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Milk quartz or milky quartz is the most common variety of crystalline quartz. The white color is caused by minute fluid inclusions of gas, liquid, or both, trapped during crystal formation, [44] making it of little value for optical and quality gemstone applications. [45]
Mohs scale. The Mohs scale (/ moʊz / MOHZ) of mineral hardness is a qualitative ordinal scale, from 1 to 10, characterizing scratch resistance of minerals through the ability of harder material to scratch softer material. The scale was introduced in 1812 by the German geologist and mineralogist Friedrich Mohs, in his book Versuch einer ...
The name moonstone derives from the stone's characteristic visual effect, called adularescence (or schiller), which produces a milky, bluish interior light. This effect is caused by light diffraction through alternating layers of orthoclase and albite within the stone. The diffracted light varies from white to blue, depending on the thinness of ...
Smoky quartz. Smoky quartz is a brownish grey, translucent variety of quartz that ranges in clarity from almost complete transparency to an almost-opaque brownish-gray or black crystals. [6] The color of smoky quartz is produced when natural radiation, emitted from the surrounding rock, activates color centers around aluminum impurities within ...
Chert (/ tʃɜːrt /) is a hard, fine-grained sedimentary rock composed of microcrystalline or cryptocrystalline quartz, [1] the mineral form of silicon dioxide (SiO 2). [2] Chert is characteristically of biological origin, but may also occur inorganically as a chemical precipitate or a diagenetic replacement, as in petrified wood.
Opal is a hydrated amorphous form of silica (SiO 2 · n H 2 O); its water content may range from 3% to 21% by weight, but is usually between 6% and 10%. Due to its amorphous property, it is classified as a mineraloid, unlike crystalline forms of silica, which are considered minerals. It is deposited at a relatively low temperature and may occur ...
Chalcedony. Chalcedony (/ kælˈsɛdəni / kal-SED-ə-nee, or / ˈkælsəˌdoʊni / KAL-sə-doh-nee) [2] is a cryptocrystalline form of silica, composed of very fine intergrowths of quartz and moganite. [3] These are both silica minerals, but they differ in that quartz has a trigonal crystal structure, while moganite is monoclinic.
Adularescence. Adularescence in a moonstone cabochon, Minas Gerais, Brazil. The specimen's diameter is 23 mm (0.91 in). Adularescence (/ ˌædʒələˈrɛsəns / AJ-ə-lə-RES-əns) is an optical phenomenon that is produced in gemstones like moonstone. The optical effect is similar to labradorescence and aventurescence.