Novaculite is a 99 percent pure, microcrystalline quartz mineral, similar to chert or flint, found only in the Ouachita Mountains of western Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma. So-called "Arkansas stones" or "Ouachita stones" are used as sharpening tools or whetstones (and in these colorful nail files).
Novaculite was also used by native Americans in tool napping and sharpening.
The extremely thin edges of napped novaculite are very sharp; they were used in early medical scalpels. The word “novaculite” is derived from a Latin word meaning “razor stone.”
The striking outcrops are seen here in western Arkansas, exposed in the Benton-Broken Bow uplift which runs from Broken Bow, OK, to Benton, AR (near Little Rock).
The color of novaculite varies widely depending on minor impurities.
Arkansas rocks: sharp, very sharp!
Steph
And a few images (after the rain) from Denver's March for Science today:
Novaculite was also used by native Americans in tool napping and sharpening.
The extremely thin edges of napped novaculite are very sharp; they were used in early medical scalpels. The word “novaculite” is derived from a Latin word meaning “razor stone.”
The striking outcrops are seen here in western Arkansas, exposed in the Benton-Broken Bow uplift which runs from Broken Bow, OK, to Benton, AR (near Little Rock).
The color of novaculite varies widely depending on minor impurities.
Arkansas novaculite samples have, on occasion, been imported to Colorado ;-).
Arkansas rocks: sharp, very sharp!
Steph
And a few images (after the rain) from Denver's March for Science today:
