Muséum national d'histoire naturelle _ The species

FROM : Vohimar, Diego Suarès, Madagascar
SIZE : 23 x 16 x 13 mm
WEIGHT : 39.4 cts

This gem is a yellow sized apatite. It weights 39.4 carats equivallent to 8.077 grames and measures 23 x 16 x 13 mm.

The uncut crystal used for this gem comes from Vohimar in Madagascar. Acquired thanks to support from Total, it is currently exposed in the Treasure Room, within the Gallery of Mineralogy of the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle.

Photography: A. Dahmane / Photo Saint-Hilaire,
© MNHN.

SPECIE : Apatite

HISTORY : Name derives by the Greek "απατοσ" [apatos] meaning "trickery" because apatite is often mistaken with others minerals

Species described in 1786 by Abraham Gottlob Werner (1749-1817), German geologist of the Freiberg Mining Academy

Type-locality: Greifenstein, Saxe, Germany

CHEMICAL FORMULA : Ca 5 (PO 4) 3 (F, Cl,OH)
CRYSTAL SYSTEM : Hexagonal
COLOR : Colorless, blue, yellow, green, brown
DIAPHANIETY : Transparent to opaque
LUSTER : Vitreous
STREAK : White
MORPHOLOGY : Prismatic crystals, hexagonal
HARDNESS : 5
DENSITY : 3,1-3,2

CHEMICAL CLASS : VIII - Phosphates
GROUP : Apatite
STRUNZ CLASS BEFORE 2001 : 7/B.39-
STRUNZ CLASS AFTER 2001 : 8.BN.05

Explore the Mineral Treasures of the Muséum

Welcome to
the Virtual Gallery of Mineralogy

Apatite

Apatite MHNH N°199.199

MHNH N°199.199

general description

The Species page

Mineralogy