Muséum national d'histoire naturelle _ The species

FROM : Barras Salinas, Minas Gerais, Brazil
SIZE : 11.2 x 2.4 cm

This elbaite crystal is prismatic and terminated. It measures 11.2 for 2.4 cm in diametre. It is gemmeous in a large part and lightly zoned. From deep green to bottle-green, this sample is a verdelite.

This elbaite, acquired thanks to support from Total, comes from a pegmatite in Barras Salinas in Brazil.

This sample is currently exposed in the Treasure Room, within the Gallery of Mineralogy of the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle.

Photography: Louis-Dominique Bayle, © MNHN.

SPECIE : Elbaite
VARIETY :Verdélite

HISTORY : Named after its type-locality: Elba Island, Italy

Species first described in 1913 by Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky (1863-1945), Russian scientist, founder of geochemistry

Type-locality: San Piero In Campo, Elba Island, Tuscany, Italy

CHEMICAL FORMULA : Na(Al,Li)3 Al6(BO3)3 Si6O18 (OH)4
CRYSTAL SYSTEM : Rhomboedric
COLOR : Pink to red, mauve, green
DIAPHANIETY : Transparent to translucent
LUSTER : Vitreous to resineous
STREAK : White
MORPHOLOGY : Prismatic acicular crystals
HARDNESS : 7
DENSITY : 2,90-3,10

CHEMICAL CLASS : VIII - Silicates
GROUP : Tourmaline
STRUNZ CLASS BEFORE 2001 : 8/E.19-10
STRUNZ CLASS AFTER 2001 : 9.CK.05

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Elbaite

Verdelite

MNHN N°193.66

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