Aragonite - Levane, Tuscany, Italy

Aragonite Geode — Matching Pair
Locality: Levane, Bucine, Valdarno, Arezzo Province, Tuscany, Italy
Dimensions: 40x25x30mm/35x21x25mm

In the sedimentary layers of the Upper Valdarno valley near Levane, Tuscany, a distinctive type of mini geode nodule forms — typically just one to five centimeters across. A thin carbonate shell encloses a hollow cavity, where slender needles of Aragonite reach inward from the walls, colorless, translucent, and frost-bright, coating the cavity wall like delicate frostwork.

The pairing of Aragonite with Kutnohorite is one of Levane’s most representative mineral associations, making it a classic and quite distinctive locality — but this particular specimen presents Aragonite alone, in its purest needle form, with no Kutnohorite present.

In 1994, The Mineralogical Record documented this region in a dedicated article, “Minerals of the Upper Arno River Valley, Tuscany, Italy.” Small as they are, these specimens fully preserve the distinctive mineral formation of the Upper Valdarno sedimentary environment.