WHEN YOU
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Graveyard Point Agate: A Unique Perspective
When you look at Graveyard Point Agate, you see the results of an environmentally extraordinary area.
When you look at Graveyard Point Agate, you see the results of an environmentally extraordinary area. This agate originates from Graveyard Point, which has special ties to the environment. This area in Homedale, Idaho, is the only known example of well-exposed differentiated mafic pluton, meaning that the area contains multiple types of igneous rock that formed from the magmatism in the Snake River Plain during the Miocene to Pleistocene epochs. The plume agate veins form in the cracks of this igneous rock, creating the beautiful stones. The unique composition of the area can provide a new perspective on past climate events, and the effects of certain environmental occurrences.
Graveyard Point Agate from the Orma J. Smith Museum of Natural History.
​Even more environmental and cultural ties can be found when looking at Graveyard Point. Near the unique agate is a small cemetery, now called Graveyard Point Cemetery, giving the area its name. In the early 1900s, an irrigation canal ruptured, causing a flood that washed away all graves and markers in the cemetery, then called Round Hill Cemetery. Geological societies and gem collectors have created a monument in honor of those buried there, along with the unique agates that are formed there. This monument serves as evidence of the importance that Graveyard Point and its unique rock hold in culture.
The Graveyard Point monument (photo courtesy of Oregon Discovery).
​Agate is mined and processed excessively, without the consequences of doing so being fully understood. A study performed by the University of Passo Fundo showed that the soil organic material around mines was decreased, while the potential acidity and toxic aluminum levels were increased. This could have negative effects on agriculture and crops and, in turn, on consumers’ health.
Graveyard Point Agate from the Orma J. Smith Museum of Natural History.