The main agate occurrences from Transylvania Province (Romania)

Most of the agate occurrences from Romania are located in Transylvania

province. We present four areas in the region, where such gems are present:
Rachiş, Techereu, and Gurasada from the Apuseni Mountains, and Căpuş from
the Transylvanian Depression.

Red agates from Rachiş

Rachiş locality (Alba County) is located in the eastern part of the Apuseni
Mountains, about 50 km southwards from Cluj-Napoca. Even if Rachiş is a
small village isolated in a mountainous area, it is a well-known occurrence in the
geological references of the second half of the XIXth century, especially due to
the agate occurrences.
The host rocks for the agates from Rachiş are represented by volcanoclastic
complexes (andesitic and dacitic volcanic breccia and tuffs) of Upper Jurassic–
Upper Cretaceous age.
The agates are concentrated as veins crossing these rocks, as well as reworked
vein fragments in the alluvia of the Rachiş Valley and its effluent, Cremenii
Brook (author’s note: the name of the brook derives from the traditional name of
chalcedony in Romanian).
Agates can be collected in situ from the slopes of these valleys. They occur as
veins and veinlets (sometimes more than 10 cm thick and not more than 30-50 m
in length, with discontinuous development) giving birth to agatiform structures
and elliptic nodules. The agates from Rachiş are typically red in colour, features
that assigns them to the carneol-onyx type. Alternant white-red bands, displayed
plan-parallel or seldom concentric are the most frequent features, but agates with
mixed white, red and blue colours can be also identified. Almost all the carneol
varieties are translucent, and after polishing they acquire an intense lustre.
The red colour is due to inclusions of iron hydroxides solubilised by the
generating solutions from the pyroclastic rocks. As a rule, the agates from
Rachiş show a central area of microcrystalline white quartz followed by outer
concentric layers of various red hues, consisting of fibrous microcrystalline
quartz (fig. ).
The presence of veins sometimes exceeding 10 cm in thickness and the high
frequency of veins networks and mineralised fissures on a relatively small area
(about 1 km2) – the main area of agate concentration – involves the participation
of SiO2-rich hypogeneous solutions generated by intrusive magmatites of
relatively acidic composition.

Blue agates from Techereu

Located about 50 km south from Rachiş, Techereu village belongs
administratively to Hunedoara County. As in the previous case, since over 150
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years, the name of this locality is geologically-related to the impressive variety
of agates, chalcedonies, jaspers and silicified woods.
In Techereu area, a wide range of geological formations (conglomerates,
pebbles, volcanic rocks) of various ages host significant concentrations of gem-
quality materials of the SiO2 group. If in the case of the Rachiş agates the typical
colour is red, in Techereu area blue is the trademark.
Many of the agates and chalcedonies from Techereu are similar to the
thundereggs. Such elliptical or rarely oval concretions are hosted by
conglomerates and intrusive rhyolitic rocks; they consist of blue and white silica
displayed in various patterns (fig.).
The gem materials from Techereu are often reworked in the alluvia of the local
valleys, but they can be also collected from the host-rocks. The agates have both
hydrothermal and exogeneous origin.

Agates and jaspers from Gurasada

The area of gemological interest around Gurasada is located in south Apuseni

Mountains, on the right side of Mureş River that is the main hydrographic
feature of the region. The village stands 15 km far from Deva municipality
(Hunedoara County).
The alluvia of the valleys in this area have collected a wide variety of agates,
chalcedonies, jaspers and silicified woods, mainly originating from Laramian
(Upper Cretaceous) volcanoclastic deposits, but also from the Jurassic–Lower
Cretaceous ophiolitic complex located northwards.
Texturally, the agates collected from Gurasada area can be assigned to the
banded agates. In general, they show light colours, the central part often
consisting of white-milky crystalline quartz gradually passing outwards into
microcrystalline and fibrous greyish and reddish silica. However, multicoloured
agates, with external bands in red hues and greyish and bluish ones inwards have
also been identified. A more exotic type of agate at Gurasada is the black one,
with an aesthetic contrast between the black bands and the light-coloured
(transparent) ones. Typical for the area are also the agates resulted from the
carbonisation of tree fragments by the pyroclastic material. Silica has totally
substituted the fossil wood, but its outline was preserved.
The agates originating from the ophiolitic complex (of basic chemical character)
show darker colours and, as a rule, they are of the agate-onyx type with specific
alternating white-dark blue bands (fig.).
Microscopically, the quartz microcrystals are dominantly granular, and
additionally fibrous and lamellar.
The RAMAN spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction data have documented the
heterogeneous composition of these agates. They mainly consist of
microcrystalline quartz and moganite, with minor amounts of calcite, opal C and
graphite.

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Studies have pointed out an exogeneous genesis for the agates (bentonitisation
of the pyroclastites). Under these circumstances, the voids in the host rock may
be filled by silica-supersaturated fluids, favouring the precipitation of SiO 2.
Quartz crystallized from the silica gel that was partly polymerised; the multiple
banding of the agates suggests a dynamic internal growth during a self-
organised crystallisation process from silica-rich fluids.
From the same area it is worthy to mention the presence of an exotic jasper type.
It consists of a silica concretions consisting of a yellowish-brownish “tiger-eye”
type of jasper core (about 35 x 55 cm) and a thick cortex of sandstone with voids
and veinlets filled by grey chalcedony and calcite (fig. ). The original size of
this material was tubular, similar to a tree trunk, about 50 cm in radius and about
60 cm in height.

The thunderegg-type agates from la Căpuş

Căpuş village is located close to Cluj-Napoca municipality. From geological

point of view, it is located at the border of the Transylvanian Depression, in the
vicinity of the Apuseni Mountains.
These agates occur as nodules (lithophyses) in bentonitised rhyolitic lava flows.
Most of the lithophyses are spherical, but rare ellipsoidal or cylindrical-
elongated shapes have also been collected. Their sizes vary from 1–8 cm in
diameter. In the mass of whitish, bentonitised rhyolite, the nodules are always
well-defined and singular.
The internal area (or the core) of the spherical nodules mainly consists of
chalcedony of various colours, totally or partly filling the central void of the
lithophyse. These voids filled by chalcedony may vary as volume and
morphology. In most cases, the voids are more or less spherical; outwards,
centrifugal conical apophyses draw a star-shaped outline. The apophyses may
also represent supply channels for the generating solutions. In the references,
this type of agate was defined as thunderegg agate.
The core is usually represented by translucent, white-greyish chalcedony that
shows a relatively concentric agatiform zoning, more evident in the agate cut
slices of 3–5 mm thickness. Under direct light, this type of chalcedony shows
silky lustre, with slight iridescence (iridescent agates). In other cases, the core
consists of grey-bluish, red or orange-yellowish chalcedony.