Colección: Beta Quartz

Beta quartz is the high-temperature form of quartz, stable above approximately 573°C at atmospheric pressure. It typically forms in volcanic and high-temperature hydrothermal environments, where silica-rich fluids or melts crystallize at elevated temperatures. Its characteristic crystal forms, including steeply angled faces and pseudo-hexagonal, bipyramidal habits, reflect the structure of quartz at these higher temperatures.

An interesting feature of so-called “beta quartz” specimens is that the crystals we see today are actually alpha quartz. As the crystals cool below the beta–alpha transition temperature, their atomic structure rearranges into the stable low-temperature alpha-quartz form while largely preserving the external shape of the original beta-quartz crystal. Thus, these specimens are essentially pseudomorphs in structure: crystals that formed as beta quartz at high temperatures but now consist of alpha quartz.