RUC4387 Price: $80
CALCITE in Mercenaria permagna
Rucks’ Pit, near Fort Drum;
Okeechobee County, Florida, USA
Cabinet (10.5 x 7.9 x 5.1 cm)
This unique Mercenaria clam has a nice pocket of transparent calcite crystals in the upper hinge section, with crystals up to 1 cm long. What makes this specimen unusual is the dark coating of iron oxide and tarnished micro pyrite crystals on portions of the outer shell. Pyrite is not a common Florida mineral. The calcite is fluorescent blue-green under shortwave and longwave UV light, and even phosphoresces for a few seconds when the UV light is extinguished. These specimens are Plio–Pleistocene in age (1–2 million years old).
