Indonesia is made up of islands, lots of them, in
fact, over 17000 islands. The origins of these islands vary from coral
atolls, continental masses or slivers, accreted oceanic wedges and
volcanoes rising from the sea floor. All told, it's a great place to
hunt rocks formed by hot volcanic fluids circulating thru a multitude of
differing geology.
Ornamental jaspers, agates and thunder-eggs are
common across the country. Indonesians love natural stone with graphic
beauty. There is a big following for picture stones across the country.
I have seen agates from Timor, Irian Jaya, Kalimantan, Java and
Sumatra. I am sure there are many more locations than I’ll ever have
time to see.
The stone markets in Surabaya and Jakarta have a
constant flow of new materials. Yet of all the Indonesian agates I have
seen to date, none exhibit more variety of color and complexity than the
Sumatran Agate (Photos #1 & #2).