Arizona Flagstone is composed of rounded grains of quartz

Quartz

Quartz is the second-most-abundant mineral in the Earth's continental crust, after feldspar. It is made up of a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall formula SiO2. There are many different varieties of quartz,...

 which are cemented by silica. Other minerals are present, mostly as thin seams of clay, mica

Mica

The mica group of sheet silicate minerals includes several closely related materials having highly perfect basal cleavage. All are monoclinic, with a tendency towards pseudohexagonal crystals, and are similar in chemical composition...

, secondary silicam calcite

Calcite

Calcite is a carbonate mineral and the most stable polymorph of calcium carbonate . The other polymorphs are the minerals aragonite and vaterite. Aragonite will change to calcite at 380-470°C, and vaterite is even less stable.-Properties:...

, and gypsum

Gypsum

Gypsum is a very soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate dihydrate, with the chemical formula CaSO4·2H2O. It is found in alabaster, a decorative stone used in Ancient Egypt. It is the second softest mineral on the Mohs Hardness Scale...

. Arizona Flagstone is mainly quarried from the Coconino

Coconino National Forest

The Coconino National Forest is a 1.856-million acre United States National Forest located in northern Arizona in the vicinity of Flagstaff. Originally established in 1898 as the "San Francisco Mountains National Forest Reserve", the area was designated a U.S...

 and Prescott National Forest

Prescott National Forest

The Prescott National Forest is a 1.25 million acre United States National Forest located in north central Arizona in the vicinity of Prescott. The forest is located in the mountains southwest of Flagstaff and north of Phoenix in Yavapai County, with a small portion extending into southwestern...

s.

Although flagstone and dimension stone are quarried from all over the state the town of Ash Fork, Arizona

Ash Fork, Arizona

Ash Fork is a census-designated place in Yavapai County, Arizona, United States. The population was 457 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Ash Fork is located at ....

is well known as the center of production and has claimed itself "The Flagstone Capital of the World". Extensive outcrops of Arizona Flagstone are also found in Mohave, Coconino, Yavapi, Navajo, Apache, and Gila Counties.

External links and references

• Sandstone: Characteristics and Specifications (By S. B. Keith, Arizona Bureau of Mines, Tucson, Ariz)
• Arizona Bureau of Mines, 1958. Geologic map of Yavapi County, Arizona: Arizona Bur. Mines (scale 1:375,000
• A dictionary of mining, mineral, and related terms. Compiled and edited by Paul W. Thrush and the Staff of the Bureau of Mines.
• USGS Minerals Yearbook: Stone, Dimension