Quartz is a common rock forming mineral and is present in many different places along the Eno River. Quartz can be present as part of the minerals of a rock. Thick zones of quartz can form associated with hydrothermal alteration, faulting and other geologic environments. This sample of quartz was collected from a brittle fault that is interpreted to have formed during the break-up of the Supercontinent Pangea. The faulting that occurred during the break-up of Pangea formed many large and small faults. Often the faults were zones were silica rich fluids traveled. With time the silica in the fault zones precipitated out and formed thick quartz lined fault zones or fractures. One of these thick quartz zones is present running through Cox Mountain and is evident by the presence of whitish colored quartz boulders and cobbles strewn along the ground in a northwest trend. |
