The material there tends to be dark green and golden yellow, sometimes cream and red. The name Marovato means many stones in Malagasy.Ģ) Kabamby: The mine near the village of Kabamby is further inland. During low tide the miners would come in by boat to dig up and remove the Ocean Jasper.

The material there comes in a wide range of colors. Ocean Jasper only comes from one place in the world, northwestern Madagascar in the Analalava district of the Sofia region in the former province of Mahajanga ( Fig.1):ġ) Marovato: The mine near the village of Marovato is directly on the shoreline. The area has no road so the material must be transported to civilization by boat. It can only be seen and collected at low tide. The deposit has been discovered at the edge of the ocean. Botryoidal formations as well as white and deep green druzy are also common. The background can be white, pink, green, red, or yellow. The rhyolitic eyes or orbs come in an astonishing array of colors and color combinations.

The deposit formed as a rhyolite flow but has been completely silicified. This new rock has been found along the northwest coast of Madagascar after years of unsuccessful searching. These microstructures formed during the alteration of former tuffs or rhyolites, accompanied by extensive deposition of SiO 2 (silicification). Like other jaspers, the rock is characterized by the presence of spherical aggregates a few mm in diameter (normally 1 to 3) that are called spherulites or orbs. Ocean Jasper, a marketing term for a spherulitic variety of orbicular jasper, is a variety of jasper which contains variably colored orbs or spherical inclusions or zones.

Pink ocean jasper