BH250-37c
Title
BH250-37c
Subject
Blue Calcite
Description
BH250-37c is a blue calcite from the Crestmore Quarry district of Riverside County, California. The specimen consists predominantly of coarse crystalline calcite exhibiting excellent rhombohedral cleavage, vitreous luster, and the characteristic pale- to deep-blue coloration for which Crestmore is renowned.
The Crestmore deposit formed within magnesium-rich limestone that was subjected to intense contact metamorphism during intrusion of granodioritic and related magmas. Heat and chemically active fluids recrystallized the original limestone into marble and produced one of the most mineralogically diverse skarn localities in North America. The blue calcite commonly occurs with minerals such as monticellite, vesuvianite, wollastonite, grossular garnet, diopside, scapolite, and numerous other contact-metamorphic minerals. More than two hundred mineral species have been reported from the Crestmore district, several of which were first recognized or extensively studied there.
The specimen demonstrates the effects of contact metamorphism on carbonate rocks and serves as an introduction to skarn mineralization, fluid-rock interaction, and the development of metamorphic mineral assemblages.
The Crestmore deposit formed within magnesium-rich limestone that was subjected to intense contact metamorphism during intrusion of granodioritic and related magmas. Heat and chemically active fluids recrystallized the original limestone into marble and produced one of the most mineralogically diverse skarn localities in North America. The blue calcite commonly occurs with minerals such as monticellite, vesuvianite, wollastonite, grossular garnet, diopside, scapolite, and numerous other contact-metamorphic minerals. More than two hundred mineral species have been reported from the Crestmore district, several of which were first recognized or extensively studied there.
The specimen demonstrates the effects of contact metamorphism on carbonate rocks and serves as an introduction to skarn mineralization, fluid-rock interaction, and the development of metamorphic mineral assemblages.
Coverage
Riverside County, California
GPS coordinates: 34.0171° N, 117.3983° W
GPS coordinates: 34.0171° N, 117.3983° W
Date
October 2023
Creator
Bereket Haileab
Contributor
Bereket Haileab
Type
Hand sample and thin section
Relation
Collection
Citation
Bereket Haileab, “BH250-37c,” BH250 Mineralogy Teaching Collection, accessed October 22, 2026, https://bereket-haileab.geology.sites.carleton.edu/items/show/382.