Moqui Marbles: the stones of the shamans
What is the origin of the mysterious hematite spheres that dot the Arizona desert? Are they natural formations or incredible artificial artefacts?
Mineral enthusiasts are remarkable connoisseurs of stones and their formation processes. While the creation methods for most types of stones, categorized into metamorphic, sedimentary, and magmatic rocks, are well known, there is one type that defies all hypotheses.
The Moqui Marbles are indeed a true mystery to all geologists: despite various theories, none seem convincing. These strange minerals, also known as Iron Balls, Indian Balls, Navaho Cherries, or Shaman Stones due to their spiritual value, initially appear to be of artificial nature. They are spherical, with a very rough and hard surface, and have a diameter ranging from 2-3 cm to approximately 20-30 cm. The area where these spheres have been found is in the desert of the United States, between the state of Utah and northern Arizona, at the base of the Navaho Sandstone, a system of sandstone block formations.
The estimated age of these "marbles" is between 120 and 190 million years, dating back to the early Jurassic period. The outer part is composed of hematite (iron oxide), while inside there is a fine siliceous compound, similar to coral-colored sand, and at the center of this is a small sphere of sandstone.
According to the official, somewhat convoluted theory of geologists, the Moqui Marbles would have formed when the original sand dunes, which later transformed into the current Nevada Sandstone, were under the sea. The iron was probably initially in the form of limonite, which, subjected to great pressures at a depth of 300 to 700 meters within the Earth's crust, transformed into a sort of "gel." Afterwards, jets of high-temperature volcanic gases changed the limonite into hematite, shaping it into its current spherical form.
The Moqui Marbles, after being exposed to atmospheric agents for hundreds of millions of years, would have undergone the erosive action of the sand that cleaned and polished them. The most accredited theory (and not fully accepted by geologists themselves) still shows many gaps, considering that 190 million years ago, during the full Jurassic era, the climate and vegetation are supposed to have been quite different from today. This is also considering the discovery of ancient petrified sequoia forests. So, if in the Jurassic the climate was very humid and lush vegetation covered much of the land, as well as other parts of the world where there are now deserts, how did the Moqui Balls, which are estimated to be so old and likely formed from magmatic action followed by desert sand erosion, end up in an area that was not desert? And most importantly, how did they really form? And why only there and not in the Gobi Desert or the Sahara, which also show traces of volcanism?
The most surprising thing is that these iron balls, according to the Navaho shamans of the area, have energetic and healing properties at a spiritual level. They emit balanced, protective energies and absorb negativities. The sandstone core is made of silicon sand, which has properties comparable to those of rock crystal, a balancing stone. Thus, the iron oxide, combined with silicon, balances the energy associated with the chakras, the energy vortices present in the human body. Native American shamans used these stones for therapeutic purposes by placing them on the first and seventh chakras, purifying all energy centers with their vibrations, while placing them on the sixth favored clairvoyance. There are many other purifying properties of these stones, which is also why I hypothesize a possible artificial nature of the mysterious Moqui Marbles. But who created them?
A civilization who lived 190 million years ago in Arizona?
