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LocalitiesPugh Quarry, Weston, Wood County, Ohio, USA

4th Aug 2023 02:51 UTCDouglas Bank 🌟

I just received this specimen from my cousin, who bought it at an estate sale. We *think* it is from the Pugh Quarry based on how it looks, but we really don't know. (The estate sale was in the DC area)

The specimen is 9.3 pounds (4218 grams) and is about 20 cm across. The largest calcite scalenohedra is about 17 cm. It fluoresces orange under long wave, with one spot fluorescing far more intensely than the rest of the specimen. Under MW and SW, it does not fluoresces as well, but it has a faint green cast. Because of the green, I checked it with a Geiger counter and was surprised to find that it is radioactive. Not very, but part of it reaches above 0.6 µSv/Hr, which is about 7 times background in my basement.

Does this specimen look like it comes from the Pugh Quarry? Does it make sense for a specimen from there to be even mildly radioactive? If not Pugh, where else might it be from?

4th Aug 2023 03:53 UTCRobert Nowakowski

It could be from Pugh, but it could be many others in north Ohio. Pugh Quarry gets used a lot for brown calcites of unknown origin. The upper levels of the Sylvania Quarries produced very similar pieces.

Bob

5th Aug 2023 02:54 UTCJamison K. Brizendine 🌟 Expert

I would be fairly confident that this was likely collected from the upper levels of the Pugh Quarry. It was open to collectors during the 1960s and 1970s and hundreds of thousands of specimen were collected in the open cave pockets which exposed these crystals. After 1980, collecting was restricted by France Stone and only allowed only a handful of clubs in.

Rob is correct that the Sylvania Quarry produced similar pieces, but judging on the style and zoning of the calcite the probably of this being from Pugh rather than Sylvania is high. A lot of my Pugh calcites also fluoresce as well, but I only own a few from Sylvania and haven't really tested to see if they fluoresce as strongly as my Pugh Quarry specimens.

I've never heard of a Pugh Quarry calcite being radioactive, now I need to check my other specimens to see if it has a "green glow". That's curious...

5th Aug 2023 13:52 UTCDouglas Bank 🌟

Thanks for your feedback. As for the "green glow", I haven't exactly been able to duplicate it, and my son Justin doesn't see it. Perhaps it was slightly more blue and my slightly yellow glasses make it look greener. Moreover, it's more radioactive near the top of the calcite, which is indeed curious. Perhaps it just needs to be washed?

I'll try to take pictures of it's fluorescence, but given its size, that is kind of a challenge.

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