Agate is a banded gemstone.
Stop into any jeweler and the choices of gemstones are almost unlimited. But before gemstones make it to the glass case they are mined and polished. The United States has many gemstone mining sites, one of which is Oregon. Oregon is home to sunstone, agate and jasper. Oregon also has a large obsidian flow due to the volcanic activity in the area.
Sunstone
Sunstone can be either yellow or red. Sunstone's color comes from the amount of copper in the ground. Yellow sunstone has only 20 parts of copper per million parts. Red sunstone has 10 times that amount at 200 parts per million. Sunstone comes from weathered lava. It is also the state gem of Oregon.
Agate
Agate is a semi-precious stone that occurs worldwide. It comes in different shades of white, gray, brown, green and blue. Agate is a porous rock that is easily dyed, which makes its colors more vibrant. Agate's colors are usually banded, similar to tree rings. Agate is in the same family as jasper.
Jasper
Jasper is a semi-precious stone and a type of quartz. It comes in red, brown and green, and also comes in different patterns. Patterns and colors vary depending on where the jasper is found. These variations are so drastic that each type of jasper is named according to where it is found. Oregon is one of the main suppliers for jasper.
Obsidian
Obsidian is a type of volcanic glass. It does not have any crystal structure. Obsidian is formed when lava is cooled quickly, usually when lava meets a water source. Obsidian comes in several colors, such as black, red, green and variations of gold. It can also come with multiple colors, known as rainbow obsidian. Snowflake obsidian has small, white particles inside the rock.
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