Discover Chert
Chert Technical Terms
Chert: A hard, extremely dense or compact, dull to semivitreous, cryptocrystalline sedimentary rock, consisting dominantly of interlocking crystals of quartz less than about 30 mm in diameter; it may contain amorphous silica (opal). It sometimes contains impurities such as calcite, iron oxide, or the remains of siliceous and other organisms. It has a tough, splintery to conchoidal fracture and may be white or variously colored gray, green, blue, pink, red, yellow, brown, and black. Chert occurs principally as nodular or concretionary segregations in limestones and dolomites. GG