x 4.2 cm
Silky white sprays of Scolecite with patches of fibrous blue Aerinite.
click on image for larger view
SCOL11-15
Scolecite and Aerinite (TL) $35
Estopiñán del Castillo, Huesca, Aragón, Spain
8 cm x 5.7 cm x 4 cm
Three-dimensional, silky white sprays of Scolecite with pale and sparse, fibrous blue Aerinite on the back.
click on images for larger views
SCOL11-16
Scolecite and Aerinite (TL) $38
Estopiñán del Castillo, Huesca, Aragón, Spain
10.7 cm x 7.8 cm x 6.0 cm
Silky white sprays of Scolecite in good relief with copious patches of fibrous blue Aerinite.
click on image for larger view
SCOL11-14
Scolecite $8
Estopiñán del Castillo, Huesca, Aragón, Spain
6.3 cm x 2 cm x 1.3 cm
Silky white sprays of Scolecite.
click on image for larger view
SCOL11-12
Scolecite and Aerinite (TL) $15
Estopiñán del Castillo, Huesca, Aragón, Spain
6.2 cm x 1.7 cm x 4.2 cm
Silky white sprays of Scolecite with a patch of fibrous blue Aerinite.
click on image for larger view
SCOL11-11
Scolecite and Aerinite (TL) $17
Estopiñán del Castillo, Huesca, Aragón, Spain
8.0 cm x 4.7 cm x 3.5 cm
Silky white sprays of Scolecite with patches of fibrous blue Aerinite.
click on images for larger views
SCOL11-10
Scolecite and Aerinite (TL) $44
Estopiñán del Castillo, Huesca, Aragón, Spain
11.3 cm x 7.5 cm x 4 cm
Silky white sprays of Scolecite with patches of fibrous blue Aerinite; all five sides have some coverage.
click on image for larger view
SCOL11-09
Scolecite and Aerinite (TL) $14
Estopiñán del Castillo, Huesca, Aragón, Spain
5.5 cm x 3.8 cm x 4.2 cm
Silky white sprays of Scolecite with patches of fibrous blue Aerinite.
click on image for larger view
SCOL11-08
Scolecite and Aerinite (TL) $25
Estopiñán del Castillo, Huesca, Aragón, Spain
6.0 cm x 3.7 cm x 4.6 cm
This piece has one good tan hemisphere (upper left in photo) as well as silky white sprays of Scolecite and many patches of fibrous blue Aerinite.
click on image for larger view
SCOL11-07
Scolecite and Aerinite (TL) $42
Estopiñán del Castillo, Huesca, Aragón, Spain
11 cm x 8 cm x 3.8 cm
Silky white sprays of Scolecite with patches of fibrous blue Aerinite.
click on image for larger view
SCOL11-06
Scolecite and Aerinite (TL) $34
Estopiñán del Castillo, Huesca, Aragón, Spain
10.1 cm x 5.0 cm x 6.7 cm
Silky white sprays of Scolecite with patches of fibrous blue Aerinite; the sprays are nicely separated and 3D on this one.
click on image for larger view
SCOL11-05
Scolecite and Aerinite (TL) $40
Estopiñán del Castillo, Huesca, Aragón, Spain
8.4 cm x 7.2 cm x 4.0 cm
The most three-dimensional piece of the lot features tan Scolecite hemispheres with pale patches of fibrous blue-green Aerinite.
click on image for larger view
SCOL11-04
Scolecite and Aerinite (TL) $32
Estopiñán del Castillo, Huesca, Aragón, Spain
9.6 cm x 5.6 cm x 4 cm
Fibrous white-tan sprays of Scolecite with a touch of blue Aerinite.
click on images for larger views
SCOL11-03
Scolecite and Aerinite (TL) $35
Estopiñán del Castillo, Huesca, Aragón, Spain
9.1 cm x 5.2 cm x 3.1 cm
Silky white sprays of Scolecite with patches of fibrous blue-green Aerinite.
click on image for larger view
SCOL11-02
Scolecite and Aerinite (TL) $32
Estopiñán del Castillo, Huesca, Aragón, Spain
7.1 cm x 5.5 cm x 4.3 cm
Silky white sprays and tan hemispheres of Scolecite with large patches of fibrous blue Aerinite.
click on image for larger view
SCOL11-17
Scolecite $12
Estopiñán del Castillo, Huesca, Aragón, Spain
8.5 cm x 3 cm x 2.2 cm
Silky white sprays of Scolecite.
click on images for larger views
SCOL11-28
Scolecite and Aerinite (TL) $15
Estopiñán del Castillo, Huesca, Aragón, Spain
6.5 cm x 4.5 cm x 3.2 cm
Silky white sprays of Scolecite with a tiny hemisphere in a vug and many patches of fibrous blue Aerinite. A bit scrambly-looking, but it encompasses everything that any of the other pieces has.
click on image for larger view
SCOL11-01
Scolecite and Aerinite (TL) $32
Estopiñán del Castillo, Huesca, Aragón, Spain
8.5 cm x 6.4 cm x 4.2 cm
Large, silky white sprays of Scolecite with a couple tiny patches of fibrous blue Aerinite.
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