Levyne-(Ca)

A specimen of basalt matrix from Two Mouthed Cave, Islandmagee, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, showing small vugs lined with pale beige microcrystals of levyne. The crystals form delicate coatings within the cavities of the basalt, displaying the subtle colour and fine crystalline habit typical of this zeolite species. The small amygdales scattered through the matrix provide an excellent example of the mineralization found within vesicular basalts along this coastal locality.

Two Mouthed Cave is a sea cave located along the Antrim coast about 500 metres southeast of Port Muck on the Islandmagee peninsula. The basalt exposures in this area are part of the Antrim Plateau Basalts, a Paleogene volcanic province renowned for its zeolite minerals. Numerous small amygdales occur in the basalt along the coastline for several hundred metres, frequently containing zeolites such as gmelinite and levyne. The locality is accessible at low tide and has produced a variety of interesting zeolite specimens from the cavities within the volcanic rock. Comes from the collection of Robert Yeoman.