Non-Root Beer Fluorite from Clay Center, Ohio

This is lovely and somewhat unusual fluorite from a classic Midwest location. This specimen originated from the White Rock Quarry in Clay Center, Ohio; a location famous for producing brightly fluorescent root beer brown-colored fluorite cubes. In this case the fluorite cubes are transparent with a subtle pale honey-yellow color, and instead of fluorescing bright cream/white, typical for the root beer variety, these show a beautiful blue/white response under short wave and white under long wave, and are quite phosphorescent. As an added bonus, the Lockport dolomite matrix is also fluorescent, and provides an aesthetic yellow/white color contrast to the fluorescing fluorite cubes under UV. The size of this specimen is 45 x 34 x 28 mm.

Fluorescent response under short wave UV (254nm).

Same specimen shown under visible light.

Gallery images showing fluorescent response (left) and phosphorescence (right) under short wave UV (top row) and long wave UV (bottom row). Click on individual image for a larger view.