Description
A beautiful cabinet-size specimen featuring dozens of yellow-green to olive-green titanite (sphene) crystals covering a contrasting pale feldspar matrix from the Shigar Valley, Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan.
Numerous well-formed titanite crystals occur across the specimen, displaying characteristic wedge-shaped and tabular habits, bright vitreous luster, and varying degrees of translucency. Under direct lighting, many of the crystals reveal rich golden-yellow and olive-green tones.
Dark gray-green clinochlore occurs as coatings and fine crystalline material on and around many of the titanite crystals, creating attractive dark edging and strong visual contrast. The combination of abundant titanite, dark clinochlore, and pale feldspar produces a highly textured and visually appealing mineral assemblage. The feldspar-titanite-clinochlore assemblage also preserves the paragenetic sequence, or order of mineral formation, documented in specimens from Alchuri in the Shigar Valley of northern Pakistan, adding further geological significance to this piece.
Size: 75 x 60 x 35 mm. 170 grams.
From Skardu District, Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan