Muséum national d'histoire naturelle _ The species

FROM : Anjanabonoina, Madagascar
SIZE : 13.9 x 11.4 cm

This is a perpendicular cuted section from the main axis of a liddicoatite crystal. This slice has triangular rings of rise. The colour varies from pale pink in the center to green at its edges. The sample mesures 13,9 x 11,4 cm.

This specimen comes from Anjanabonoina in Madagascar.It has been found in 2003 without an inventory number. Despite the researches, it has been impossible to find it. To insure its conservation, a new number has been given. The only certainty is its locality because this sample is mentionned in the first tome of "La minéralogie de Madagascar" by Alfred Lacroix in page 426.

It is today kept in the storage rooms of the collections of the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle (i.e., not yet displayed to the public).

Photography: Louis-Dominique Bayle, © MNHN.

SPECIE : Liddicoatite

HISTORY : Species dedicated to Richard T. Liddicoat Junior (1918-2002), American gemmologist and former president of the Gemological Institute of America (GIA)

Species first described by Dunn, Appleman and Nelen in 1977

Type-locality: Antsirabé, Antananarivo, Madagascar

CHEMICAL FORMULA : Ca (Li, Al)3 Al6 (BO3)3 Si6O18 (O,OH,F)4
CRYSTAL SYSTEM : Hexagonal
COLOR : Brown, green, pink, blue. Show colour zonations
DIAPHANIETY : Transparent to translucent
LUSTER : Vitreous
STREAK : White or nearly colourless
MORPHOLOGY : Prismatic crystals, curved
HARDNESS : 7,5
DENSITY : 3,05

CHEMICAL CLASS : VIII - Silicates
GROUP : Tourmaline
STRUNZ CLASS BEFORE 2001 : 8/E.19-80
STRUNZ CLASS AFTER 2001 : 9.CK.05

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Liddicoatite

Liddicoatite

MNHN N°203.196

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