63mm x 47mm
This is another stone that was wax-treated in order to reduce the visual impact of numerous fractures. It was found in a previously productive rockpool on the Usan shoreline after stormy weather in October 2014. It is unusual because it is larger and more colourful than the majority of Usan agates, and its "tube of escape" (seen to the upper-middle area of its face) is highly detailed which I have observed, albeit only very occasionally in other specimens from the area. You can see that the "mouth" of the aforementioned "tube of escape" is filled with sparkling quartz crystal. The thick white banding surrounding the centre is also seldom encountered but I have two stones from this particular area that exhibit similar markings. Scottish lava outcrops vary enormously in their geological fauna in what amounts to mere metres in distance. The nodule is "bell-shaped", again a phenomena that occurs only occasionally.