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Rubellite is the red or pink variety of tourmaline and is a member of elbaite. Rubellite is also the rarest gem in its family. [2] It is occasionally mistaken for ruby. [3] These gems typically contain inclusions. [4] Notable countries where rubellite can be mined include Afghanistan, Brazil, Madagascar, Myanmar, Nigeria, Russia, and the United ...
Elbaite is allochromatic, meaning trace amounts of impurities can tint crystals, and it can be strongly pleochroic. Every color of the rainbow may be represented by elbaite, some exhibiting multicolor zonation. Microscopic acicular inclusions in some elbaite crystals show the cat's eye effect in polished cabochons.
Tourmaline was sometimes called the "Ceylonese Magnet" because it could attract and then repel hot ashes due to its pyroelectric properties. [ 5 ] Tourmalines were used by chemists in the 19th century to polarize light by shining rays onto a cut and polished surface of the gem.
Calcite. Manganoan calcite (var.); Caledonite; Canasite; Cancrinite. Vishnevite; Carletonite; Carnallite; Cassiterite; Catapleiite; Cavansite; Celestite; Ceruleite ...
A pegmatite is an igneous rock showing a very coarse texture, with large interlocking crystals usually greater in size than 1 cm (0.4 in) and sometimes greater than 1 meter (3 ft). Most pegmatites are composed of quartz , feldspar , and mica , having a similar silicic composition to granite .
Maiman used a solid-state light-pumped synthetic ruby to produce red laser light at a wavelength of 694 nanometers (nm). Ruby lasers are still in use. Rubies are also used in applications where high hardness is required such as at wear-exposed locations in mechanical clockworks, or as scanning probe tips in a coordinate measuring machine.
Tourmaline is part of WikiProject Rocks and minerals, an attempt at creating a standardized, informative, comprehensive and easy-to-use rocks and minerals resource. If you would like to participate, you can choose to edit this article, or visit the project page for more information.
"Imperial Porphyry" from the Red Sea Mountains of Egypt A waterworn cobble of porphyry Rhyolite porphyry from Colorado; scale bar in lower left is 1 cm (0.39 in). Porphyry (/ ˈ p ɔːr f ə r i / 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.