They have names that sound borrowed from a fantasy novel: melilitite, nephelinite, ultramafic lamprophyre, kimberlite. Until quite recently they were mostly the preserve of mineralogy textbooks
New! Sign up for our email newsletter on Substack.
New! Sign up for our email newsletter on Substack.
They have names that sound borrowed from a fantasy novel: melilitite, nephelinite, ultramafic lamprophy…
What is Orthoclase gemstone? Orthoclase is a mineral that belongs to the family of silicate minerals called feldspar . The deference between the feldspars and the other silicates is that the former contain a mixture of the following chemical elements: Potassium K, Calcium Ca and Sodium Na, in addition to the usual constituents of the quartz based minerals, such as Aluminium, Al, silicon Si and ox…
What is Kyanite? Kyanite is a mineral found mainly in metamorphic rocks . It most often forms from the high-pressure alteration of clay minerals during the metamorphism of sedimentary rocks. It is found in the schists and gneisses of regionally metamorphosed areas and less often in quartzite or eclogite . Kyanite's typical habit is a bladed crystal, although it sometimes occurs as radiating masse…
What is Carnelian? A glassy, translucent stone, Carnelian is an orange-coloured variety of Chalcedony , a mineral of the Quartz family. Its colour varies from pale pinkish-orange to a deep rusty brown, though it is most known for its brilliant orange and red-orange crystals. Its name comes from a Latin word meaning "flesh." Carnelian (also spelled cornelian ) is a brownish-red mineral which is co…
John A. Jaszczak Department of Physics and the A. E. Seaman Mineral Museum Michigan Technological University December 5, 2014, 3:00pm Chemical Science Building, Room 101 Abstract: The Lelatema Mountains in northern Tanzania are host to one of the world’s richest flake graphite deposits, but it is the purple-blue gem variety of zoisite called “tanzanite” that . . .
