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Hunting for Jade

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George Harlow

I travel all over the world to study jade, particularly jadeite rock. Here's a look at two of the places where jade is found: Guatemala and Myanmar.

On the Hunt in Guatemala

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scrapbook page with pictures of George Harlow and team in the field
jade hunters walking through woods and on horseback

our team

Each winter I go to find new sources and new types of jade in the Montagua River Valley. I don't search for jade by myself. I travel with a team of scientists and local expert jade hunters. The places we go often don't have roads. We explore on foot and on horseback. Good thing I like the outdoors!

close up of serpentinite which is green with squiggly patterns

serpentinite

I use clues on the surface of Earth to help me find Jade. First, we look for serpentinite. It's a green rock that is soft and often has squiggly patterns. Serpentinite rocks mark the scars where Earth's tectonic plates collided with each other.

looking in riverbed for jade

looking in riverbeds

We usually look first in rivers or dried-up riverbeds. Flowing water wears away the serpentinite. Jade doesn't wear away and eventually ends up in the riverbed.

looking at boulders near riverbed for ecolgite and close up of ecologite

narrowing our search

We follow the river that passes through serpentinite and we look for rocks that are more rare: eclogite and blueschist. When we find these rocks, it is a good signal that jade is nearby! They are both formed at high pressure and low temperature where the ocean's crust sinks into Earth's interior mantle.

green hunk of jade with yellow brown skin on outside

raw jade

To most people, raw jade looks like any other rock. It can have a skin that might be white, yellow, brown, or black.

large jade deposits in forest

We found lots of jade!

We found jade pieces of all different sizes. Some are as small as a marble. Others are as big as a house! We found most of the jade in rivers. But sometimes we also found jade in the middle of the forests and fields.

george harlow bending down to hit boulder with metal blade

testing for jade

We have special tricks for finding jade. When we hit a boulder with a big metal blade, the blade rings with a special "ping." Other rocks like marble make a "thunk." Also, jade is so durable that when we hit it with a hammer, the hammer bounces off wildly!

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Credits

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Image Credits:

All field photos: courtesy of George Harlow and colleagues; raw jade: courtesy of AMNH, Denis Finnin