Chalcedony colored by iron oxide pinkish brown "balls"

Chalcedony colored by iron oxide pinkish brown "balls"

Chalcedony colored by iron oxide pinkish brown "balls". The short answer is, the pinkish brown "balls"  (hemispheres and spheres) are Chalcedony colored by iron oxide. This specimen was found in the Wiley Wells area of Imperial County Calif.
However, they got their location and iron colorant from former Goethite after Hematite which is present only as remnant flecks inside the darkest colored balls. In the lighter colored balls, the Goethite is entirely eaten away.
Cross sections of the balls, and some coarse Quartz crystal rosettes similarly colored, show the color spots are cloud-like, darkest around the ratty looking Goethite, fading into whisps at the outer edges of the spots, presumably, as the iron  becomes diluted out into the otherwise colorless Chalcedony.
There is no evidence of a different crystal structure within the balls, or other evidence that the Chalcedony replaced a former mineral, like a clay or Zeolite.
The Hematite were platey crystals on an early phase of Chalcedony, and altered oxidized to a the ratty-looking Goethite in the process of eventually breaking down into the clouds within the late-forming Chalcedony balls. The description above was done with microscope and someone with a great understanding of minerals. Specimen weighs about 1lb 7.4 Oz and is surrounded by rhyolite.