Detailed information
Dimensions
95 x 70 x 46
mm
Locality
Shigar Valley Baltistan, Northern Areas Pakistan
Condition
No recorded repairs
It is fascinating to see how the western extension of the Himalayan mountains, in northern Pakistan, has started to produce a similar suite of alpine-type minerals to those famous historic finds in the European Alps. Brookite, Anatase and Quartz have been known for sometime, but the feldspars such as Adularia are less well-known. This substantial specimen of pale green Chlorite covered twinned K-Feldspar Adularia crystals could almost be mistaken as from Switzerland or Austria were it not for the attached crystals of Epidote which, although known from the European Alps is not generally seen attached to Adularia in quite this way. It is, in fact, from the Shigar Valley, in Baltistan, Pakistan. Dominated by an Adularia crystal reaching an impressive 7.8 cm across another excellent but smaller crystal is perched on one corner, with Epidote forming in parallel groups with an internal thread passing up through the parallel crystals. A really fine small cabinet-sized display specimen of this interesting alpine-type mineral assemblage.
