Description
Dogtooth calcite is a variety of calcite that forms as multiple scalenohedral crystals. Dogtooth calcite is often called dog-toothed spar. (Spar is a general term for transparent to translucent, generally light-colored, and glassy crystalline minerals.) Dogtooth calcite is an unusual variety of calcite and is called "dogtooth" because the rock itself looks like a large collection of dog teeth. It has a range of standard colors, from clear to gold, white, gray, brown, tan, and purple, to name a few, but there are also some rarer shades. Dogtooth calcite is often found in caves as a speleothem growing out of limestone. These caves often have standing water that has been seasonal or undisturbed for many years, allowing these unique formations to grow. Dogtooth calcite crystals are not limited to caves but can grow in any open space, including veins, fractures, and geodes. The sharply toothed crystals typically consist of acute scalenohedrons, triangular crystal faces that ideally form scalene triangles. (In a scalene triangle, all sides and all angles are unequal. An example is a right triangle, but scalene triangles are not always right triangles.) Alteration of these faces is common, however, and individual crystal faces can have many more than three edges. Our favorite Dogtooth Calcite specimens come from mines in the Santa Eulalia district, Chihuahua, Mexico. The stunning browns, tans, purples, and "snow coatings" are mesmerizing
