Muséum national d'histoire naturelle _ The species

FROM : Morenci, Arizona, USA
SIZE : 10 x 6.7 cm

This specimen shows an association of azurite (blue) and malachite (green). The circular shapes were made visible with polishing. They are made of successive concentric deposits of malachite and azurite layers, which give, once polished, this flower-like appearance. The sample measures 10 X 6.7 cm.

It was found in the deposit of Morenci in Arizona. Thanks to the gift of Mr. Pierpont-Morgan in 1903, this specimen entered the collections of the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle in Paris.

This sample is currently exposed in the Room of the Treasure, within the Gallery of Mineralogy of the Muséum.

Photography: Louis-Dominique Bayle, © MNHN.

SPECIE : Azurite

HISTORY : Name inspired by Persian word "lazhward" meaning "blue", in reference to its colour

Species redescribed and renamed in 1824 par François-Sulpice Beudant (1787-1850), French mineralogist and geologist

Type-locality: Chessy-les-Mines, Rhône, France
ANCIENT NAME : Fleur de cuivre bleu, cuivre carbonaté bleu

CHEMICAL FORMULA : Cu3 (CO3)2 (OH)2
CRYSTAL SYSTEM : Monoclinic
COLOR : Light blue to dark blue
DIAPHANIETY : Transparent to opaque
LUSTER : Vitreous
STREAK : Light blue
MORPHOLOGY : Tabular crystals, prismatic, rhomboedric, massive, earthy, as roses, botryoidal
HARDNESS : 3,5-4,0
DENSITY : 3,78

CHEMICAL CLASS : V - Carbonates, nitrates
GROUP : Azurite
STRUNZ CLASS BEFORE 2001 : 5/C.01-10
STRUNZ CLASS AFTER 2001 : 5.BA.05

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Azurite

MNHN N°103.43

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