Black jasper rock8/30/2023 ![]() Serendipity can often help and in 1993 when the nearby M74 road link between England and Scotland was being upgraded a temporary quarry was opened near Cowdens Farm about 2 miles northwest of Ecclefechan. Around this area the lavas are well exposed in a north-facing escarpment and in the striking mesa-like hill of Birrenswark. The lava gives rise to a low range of hills 2-3 miles northwest of Ecclefechan. The Birrenswark Carboniferous Olivine-Basalt lava series in the South of Scotland extend eastwards to Langholm and westward to the Solway coast near Kirkbean. Jasper finds "in the field" in the Campsie Hills, north of Glasgow The Campsie Hills from near Strathblane, north of Glasgow. ![]() This material was extensively used in Scottish Pebble Jewellery in the 19th century but nice material can also be found careful searching! The most well known localities though are in the Campsie Hills north of Glasgow. The colour of this material is predominantly red but yellow is also another common color. Different varieties of jasper can also be described by their patterning and colour but this is mainly in relation to the Lapidary industry and I will not describe that further here.Īs I indicated above masses of jasper, some quite large, is quite a common find in fields and streams in certain areas of Scotland. The material from Burn Anne near Galston is often referred to as a “Jasp-agate” but I feel that specimens from here are not true jasper but are entirely agate. The term “Jasp-agate” that crops up from time to time and this seems to refer to jasper with banding or where there is a combination of both agate and jasper. Large amorphous masses of jasper are a common finding in ploughed fields, some exhibiting a beautiful deep red colour. Because it forms in a variety of different rock types it is found extensively over a number of localities here in Scotland. In the Victorian era jasper from Scotland was used extensively in Scottish Pebble Jewellery particularly the red and yellow varieties found in the Campsie Hills north of Glasgow. A green variety with red spots is known as Bloodstone and examples of this can be found here in Scotland. Jasper can exhibit conchoidal fracture and can take a high gloss polish similar to agate. ![]() The commonest colour is red due to the iron inclusions. Some jaspers are banded like agate but these bands are opaque. This makes it an opaque material and the colour can be red, yellow, green, brown, black or rarely blue. Jasper is a silica microcrystalline Quartz rock that, unlike agate, is composed of 5 to 25% Iron. ![]()
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