Agates: Types, Mineralogy, Deposits, Host Rocks, Ages and Genesis

Dear Colleagues,

You are welcome to contribute papers to the Special Issue "Agates: Types, Mineralogy, Deposits, Host Rocks, Ages, and Genesis".

Agates are beautiful and fascinating stones found all around the world. They are microcrystalline quartz nodules found in veins and cavities in host rocks. Agates have been observed in various kinds of host rocks. They are classically associated with volcanic rocks and can be found in sedimentary, metamorphic, and igneous environments. Agates are characterized by a wide variety of colors, shades, and patterns. There are more than 100 varieties of this stone. Agates are unique in their original patterns, but a layered texture is considered to be more common. Although agates are composed almost entirely of SiO₂, it is the trace quantities of various other elements that give agates their color and lead to their characteristic banding. Carbonates, zeolites, and iron and manganese oxides are often found in agates. Ore-forming minerals, such as sulfides of iron, zinc, lead, and copper, and native metals are rarely found in them.

Despite many in-depth studies and improving technologies and investigative methods, the source of the silica required for the growth of agate remains largely unknown. The complex, multi-step process of agate formation is not yet completely understood. In these small eternal pebbles, as in the microworld, powerful natural processes that occurred hundreds of millions of years ago are also reflected.

The aim of this Special Issue is to bring together researchers from different disciplines to further our understanding of the genesis of agates.

Dr. Galina Palyanova
Guest Editor

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