21st Annual Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest Natural World
The Embrace

Polarized light photomicrograph a 30-µm-thick “thin section" of Ocean Jasper from Madagascar. Being mined out, Ocean Jasper is becoming among the most collectible stones for lapidary. Ocean jasper is characterized by the presence of small spherical aggregates (spherulites or “orbs”), just a few mm in diameter, that derive from a process of alteration and silicification of former volcanic flows of tuffs or rhyolites. In this view, a "rosette-shaped" cluster of coarser, more crystalline quartz, surrounded by aggregates of finer, fibrous chalcedony, mimicks a an embracing couple.

Photo Detail
Date Taken: 01.2022
Date Uploaded: 11.2023
Photo Location: Italy
Camera: NIKON D5500
Copyright: © Bernardo Cesare