Introduction

Parrsboro is the self proclaimed mineral collecting capital of Nova Scotia. It is home to the Fundy Geological Museum and hosts an annual mineral show. One of the spots that made Parrsboro so famous is the area around Wasson's Bluff, about 6 km east of Parrsboro. When you first step onto the beach and Wasson's Bluff you are treated to some awesome scenery. However, in addition to the beautiful landscape, the cliffs hold world famous fossils and great minerals.

In 1984, these cliffs received international attention with the discovery of a 200 million year old fossil assemblage by a team of American scientists led by Dr. Paul Olsen of Columbia University and Neil Shubin of Harvard University. What makes the find so important is that the fossils are found in rock that was deposited immediately after a major extinction. For more information about the fossils from Wasson's Bluff, the Nova Scotia museum site on the fossils of Nova Scotia. It is very important to note that Wasson's Bluff is designated a Special Place under provincial law. Thus, it is illegal to dig from fossil bearing sections of the cliffs without special permission. Collecting from the beach is permitted. The specimens shown on this page were collected legally.

History

Interest in the minerals of this area, in particular the chabazite and gmelinite, goes back to the earliest mineralogical expeditions of the area. Jackson and Alger discuss the area in an 1828 paper. Before 1832, samples of the chabazite had already made their way to Germany via St. Petersburg where they were compared chemically to other known chabazites, by Hoffmann. In 1834 Thomson coined the term Acadialite for the dark red crystals of chabazite which are unique to this area, but this name is no longer recognized. By 1844 chabazite from here was analyzed by more leaders of mineralogy (Phillips et al.). Note that in the early literature the mineral is often referred to as chabasie.

I have heard anecdotally that at different times the early to mid 1900s both the Canadian government and NASA took interest in the chabazite. This is because it is one of the better natural zeolites that can be used to carry out certain chemical reactions. Unfortunately, I don't have any firm evidence of these activities. Rogers and Rogers (1959) mention that Mr. Wasson, after whom the bluff is named, "collected them for years for some commerical project", which may be related.

There are a few place names in the area covered by this article that are worth discussion because they may related to old labels. In the 1800s Parrsboro was sometimes spelled Parrsborough. The road from Parrsboro to Wasson's is the Two Islands Road. Many old labels give a locality of Two Islands, but the material is clearly from Wasson Bluff. In the 1800s, Two Islands refers to the community which covers the more general area, including Wasson Bluff. I'm not sure when the name Wasson Bluff (or Wasson's Bluff) came into use; the earliest mention that I've found is in Marsh (1863). Swan Creek is on the west end of the bluff, although there is a little basalt to the west of the creek. To the east lies McKay Head. Two Islands are also sometimes known as The Brothers and in an 1865 map (Mackinlay 1865), they are recorded as Eagle Island (larger) and Black Island (smaller).

Geology

The cliffs of the Wasson's Bluff area are Triassic in age. The basalts between Wasson's Bluff and Swann Creek overlie sandstones and are overlain by siltstones. Several lava flows make up to rock. These flows can be seen very nicely on the east side of the Two Islands just after sunrise. At Wasson's Bluff, many different zones exist with very hard and solid basalt to very soft, almost earthy basalt and some very brecciated material. The basalt in this area is sometimes more brown in color than in the basalt in the remainder of the Bay of Fundy, which is predominantly gray.

The geology and mineralogy extend in time past the formation of the basalt. Later, when the sandstones were forming, the basalt was faulting and pieces of basalt were breaking up into the sandstone. This faulting created breccias and pockets that gave a home for newly forming minerals such as chabazite. Not all, but a lot of the chabazite is found very close to the boundary with the sandstone.

The photo below shows a block of fallen basalt with several amygadoidal tubes in it. These tubes form when the rock is still molten, as gas travels up towards the surface. The tubes later fill with basalt and countless tiny mineralized spots. These are common along the North Mountain, but unusual for Wasson's. While not important for mineral collectors, they add to the geologic interest of the area.

Mineralogy

World class chabazite and fantastic stilbite bowties are the most desirable minerals from the area. Two Islands has also produced some excellent, lustrous and large gmelinite crystals. Analcime, natrolite, heulandite, thomsonite, calcite, laumontite, barite, quartz and native copper are found in the area. The copper is typically associated with chrysocolla and rarely associated with cuprite and malachite. Marsh (1863) reports good, but rare, apophyllite; it is included in the table as fluorapophyllite-(K), the most likely species from this area. He also lists epidote. Johnston (1902), citing personal communication with T. L. Walker, lists martite (hematite ps. magnetite). Pe-Piper (2002) reports barrerite, stellerite, wairakite, and clinoptilolite - minerals that are visually indistinguishable from stilbite, stilbite, analcime, and heulandite respectively. Laumontite is reported here for the first time, though it is rare. In addition to these, a dark green-black mineral has been found that has been identified as saponite. Finally there is a black earthy wad sometimes associated with the orange chabazite.

Johnston, citing personal communication with T. L. Walker, lists gismondine from Two Islands in 1915. However, in his important and thorough 1922 work, Walker makes no mention of it. It has not been reported elsewhere in Nova Scotia. Therefore, I believe it was a questionable or incorrect identification and it is not listed here.

Table 1: Minerals reported from Wasson's Bluff.

Analcime - NaAl(Si₂O₆)·H₂O

Analcime is very common, particularly especially at the western end of the bluff, in a large old rock fall with natrolite. Crystals are often very clear when collected, but considerable internal fracturing makes most of them look worse when they dry. They are still nice, with good luster, but the transparent crystals are preferred.

The shape of a typical analcime is a pure trapezohedron. Modification by the cube form is well known from many localities worldwide. One of the best localities is Mont St. Hilaire, Quebec, which has even produced pure cubes of analcime. Still, the cube form is uncommon in analcime and rare in Nova Scotia.

In some clear crystals nice microscopic inclusions of native copper have been found. The copper often forms octahedral crystals, some of them still sharp and lustrous. Many analcimes display a bluish fluorescence; those that do are typically associated with the copper. More precisely, only the areas of the crystal near the inclusions fluoresce, suggesting that the copper is somehow causing the fluorescence.

At Two Islands, green analcime has been found. How writes (1869),

"At Two Islands I have found large crystals partly consisting of chlorite lying loose in a cavity, above high water mark, like specimens on the shelf of a cabinet. I have one large crystal of which about half consists of chlorite."

A detailed chemical analysis of analcime from Wasson's Bluff was published by Clarke and Steiger (1899) and several microprobe analyses were reported by Pe-Piper (2002). Some data are shown in the table below. Analcime from Wasson's Bluff has been used in scientific studies including one looking at cell dimensions and silica content (Coombs and Whetten 1967), a second looking at compressibility and the effects of high pressure on the crystal structure (Yoder and Weir 1960), and a third on the reaction with ammonium chloride (Clarke and Steiger 1902).

Table 2: Chemistry of analcime from Wasson's Bluff.

From one zone rich in analcime and natrolite, many of the analcime crystals have slashes through them where an earlier mineral once existed. Sometimes the cavities go entirely into the analcime, such that the analcime forms a cast. The cavities have a rectangular cross section and are elongated. The size is approximately 1-2 mm thick, about two to three times that in width, and lengths to 6 cm and maybe more. Based on similar cavities from basalt in New Jersey and Brazil, we can assume that the earlier mineral was anhydrite that later dissolved (Schaller 1932). At other locations along the northern shore of the Bay of Fundy, quartz pseudomorphs are found of the anhydrite crystals.

Barite - BaSO₄

Near Swann Creek is an area that has produced some red twinned chabazite-Ca crystals associated with calcite, barite, and saponite. The barite forms attractive tabular crystals, of simple form, to about 1 cm maximum. They are colorless with a porcelain white rind around the perimeter of each crystal. The white zone seems to be almost foamy and is very friable, easy separating from the clear part of the crystal. The brilliant white, when associated with red chabazite, is very attractive. Sparse barite has also been found east of the fossil-bearing sandstones.

Pe-Piper reported this barite in 2002, the same year it was independently reported on this website. Johnston reports it from Two Islands (note that the name at that time covered the whole area, not just the geographic islands), via personal communication with T.L. Walker, in 1915, but no description is given. In Nova Scotia this is the only area that has produced well defined crystals of barite in the basalts. A search of mindat.org shows that there are many localities around the world that have produced both barite and chabazite together.

Calcite - CaCO₃

Calcite is common at Wasson's Bluff but is inconspicuous because the crystals tend to be small. On the Clarke Head side of Swann Creek it is common, forming pockets and seams. Plates of golden crystals and several habits of microcrystals can be found. Spiky crystals are often found on the orange chabazite from Wasson's; a unique and dramatic larger specimen is shown below.

Some white calcite from the Swann Creek area is shown in a photo with barite under the subsection for that mineral. This material forms druses and isolated small blocky crystals. The drawing below shows the form of the crystals. The dominant forms are the rhombohedra {02.1} and {03.2} along with minor modifications by the rhombohedron {01.2} and the scaledohedron {21.1}. Other calcites in the surrounding basalt are associated with saponite.

The area that produces natrolite and analcime has also produced small clusters of calcites. These are associated with tiny specks of some altered copper mineral but some of the calcites are included with bright tiny native copper crystals. These calcites are well formed, but not particularly sharp. The form is scalenohedral, so called dog-tooth, but some show an additional form as a small uniform edge bevel from the tips to the waists of the crystals.

Herbert Whitlock (1927), in his study of calcite from the New Jersey basalts, mentions the habit of calcite,

"The dominant negative rhombohedron f. (02-21) of Type II is traceable with much greater ease throughout the literature of calcite. ... [I've] also observed this habit on crystals from ... Cape D'Or and Two Islands, Nova Scotia."

where his 'Type II' is simply crystals dominated by the forms f. {02-21} and m. {40-41}. In my experience, this habit is very common at Partridge Island, but uncommon at best from Cape D'Or and Two Islands.

Celadonite - K(Mg,Fe²⁺)(Fe³⁺,Al)(Si₄O₁₀)(OH)₂

Celadonite (not to be confused with the mineral caledonite), is a member of the muscovite mica group of minerals that forms thing coatings or layers and does not form visible crystals. At many other places, especially along the North Mountain, celadonite was the first mineral to form in amygdules that later filled with quartz or zeolites. But most of the mineralization at Wasson's is associated with faulting and brecciation, rather than in amygules, so there is not typically associated celadonite. Instead, celadonite can be found just in the basalt rock in places.

Chabazite-Ca - (Ca,K₂,Na₂)₂[Al₂Si₄O₁₂]₂·12H₂O

The chabazite from Wasson's Bluff comes in a wide variety of colors including orange, red, pink, white, and colorless. In old texts, the red variety is given the name acadialite, but it was later shown to be chemically indistinguishable from other chabazite and the name was dropped. The exact color (and habit) of crystals changes from one section of cliff to the next. The most common chabazite from Wasson's is the orange (grading to red) variety. Within a particular crystal the color may vary, in zones, from orange opaque to yellowish transparent.

Crystals to more than 2.5 centimeters are considered very large; the largest crystal I am aware of is 4.2 cm on edge (Mindat photo-362565). Excellent specimens with large and lustrous crystals have been found but are rare.

I have chosen to use the species name chabazite-Ca instead of the more general series name chabazite because every chemical analysis I have seen, from historical through to recent measurements, has returned results consistent with that species. Calcium is dominant over sodium and potassium in all cases. A table of some older measurements is shown below. Pe-Piper and Miller (2002) report more modern measurements. Chabazite from Wasson's Bluff appears in several scientific papers over the years, and powder diffraction data using material from here is even in the U.S. National Bureau of Standards database (Morris et al. 1982).

Table 3: Early wet-chemistry analyses of chabazite from Wasson's Bluff.

The classic orange material is very simple morphologically, but there seems to be a trend towards modified crystals as we move towards Swann Creek. White, pink, and deep red-orange crystals have been found as more complex crystals. Several other forms are present, usually as minor modifications but sometimes becoming the dominant form. According to Kostov (1967), simple morphology (rhomb only) indicates the crystals grew at low temperatures, the highly modified crystals represent higher temperatures of formation, and phacolite-like twinning occurs at even higher temperatures. This agrees with what we see at Wasson's, where the classic orange crystals, that formed well after the basalt cooled and the sandstone was forming, are simple rhombs, while crystals that formed in pockets in the basalt (presumably while it was still hot) are modified.

The more highly modified crystals also tend to exhibit the phacolite variety of twinning, though the twin is nearly always smaller than the main crystal. The more complex twinned crystals resemble exactly a crystal drawing from Walker and Parsons. That drawing represents a crystal from Amethyst Cove, however, I have not seen that shape from there. This style of chabazite is discussed by Alger (1846) where he writes the following; note that Two Islands was used at that time to describe Wassons's Bluff.

These, as they are sometimes presented, would, unless carefully examined, be mistaken for the true form of phacolite. The most perfect specimens I have seen are from Nova Scotia. They consist of two rhombohedrons united in the usual manner, each crystal turned half round, but having their superior edges and lateral angles deeply replaced. The approach to the form of phacolite is thus produced; the edges and angles not standing out in relief, as they ordinarily do in these twin forms. The striae, parallel with the edges of the two rhombohedrons, so intersect as to show the compound nature of the crystals. Dr. C. T. Jackson has a fine specimen of this variety from the Two Islands, in Nova Scotia, of a wine-yellow colour; I have another pure white, from the same place.

The classic orange stilbites and chabazites that are most often found in worldwide colelctions are associated with calcite and heulandite. The calcite typically forms small steep scalenohedral crystals. The heulandite forms tiny colorless pearly-lustered coffin-shaped crystals. The matrix is very crumbly, making larger specimens difficult to collect. The chabazite is also very easily weathered. The edges of rhombs are often lost due to frost damage. Also, groundwater easily etches the crystals. In extreme cases the chabazite may be turned completely to powder, while the underlying heulandite is still perfect and lustrous.

Chabazite is a mineral that twins very easily. The orange crystals, being basic rhombs without higher order faces, makes studying the twinning simpler. Three types of twinning are observed. The rhomb itself is often twinned as shown in the figure below left. These rhombs are commonly found as penetration twins shown below right. I also have a few examples of contact twins of the orange crystals.

The orange chabazite with orange stilbite coloring and association is pretty indicative of this locality for Nova Scotia specimens, but interestingly, some very similar looking material has been found in other spots in the world. The same combination of minerals, though somewhat paler in color have been found at Imilchil, Morocco (see an example here). Some chabazite specimens from the well known zeolite locality of Paterson, New Jersey are also nearly identical in coloration to material from Wasson's (see examples here and here).

Chrysocolla - Cu_2-xAl_x(H_2-xSiO₅)(OH)₄·n(H₂O), x<1

Copper at Wasson's is almost invariably associated with green-blue to blue-green chrysocolla. It is without crystal form and forms gel-like coatings on copper, fingers, and stringy root-like growths. Though the identity was assumed for a long time, the species was confirmed by EDS in 2018. It is an alteration product of the native copper. Even if copper is not visible, breaking a mass of chrysocolla usually reveals a bit of copper in the center.

Copper - Cu

Native copper is found in small amounts along the central part of Wasson's Bluff, especially in the area around the analcime/natrolite fall. Wiry growths and crystals are found here. Any exposed seems to be altered, generally to a blue-green translucent mineral without crystal form, with only corroded wires of copper remaining at the interior. Tiny, sharp, bright, and very well formed copper crystals are found included in analcime (and I have seen a few in calcite too) but the analcime is generally not clear enough to get a good view of them. The specimen shown below is an exception.

Cuprite - Cu₂O

Marsh (1863) reports rare cuprite from Wasson's Bluff. Traill reports cuprite from Two Islands (islands proper or community is uncertain), based on a specimen in the National Mineral Collection donated by C.W. Willimott in 1901. Some has also been found at Swann Creek, but in sandstone overlying the basalt.

Gmelinite-Na - Na₄[Al₄Si₈O₂₄]·11H₂O

Gmelinite is reported by some collectors from Wasson's Bluff, but I have not personally seen an example. On the other hand, gmelinite is common at Two Islands. Tschernich describes these as a gmelinite shell over core that is a corroded mixture of gmelinite and chabazite. The shells of these crystals are extremely lustrous and show striations of triangular growth hillocks on the surface, making them very attractive. The material is associated with pearly colorless heulandite and the occasional analcime. Most of the material found in recent years (such as that pictured below) shows no pinacoid form.

The Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History has some very different looking crystals from the islands that were collected many decades ago. Those have strong prism faces suggesting gmelinite, but have not been tested.

Modern EDS analysis of the gmelinite from Two Islands is given in Pe-Piper and Miller (2002). They are clearly sodium dominant, in contrast to the calcium dominant chabazite from Wasson's. Below is an older wet-chemical analysis (Howe 1876).

Table 4: Chemistry of gmelinite-Na from Two Islands (Howe 1876).

Heulandite-Ca - (Ca,Na₂)Al₂Si₇O₁₈·6H₂O and
Clinoptilolite-Ca - (Ca,Na)_2-3Al₃(Al,Si)₁₃O₃₆·36H₂O

This mineral is commonly found in the area, often as very nice crystals, but larger, displayable specimens are uncommon. Small colorless crystals are often found in the area of the orange chabazite. They have a nice pearly luster and add nice sparkle to the specimens. The crystals from Wasson's are typically modified so that they look like little coffins. The description 'coffin-shaped' is often used to describe heulandite, but only the material from Wasson's and the nearby areas really matches this description. They are quite distinct from the orange druses so common from the south side of the Bay of Fundy.

Fantastic gemmy yellow micro crystals have been found at Swann Creek. Unfortunately they lose their color over time. This seems to be a general problem with heulandite. Some vibrantly orange material from Harbourville also fades (although to a lesser degree) over time. I have heard that the superb pink crystals from Idaho also faded soon after being collected. If I am able to find more fresh yellow heulandites, I'll add a photo. These yellow heulandites have been found for quite some time as they were reported by Walker and Parsons in 1922. Parsons later published structural data for heulandite from Nova Scotia (Parsons 1930). Near the yellow heulandites were found some red heulandites as well. In this case the coloring is due to mossy inclusions. Because the coloring is due to an inclusion, it does not fade. Deeply red colored crystals have also been found at Two Islands.

Pe-Piper and Miller present microprobe analyses showing many samples of material from Wasson's Bluff are heulandite-Ca (calcium dominant). However one of those samples (W108) has a Si:Al ratio greater than 4.0, which by definition makes it clinoptilolite-Ca. The two minerals are visually indistinguishable and require microprobe or chemical analysis to differentiate them. Even more interesting, another of the analyses (W88) came very close to being heulandite-Sr, which is a rare species. No description of that specimen is given.

Laumontite - CaAl₂Si₄O₁₂·4H₂O

In 2002 a new fall at the first rockslide provided fresh material that, when studied under the scope, turned up a few new minerals for the area. The first was laumontite, forming small bundles of crystals. Another mineral was thomsonite. Natrolite was also found nearby. Laumontite must be considered a rare mineral at Wasson's Bluff.

Malachite - Cu₂(CO₃)(OH)₂

Marsh (1863) lists malachite from here, sometimes enclosed by analcime. Johnston (1915) reports malachite from Two Islands, via communication with T.L. Walker, but that could have meant the community of Two Islands which would instead refer to what we now call Wasson Bluff. Given that copper is frequently found at Wasson's, malachite as a weathering product would not be unexpected, but it is much rarer than chrysocolla. The image below is a rare example of proper malachite crystals and the best that I am aware of.

Natrolite - Na₂Al₂Si₃O₁₀·2H₂O

A rockslide at the western end of the bluff has produced a number of analcime and natrolite specimens. This rock is highly brecciated, often with large openings in the rock. The natrolite needles are very slender and distinctive when compared to the natrolite from the rest of the Bay of Fundy which tends to form much sturdier crystals in tighter bunches. Both plates and radiating sprays have been found, some of excellent quality.

Sometimes specimens have some added features of interest. For instance, a couple specimens have been found stained blue due to copper secondary minerals (as yet unidentified). Other specimens have tiny calcites scattered about the natrolite needles. A few specimens also sport curved natrolite crystals. An example is shown below. The other photo shown below was part of a find that produced some unusually shaped clusters that look like trees. In the pictured specimen the trees are themselves clustered into a larger mound associated with an analcime crystal. It makes for an outstanding specimen.

Early structural data for natrolite from Wasson's was published by Parsons (1930).

Palygorskite - (Mg,Al)₂Si₄O₁₀)(OH) · 4(H₂O)

This mineral was encountered in 2020 in basalt, associated with twinned chabazites and calcite in the basalt on the Clarke Head side of Swann Creek. It formed fillings in factures between basalt blocks and less commonly in pockets. Palygorskite is also known as mountain leather because it forms flexible matted sheets. The sheets are composed of thin fibers. Identification was made using XRD, EDS, and Raman. It was associated with microscopic balls of a smectite group mineral.

Waldron et al. (2005) report large sheets of asbestiform anthophyllite from a columnar basalt zone, with the amphibole forming in an alteration zone between the basalt columns. From the description of that area and the rocks on either side, it appears to be the same matrial but they do not describe the tests performed. If only EDS was performed, then an incorrect identification is possible.

Quartz - SiO₂

A small amount of quartz and quartz sinter are found, especially at the eastern end of the bluff. Some specimens consist of radial aggregates of flowers and balls, similar to those found at McKay Head. Some are also pale amethystine in color. Quartz is also found as psuedomorphs after anhydrite, forming random arrangements of rectangular prisms. These always look quite rough.

Saponite - Ca_0.25(Mg,Fe)₃((Si,Al)₄O₁₀(OH)₂·n(H₂O)

This mineral has been found as drusy linings of small pockets and vesicles. It is common in the Swann Creek area (west of the creek), associated with calcite. Though it looks black, under good light it is actually very dark green. Some grayish olive-green material has also been found which may be the same material; it formed more isolated balls on calcite. Under high magnification, the coatings are seen to consist of radial balls with a fuzzy texture.

Visual identification suggested a member of the pumpellyite-julgoldite series, minerals that are often found with zeolites. Microprobe anaylsis (Dalhousie, 2003) gave the following mass percents: FeO=11.97, CaO=1.43, Na2O=0.17, Al2O3=8.08, MgO=18.10, SiO2=42.83. Performing calculations to remove the oxygen and comparing to the ideal formula, we find the amount of calcium is too low for pumpellyite-julgoldite but it is much closer to saponite. Mg>Fe eliminates ferrosaponite and Ca>Na eliminates beidellite. Saponite in this environment is entirely reasonable. Saponite is a smectite clay mineral. Raman spectroscopy on this material did not provide good results, expected for a clay mineral.

Stilbite-Ca - NaCa₄Al₉Si₂₇O₇₂·30H₂O

One area of the beach has produced some excellent chabazite and stilbite. An excellent specimen with large fans of orange stilbite is shown below. The best of these stilbites, including this one, came from a single opening in a vein. On most of the specimens the fans are not as pronounced and rather form thinner sheaf-like aggregates.

Relatively poor stilbite has been found in the beach itself when the amount of rock and pebbles on the beach was low. It forms yellowish-orange crusts and druses of tiny crystals. While the crystals themselves are quite nondescript, the crusts can form quite unusual shapes. It is as if the stilbite was growing over various structures and openings in the rock and later the structures decomposed to form the mud.

A chemical analysis is published by Clarke and Steiger (1902) and Clarke (1903), showing the material is calcium dominant, making the species stilbite-Ca. The specimen they analyzed was 'nearly white' which is unusual for Wassons - I don't recall seeing white stilbite from there before.

Table 5: Chemistry of stilbite-Ca from Wasson's Bluff.

Thomsonite-Ca - NaCa₂Al₅Si₅O₂₀·6H₂O

Thomsonite was identified from material collected after a rockfall in 2002. Forming white blobs on the brown basalt when viewed in the hand, under the scope they are delicate aggregates of very thin crystals with flat terminations. These have been identified by powder XRD. Pe-Piper and Miller (2002) independently published electron microprobe results indicating thomsonite-Ca.

Wad

Wad is a mixture of soft manganese oxides/hydroxides, often poorly crystalline. This is often found on top of chabazite and calcite in the area with the classic orange chabazite and is always the last mineral to form. The manganese was confirmed with EDS, but no attempt was made to determine the species present, as that would be very difficult.

Wairakite - CaAl₂Si₄O₁₂ · 2H₂O

Wairakite is visually identical to analcime and the two minerals may form a series, but it is unknown if the series is complete or if there are gaps. Pe-Piper and Miller (2002) report wairakite, with EDS results for a single specimen, analyzed in two locations. The calcium to sodium ratios for the two analyzed spots are 5.74/5.48 and 4.94/4.12, so that crystal was just over the boundary between calcium dominant wairakite and sodium dominant analcime. No XRD data is provided, but it says elsewhere in the paper that in general XRD was performed.

Unknown 1

An unknown mineral, that appears to be a clay mineral or similar species, is common in the rocks near the analcime/natrolite zone at the western end of the bluff. It looks like roots or noodles, forming worm-like shapes with a pale brown color. It has not been tested.

Conclusions

Wasson's Bluff is world renowned as both a fossil locality and zeolite locality. Since the 1820's, high quality zeolites have been reported from Wasson's. In particular, a wide range of colors and habits of chabazite have been found, with the best specimens ranking among the finest in the world. Several other species are also present including fine specimens of delicate natrolite needles and beautifully colored fans of stilbite.

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Paula Piilonen and Ralph Rowe at the Canadian Museum of Nature for the powder XRD of the thomsonite and the chabazite-Ca. Also thanks to the staff at the Fundy Geological Museum at Parrsboro. To Peter Richards for producing the calcite crystal drawing, and for permission to use it. To Terry Collett for discovering the fluorescent analcime and for permission to photograph some other specimens shown. To Quintin Wight for use of his calcite photo. Finally thanks to Volker Betz for bringing the German article to my attention.

References

Alger, F. (1846). Approach of twin-crystals to the Phacolite form. in Notices of new localities of rare minerals, and reasons for uniting several supposed distinct species. The London, Edinburgh, and Dublin Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science, 28(190), 557–565. doi:10.1080/14786444608645471

Claffy, E.W., Schulman, J.H. (1950) Luminescence activation of zeolite minerals by base exchange. Abstracts of papers presented at the thirty-first annual meeting of the Mineralogical Society of America at Washington, D.C., November 16-18, 1950. American Mineralogist, 35, 310-328 (312).

Clarke, F.W., Steiger, G. (1899) Experiments relative to the constitution of pectolite, pyrophyllite, calamine, and analcite. American Journal of Science: 8(46): 245–257.

Clarke, F.W., Steiger, G. (1902) The action of ammonium chloride upon certain silicates. American Journal of Science: 13(73): 27-38.

Clarke, F.W. (1903) "Mineral Analyses from the Laboratories of the United States Geological Survey 1880 to 1903", 119p. [Online 2014]

Colwell, J.A. (1980) "Trip 18: Zeolites in the North Mountain Basalt, Nova Scotia", Field Trip Guidebook, Halifax '80, Geological Association of Canada, Mineralogical Association of Canada.

Coombs, D.S. and Whetten, J.T. (1967) Composition of analcime from sedimentary and burial metamorphic rocks, Geological Society of America Bulletin: 78: 269-282.

Rogers, M., Rogers, D. (1959) A trip to Nova Scotia - June 1959. Rocks and Minerals: 36(3-4): 126-128.

Dawson, Sir J.W. (1891) Acadian Geology. Fourth Edition, William Foster Brown and Co.