The area around the little township of Nack is a worldwide known location for agates with fine colorization and pattern. But today it is more easily to meet rockhounds from every european nation at the highly visited finding places than to find some fine agates.
All around Nack, in vineyards and on the fields multi-coloured agates can be found from a lucky collector. These nodules are water-worn and edge-smoothed. This agates are sometimes showing sperulitical formation and secondary colorization by erosion. The little “glasslike” nodules (translucent colorless drops of chalcedony) may show rarely in their interior cloudy and ribbon-like red colorization. These colorless chalcedonies can absorb iron-pigments from the soil and will show a vivid red colorization after a longtime drying and heating by sunligth. This variety of chalcedony is called carnelian. Sometimes very nice jaspers can be found near Nack - e.g. this one from the Rennbahn with a awesome yellow fernlike pattern.
Finding places for agates at their place of origin are sometimes offered in the area of Nack by road-constructions or little mining operations from rock-collectors. One Location of this kind was a roadcut between Nack and Erbes-Buedesheim. At this palce collectors were able to find nodules of agates (up to 6 cm length) in amygdaloite and in carbonatic veins.
A little mining operation (3 qm²) near the famous area “Teufelsrutsch” produced some intensively coloured agates with sperulitical formations. Very interesting findings of nodules that are presenting booth “water-level” and “fortification”-banding could be made before this place was renatured.
Roadcut near Nack
Teufelsrutsch near Nack
Area around Nack
