Novaculite is a form of
chert or
flint found in the
Ouachita Mountains of
Arkansas and
Oklahoma and in the
Marathon Uplift of
Texas. Novaculite is considered to be
geosynclinal highly siliceous sediments and may be a product of the low-grade
metamorphism of chert beds. The
strata were deposited in the
Devonian Period and subjected to uplift and folding during the
Ouachita orogeny of the
Pennsylvanian/
Permian Periods. Novaculite is very resistant to
erosion and the layers of novaculite stand out as ridges in the Ouachita Mountains.
Novaculite is a form of microcrystalline or cryptocrystalline
quartz. The color varies from white to grey-black and the
specific gravity shows an increase from 2.2 to 2.5. The very hard dense rock is used as a
whetstone. It has been mined since prehistoric times both as material for use as arrow and spear points and as sharpening stones.
The word novaculite is derived from the
Latin word
novacula, for razor stone.
