Dendritic crystal growth

During daily testing on rocks, GEOLABS has found a beautiful example of Dendritic crystal growth (from Greek δένδρον déndron, “tree”) in a Mudstone with its characteristically fractal pattern growth. These crystallized minerals (often mistaken for fossils) are formed in joints, but can occur within foliation, of the rocks that are filled by percolating of mineral solutions. A variety of hydroxides and oxides of manganese are involved.