Rocks, Minerals & Ores
Mineral Sequence in the Cady Mountains
Aragonite
CaCO2 (orthorhombic)Cady Mountains, Mojave Desert, CA
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Mineral Sequence in the Cady Mountains
Hidden in the volcanic bones of the Cady Mountains, aragonite takes root in silence—crystallizing in slender branches and fibrous fans that seem more like frost than stone. Unlike its more common twin, calcite, aragonite forms in the orthorhombic system, favoring needle-like growth and radial clusters. Carried by mineral-rich water through ancient volcanic veins, it blooms in sheltered pockets where time slows and chemistry whispers. These crystals—chalky white, amber-tinted, or rust-streaked—speak to the quiet transformation of fluid into form. Each one is a delicate structure made strong by the ages, a reminder that beauty in the desert often lies hidden, waiting in stillness. Aragonite is the Mojave’s quiet flourish, a record of watery movement now frozen into mineral lace—a fragile memory of geologic rhythm shaped by pressure, patience, and the poetry of stone.