variscite
Sign in to saveAlso known as amatrice, utahlite
Variscite is a hydrated aluminium phosphate mineral (). It is a relatively rare phosphate mineral. It is sometimes confused with turquoise; however, variscite is usually greener in color. The green color results from the presence of small amounts of trivalent chromium ().
Key facts
- Mineral.name
- Variscite
- Mineral.category
- Phosphate minerals
- Mineral.boxbgcolor
- 36c08f
- Mineral.image
- Variscite-Pyrite-179447.jpg
- Mineral.imagesize
- 260px
- Mineral.formula
- AlPO4·2H2O
- Mineral.IMAsymbol
- Var
- Mineral.strunz
- 8.CD.10
- Mineral.color
- Pale to emerald-green (pale green in transmitted light), green, blue green, yellow green, pale shades of brown or yellow, rarely red and colourless to white
- Mineral.habit
- Encrustations and reniform masses
- Mineral.system
- Orthorhombic
- Mineral.class
- Dipyramidal (mmm) H-M symbol: (2/m 2/m 2/m)
- Mineral.symmetry
- Pbca
- Mineral.cleavage
- [010] perfect
- Mineral.fracture
- Conchoidal to splintery
- Mineral.mohs
- 4.5
- Mineral.luster
- Vitreous to waxy
- Mineral.refractive
- nα = 1.563 nβ = 1.588 nγ = 1.594
via Wikipedia infobox
~4 min read
Encyclopedic overview
5 sectionsContents
- Geology
- Jewelry
- Gallery
- See also
- References
Variscite is a hydrated aluminium phosphate mineral (). It is a relatively rare phosphate mineral. It is sometimes confused with turquoise; however, variscite is usually greener in color. The green color results from the presence of small amounts of trivalent chromium ().
==Geology== Variscite is a secondary mineral formed by direct deposition from phosphate-bearing water which has reacted with aluminium-rich rocks in a near-surface environment. It occurs as fine-grained masses in nodules, cavity fillings, and crusts. Variscite often contains white veins of the calcium aluminium phosphate mineral crandallite.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “variscite” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.