North America , British Columbia, Canada In the United States, formations of quartzite can be found in some parts of Pennsylvania, the Washington DC area, eastern
South Dakota, Central Texas, southwest
Minnesota,
Devil's Lake State Park in the
Baraboo Range in
Wisconsin, the
Wasatch Range in
Utah, near Salt Lake City, Utah and as resistant ridges in the
Appalachians and other mountain regions. Quartzite is also found in the Morenci Copper Mine in
Arizona. The town of
Quartzsite in western Arizona derives its name from the quartzites in the
nearby mountains in both Arizona and Southeastern California. A glassy
vitreous quartzite has been described from the
Belt Supergroup in the
Coeur d’Alene district of northern
Idaho. In Canada, the
La Cloche Mountains in
Ontario are composed primarily of white quartzite. Vast areas of
Nova Scotia are underlain by quartzite.
Paleoproterozoic quartzite-
rhyolite successions are common in the
Precambrian basement rock of western North America. The quartzites in these successions are interpreted as sedimentary beds deposited atop older
greenstone belts. The quartzite-rhyolite successions may record the formation of
back-arc basins along the margin of
Laurentia, the ancient core of North America, between episodes of mountain building during the assembly of the continent. The quartzites are often nearly pure quartz, which is puzzling for sediments which must have eroded from igneous rock. Their purity may reflect unusual conditions of chemical weathering, at a time when the Earth's atmosphere was beginning to be oxygenated.
Europe In
Ireland areas of quartzite are found across the west and northwest, with
Errigal in
County Donegal as the most prominent outcrop. A good example of a quartzite area is on the
Corraun Peninsula in
County Mayo, which has a very thin layer of Irish Atlantic Bog covering it. In the United Kingdom, a craggy ridge of quartzite called the
Stiperstones (early
Ordovician –
Arenig Epoch, 500 Ma) runs parallel with the
Pontesford-Linley fault, 6 km north-west of the
Long Mynd in south
Shropshire. Also to be found in
England are the
Cambrian "
Wrekin quartzite" (in Shropshire), and the Cambrian "
Hartshill quartzite" (
Nuneaton area). In
Wales,
Holyhead Mountain and most of
Holy island off
Anglesey sport excellent
Precambrian quartzite crags and cliffs. In the
Scottish Highlands, several mountains (e.g.
Foinaven,
Arkle) composed of Cambrian quartzite can be found in the far north-west
Moine Thrust Belt running in a narrow band from
Loch Eriboll in a south-westerly direction to
Skye. In
continental Europe, various regionally isolated quartzite deposits exist at surface level in a belt from the
Rhenish Massif and the German Central Highlands into the Western
Czech Republic, for example in the
Taunus and
Harz mountains. In Poland, quartzite deposits at surface level exists in
Świętokrzyskie Mountains. In Norway, deposits are quarried near
Austertana, which is one of the largest quarries in the world at annually, and Mårnes near
Sandhornøya with an output of annually. Deposits are also quarried in
Kragerø Municipality, and several other deposits are known but not actively quarried.
Elsewhere The highest mountain in
Mozambique,
Monte Binga (2436 m), as well as the rest of the surrounding Chimanimani Plateau are composed of very hard, pale grey, Precambrian quartzite. Quartzite is also mined in Brazil for use in kitchen countertops. ==Uses==