Kambaba Jasper
Other Silicates & Gemstones
Kambaba jasper is a trade name for a green orbicular volcanic rock from Madagascar. Mineralogical examination identifies it as rhyolite containing quartz, aegirine, albite, and potassium feldspar, with dark rounded aggregates of amphibole needles; it is neither true jasper nor a stromatolite.
Identity
- Material or variety
- Orbicular rhyolite
- Scientific or material identity
- Jasper (opaque microcrystalline quartz)
- Classification
- Rock or mixed mineral material
- Aliases or trade names
- Crocodile jasper · Kabamba jasper
- Composition or formula
- SiO₂ with mineral inclusions
- Crystal system or structure
- Aggregate or composite structure
- Geological or manufacturing origin
- Can form in more than one geological environment, or combines several materials.
- Mohs hardness
- 6.5 to 7
- Specific gravity
- 2.58 to 2.91
Origins
Madagascar
Appearance & optical properties
dark green jasper with nearly black orbicular circles.
Uses & care
- Common uses
- The contrasting green matrix and dark orbs are displayed in polished cabochons, beads, spheres, and ornamental carvings.
Jewellery
5 pieces of Kambaba Jasper jewellery. Learners earn each one in DigMyGem by learning words; until then it shows as a silhouette.
Kambaba Orb Necklace
Necklace
A rope of dark-green kambaba beads speckled with black orbs that look back like the eyes of an ancient sea. The jasper is a fossil stromatolite, hundreds of millions of years old.
Ancient Forest Ring
Ring
A silver ring set with an oval of kambaba jasper whose green ground and dark spots recall a fossil forest floor. The cabochon is low-domed and smooth.
Stromatolite Crown
Crown
A circlet of blackened silver set at intervals with domed kambaba cabochons, each a tiny fossil reef. It is a modern ceremonial piece, not a royal crown.
Algae Garden Brooch
Brooch
An imagined round brooch of kambaba jasper, whose dark green rings are fossil algae older than any forest.
Primordial Pond Sceptre
Sceptre
An imagined sceptre crowned with an orb of kambaba jasper, its green rings left by algae in the earliest seas.