It has always been a mystery to lay minds just how these peculiar little scenes and moss spots were caused by infinitely minute seams and fissures in the softer part of the rock being filled with metallic oxides when the world was young.
These oxides make four distinct colors that form various combinations when blended together, or only appear in single colors in one rock. The red color is oxide of iron, the green is oxide of copper, and the blue black is oxide of nickel.
This theory has been expanded by the use of microscopes and the tracing of little canals that once admitted water containing one or more of these metals in liquid form. The water dried out. The canals closed so the naked eye could not detect them, but the oxides remained staining the rock in wonderful designs. The fern-like and branch effects of trees, grass, and shrubbery come from the fact that these tiny canals branched out in various subdivisions forming smaller canals from a common center.
In addition to these canals, the rock became flawed through shrinkage while passing through a period of evaporation, which, according to scientists, has taken more than three million years to reduce the stone to seven parts of hardness. These canals and flaws have been perfectly healed by soft silicate formations of which the stone is a part. The evaporation has caused various oxides to take on such forms as are often seen on a window after a frosty night. Technically, MONTANA MOSS AGATE is known as “dentritic” agate, and the moss spots are called “dendrites” because of the tree-like designs. Local artists who use agate harvested from the nearby Yellowstone River produced the agate jewelry available for purchase from Prairie Unique, in Terry, Montana.
Montana State Gem Comfort Stones
Montana Agate: one of Montana’s State Gems derives its name from the Yellowstone River and its tributaries where it’s found among the gravel deposits of the Pleistocene Age. In fact, some Montana agates like “limb casts” come from wood that became covered by the ash, and fossilized after the volcanic activity of that time. In general, these Montana agates are produced from silica and the striking inclusions composed of manganese, iron, and other significant minerals show beautifully when polished. Agate is the mystical birthstone for the month of September, the birth stone for the zodiac sign of Gemini, and acceptable for 12th and 14th Wedding Anniversary’s.
Montana Moss Agate is found in the Yellowstone River Basin of southeastern Montana.
Montana Agate is said to help balance emotions, discern the truth, accept circumstances and is useful as a powerful emotional healer. Agate is the oldest stone in recorded history and has been used in jewelry since Biblical Babylonian times. Agates were used to ward off storms and were prized gems in antiquity. Traditionally, Agates with banded colors were once placed at the head of a sleeper to give rich and varied dreams and is considered a protection stone. It is believed to attract strength and offer protection from bad dreams, stress and the draining of energy. Our Montana Comfort Stones are wonderful for their smooth cool touch. Each Montana Comfort Stone selected is one of a kind like a snowflake, polished to a bright sheen, enclosed in a bag with the Montana Agate Information enclosed, a card personalized by you if you wish, gift wrapped, truly a thoughtful comforting lasting gift.