Smithsonite on Goethite ps. Selenite

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Visions of the floating islands of Pandora (Avatar) immediately jump to mind (well, my mind anyway) when looking at this intriguing and unusual combination piece from the Jean Baptiste Mine in Lavrion. Green to greenish-yellow layers of Smithsonite, with good luster and shimmery texture, coat an underlying botryoidal matrix. This unusual matrix is composed of Goethite after Selenite (a replacement pseudomorph), and a careful look shows fine layering of growth patterns below the botryoides where exposed. Now whether this layering is a reflection of the growth within the Goethite or the Selenite (I tend to lean this way), I do not know for sure. But it is always fascinating to find preserved features after a replacement that add so much interest to a piece. Combinations like this are rare, and the quite unusual forms add highly-interesting aesthetic to this small-cabinet specimen that was mined in 2016.