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Lustre (mineralogy) Lustre ( British English) or luster ( American English; see spelling differences) is the way light interacts with the surface of a crystal, rock, or mineral. The word traces its origins back to the Latin lux, meaning "light", and generally implies radiance, gloss, or brilliance. A range of terms are used to describe lustre ...
The mica group is composed of 37 phyllosilicate minerals. All crystallize in the monoclinic system, with a tendency towards pseudohexagonal crystals, and are similar in structure but vary in chemical composition. Micas are translucent to opaque with a distinct vitreous or pearly luster, and different mica minerals display colors ranging from white to green or red to black. Deposits of mica ...
Porphyry (geology) Porphyry ( / ˈpɔːrfəri / POR-fə-ree) is any of various granites or igneous rocks with coarse-grained crystals such as feldspar or quartz dispersed in a fine-grained silicate -rich, generally aphanitic matrix or groundmass. In its non-geologic, traditional use, the term porphyry usually refers to the purple-red form of ...
Andalusite is a common metamorphic mineral which forms under low pressure and low to high temperatures. The minerals kyanite and sillimanite are polymorphs of andalusite, each occurring under different temperature-pressure regimes and are therefore rarely found together in the same rock.
Pyrite is the most common of sulfide minerals and is widespread in igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks. It is a common accessory mineral in igneous rocks, where it also occasionally occurs as larger masses arising from an immiscible sulfide phase in the original magma. It is found in metamorphic rocks as a product of contact metamorphism.
Cleavage, in mineralogy and materials science, is the tendency of crystalline materials to split along definite crystallographic structural planes. These planes of relative weakness are a result of the regular locations of atoms and ions in the crystal, which create smooth repeating surfaces that are visible both in the microscope and to the ...
The effect of adularescence, also commonly referred to as schiller or shiller, is best described as a milky, bluish luster or glow originating from below the surface of the gemstone. The schiller, appearing to move as the stone is turned (or as the light source is moved), gives the impression of lunar light floating on water (accounting for moonstone's name). [1] Though white schiller is the ...
Lodestone is one of only a very few minerals that is found naturally magnetized. [1] Magnetite is black or brownish-black, with a metallic luster, a Mohs hardness of 5.5–6.5 and a black streak .