Quartz

Gem style quartz crystals from Crystal Park, Dillon, Montana. This is just one of many forms of quartz.

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If mankind had to choose between losing diamond and losing quartz as a mineral on this planet, choosing to keep quartz around would be the prudent move for a very practical reason: while diamond is a hard-to-find gemstone of great worth, quartz is one of the foundational materials of this planet. It is estimated that quartz makes up 25 percent of all rock and that nearly every rock has some quartz in it. It is found on all continents and has proven immensely useful to mankind.

Quartz is a crystal formed from silicon and oxygen with a chemical composition of SiO2. Most quartz forms when magma cools. As it cools the silicon dioxide crystalizes, analogous to how cooling water turns to ice. In a geometric context, the crystals form tetrahedrons or triangular pyramids that create a hard crystal with six sides and often a pyramid-like top. The slower the cooling process, the larger the crystals. The largest quartz crystal ever discovered (Brazil) is 20 feet by 5 feet and weighs over 44 tons.

However, quartz is created from all three of the recognized geologic processes for the creation of rock: metamorphic, igneous, and sedimentary, as well as geothermal activity. While pure quartz is clear (ancient Greeks thought quartz was ice frozen so hard it would not melt and called it krystallos, the beginning of the modern word, crystal), with the addition of tiny amounts of impurities and changing crystal sizes it comes in more types than any other mineral; rose quartz, smoky quartz, amethyst, tiger’s eye, jasper, onyx, agate, and citrine to name a few. Granite, that favorite rock for slab countertops and durable buildings, by definition contains at least 20 percent or more of quartz. As some of these names imply, quartz also comes in just about any color you could imagine. Some of the more common colors include: clear, white, gray, purple, yellow, brown, black, pink, green, and red.

Quartz has served mankind since the Stone Age. Flint (true flint comes from Europe, especially France) and the American version, chert (there are many types and colors of chert), are a subdivision of quartz formed within sedimentary layers. Flints and cherts have a microcrystalline structure with crystals too small to see with the eye resulting in a fine, often buttery texture. This fine grain gives them a characteristic hardness. When a piece of flint or chert is struck, it breaks with conchoidal fracture. This type of fracture doesn’t follow defined planes of weakness such as between layers within a crystal structure and results in surfaces that are smoothly curved with undulating waves, often described as “shell-like” to create a sharp edge for stone tools. Flint/chert is also so hard that it easily strikes sparks against iron, creating a source for fire.

Quartz crystals have been used for centuries as gemstones. They are hard, on the Mohs hardness scale they rate a 7 (diamond is the hardest material and scores a 10 and a steel-bladed knife or glass is 5.5-6). However, since they are relatively common, they are not nearly as valuable as, say, diamonds. While a one carat (200 milligrams) oval-cut diamond may sell for almost $15,000, a purple amethyst, one of the most valuable of quartz crystals, sells for $7-15 per carat.

However, quartz has a characteristic that makes it well-suited for some unique uses. Quartz is piezoelectric – that means that when it is put under pressure, the crystal produces an electric voltage and the crystal vibrates at precise frequencies. Since the first quartz watch produced in 1969, quartz has been used in nearly all timepieces, digital or analog. This same feature also makes quartz useful in other electronic gear such as radios, robotics, and computers.

Quartz is used in many industrial applications from the formation of steel to hydraulic fracking of oil. However, one of the most useful and common uses is that of making glass. Glass is made from melted sand and the vast majority of the sand in the world, whether on beaches, in rivers, or in tall dunes, is composed of quartz.

Without quartz, the world we know would be much different. Diamonds are great, but I’d take quartz any day.

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Help Idaho Wildlife

When we traveled across the state in October 2017, most of the vehicles we saw using the wildlife management areas did not have wildlife plates. Buying wildlife plates is a great way for non-hunters and hunters alike to support wildlife-based recreation like birding.

C'mon folks, let's help Idaho's wildlife by proudly buying and displaying a wildlife license plate on each of our vehicles! 

See below for information on Idaho plates. Most states have wildlife plates so if you live outside Idaho, check with your state's wildlife department or vehicle licensing division for availability of state wildlife plates where you live. 

And tell them that you heard about it from Nature-track.com!

Wildlife License Plates

Great news! as of 2024, there are three NEW designs for license plates. They still are bluebird, cutthroat trout and elk, but they are beautiful.

Idaho Wildlife license plates provide essential funding that benefits the great diversity of native plants and wildlife that are not hunted, fished or trapped—over 10,000 species or 98% of Idaho’s species diversity. Game species that share the same habitats (such as elk, deer, antelope, sage-grouse, salmon, trout) also benefit from these specialty plates.

No state tax dollars are provided for wildlife diversity, conservation education and recreation programs. Neither are any revenues from the sale of hunting or fishing licenses spent on nongame species. Instead, these species depend on direct donations, federal grants, fundraising initiatives—and the Idaho Wildlife license plates.

Both my vehicles have Bluebird Plates. I prefer the bluebird because the nongame program gets 70 percent of the money from bluebird plates, but only 60 percent of the money from elk and trout plates - 10 percent of the money from elk plates supports wildlife disease monitoring and testing programs (to benefit the livestock industry) and 10 percent from cutthroat plates supports non-motorized boat access.

Incidentally, in 2014, the Idaho Legislature denied the Department of Fish and Game the ability to add new plates or even to change the name of the elk and cutthroat plates (very specific) to wildlife and fish plates, a move that would have allowed for changing images occasionally and generating more revenue. It would seem that they believe that we Idahoans don't want a well funded wildlife program.

I think it is time we let the Legislature know that Idahoan support wildlife funding and that we would like to see these generic plates come to fruition.