Short answer: moldavite is a forest green to olive green natural glass made by a giant meteorite impact in southern Germany about 15 million years ago. The impact melted surface rock and flung it through the air, where it cooled into glass that rained down across what is now the Czech Republic, Germany and Austria. Moldavite is a type of tektite, not a crystal, and not a piece of the meteorite itself. Its popularity in crystal traditions has pushed prices up, and green glass fakes are common.
What is moldavite?
Moldavite is a natural glass, mostly silica (SiO2) with some aluminum oxide. Like all glass, it is amorphous: it has no crystal structure, so strictly speaking it is not a crystal at all. It is transparent to translucent, forest green, olive green or bluish green, with swirls and bubbles that give it a mossy look. Its reported hardness ranges from 5.5 to 7 on the Mohs scale, and it is lighter than quartz, with a specific gravity of about 2.32 to 2.38.
The name comes from the Vltava river, Moldau in German, in Bohemia, where the first described pieces were found. The mineralogist Zippe first used the term "moldavite" in 1836. Pieces had been presented to scientists 50 years earlier, in 1786, under the name "chrysolites".
How did moldavite form?
About 14.7 to 15 million years ago, a giant meteorite struck what is now southern Germany, creating the Nördlinger Ries crater, about 24 kilometers (15 miles) across. The impact melted surface material and launched it into the air. As the molten droplets flew, they cooled and solidified into glass, which fell to earth across a wide area to the east.
Moldavite has an extremely low water content, which is one of the clues to its impact origin. Its deeply etched, wrinkled surface was once taken as a sign of a meteorite. Today it is known to come from long etching by natural acids in groundwater.
The Ries crater today
The crater is still a large, circular basin in western Bavaria and eastern Baden-Württemberg, and the town of Nördlingen sits inside it. After the impact it filled with water, forming a lake of about 400 square kilometers that silted up over about two million years.
The impact also struck a local graphite deposit and created countless tiny diamonds. Stone quarried nearby was used to build Nördlingen, so its buildings contain millions of microscopic diamonds. The Ries was used to train Apollo 14 astronauts, including Alan Shepard and Edgar Mitchell, to study impact craters before they went to the Moon.
What are tektites?
Tektites are natural glasses formed from ground rock melted and thrown out by meteorite impacts. The name was coined by the Austrian geologist Franz Eduard Suess, who in 1900 noticed that moldavites had pitting and wrinkles like meteorites. Tektites range from millimeters to centimeters in size and have very little water. Most come from four large strewn fields: the Australasian, the Central European (moldavite), the Ivory Coast and the North American.
Moldavite is the best-known green tektite. Many other tektites are black or dark brown, such as the bediasites of Texas, though georgiaites from the US state of Georgia are green.
Where is moldavite found?
Most moldavite comes from South Bohemia in the Czech Republic, especially gravel and sand deposits around the České Budějovice and Třeboň basins. Smaller amounts come from western Moravia, where pieces tend to be brownish but heavier on average, and rarely from Lusatia in Germany and the Waldviertel in Austria. There is a Moldavite Museum in Český Krumlov, in the Czech Republic.
A stone with a long human history
Moldavite was found by prehistoric people in the Czech Republic and Austria, who used it to make flaked tools. Some worked pieces date to the Aurignacian period of the Upper Paleolithic, about 43,000 to 26,000 years ago. Today it is used, rough or cut, as a semi-precious stone in jewelry.
What is moldavite traditionally associated with?
In modern crystal traditions, moldavite is one of the most talked-about stones. Its origin in a meteorite impact has made it a stone associated with transformation, change and spiritual growth, and it is often linked with the heart chakra.
These are traditions and beliefs, not properties you can measure in the glass. Moldavite's growing popularity for these uses is one reason its price has been rising.
Why is moldavite expensive?
Moldavite comes from a limited area, and its growing popularity for metaphysical uses has pushed specimen prices up in recent years. Higher prices also make it a target for green glass imitations.
How can you tell real moldavite from fake?
Green glass imitations of moldavite are common. To tell them apart:
- Look inside with a loupe. Real moldavite usually shows worm-like inclusions of lechatelierite, a natural silica glass, and flowing swirl marks called schlieren. Most glass imitations lack them.
- Check the surface. Natural pieces have deeply etched, sculpted, wrinkled surfaces. Smooth or molded-looking surfaces and uniform shapes are warning signs.
- Check the color. Natural moldavite is forest green, olive green or bluish green, brownish in some Moravian pieces.
- Buy from sellers who state the locality, and be wary of prices far below the market.
Raw and cut moldavite
Moldavite is used both rough, with its natural etched surface, and cut, as a semi-precious stone in jewelry.
How do you care for moldavite?
- Handle it gently. Moldavite is glass, and it can chip or break if dropped or knocked.
- Store it apart from harder stones such as quartz, which can scratch it.
- Clean it with a soft cloth and, if needed, mild soapy water, then dry it.
Browse crystals and minerals at Digital Towns Market
Digital Towns Market
Moldavite in stock
Frequently asked questions
Is moldavite a crystal?
No. Moldavite is a natural glass, with no crystal structure. It is sold alongside crystals and minerals.
Is moldavite from space?
Not directly. Moldavite is earth rock that was melted and thrown through the air by a meteorite impact about 15 million years ago. It is not a piece of the meteorite.
Where does moldavite come from?
Mostly from South Bohemia in the Czech Republic, with smaller amounts from Moravia, eastern Germany and northern Austria. All of it came from the Ries impact in southern Germany.
How can you tell if moldavite is real?
Real moldavite usually shows worm-like lechatelierite inclusions and swirl marks under a loupe, and has a deeply etched natural surface. Most green glass imitations lack those features.
Why is moldavite so expensive?
It comes from a small area, and its growing popularity for metaphysical uses has raised prices in recent years.
What is moldavite traditionally associated with?
In crystal traditions it is associated with transformation and change, and linked with the heart chakra. These are traditional meanings rather than measurable properties.
Sources
- Wikipedia, Moldavite: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moldavite
- Wikipedia, Tektite: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tektite
- Wikipedia, Nördlinger Ries: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N%C3%B6rdlinger_Ries