Tennessee's State Stone - Agate

Agate (SiO2 ) became the "Official Stone" of Tennessee in (1969).  This semiprecious gemstone is only found in a few areas of the state.  Agate is a cryptocrystalline variety of quartz.  Quartz has many varieties.  Naturally occurring chemical impurities in the quartz can cause it to be colored.   When different impurities occur in layers or bands within the quartz, it is then called agate. Agate is a term applied not to a distinct mineral species, but to an aggregate of various forms of silica, chiefly chalcedony.  Some sources say agate was named from the river Achates, now the river Drillo, in Sicily, where the stone was first found.

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