Beta-cristobalite, a high temperature (above 1470oC, but below liquid at 1727oC at 1 bar) polymorph of SiO2, has an ideal basic structure that is polytypic with tridymite. Like tridymite, beta cristobalite has sheets of hexagonal tetrahedral rings with alternate tetrahedra around a ring with apices pointing in opposite directions from adjacent tetrahedra. These sheets have an ABCABC… stacking sequence, which creates an offset such that no channels form as they do in tridymite. Cristobalite is found in volcanic rocks, primarily in a fine groundmass, but also as a lining of cavities and as a devitrification of volcanic glasses.
Cf., opal, tridymite, quartz