Emerald
Variety of beryl
Very Rare · Be₃Al₂Si₆O₁₈
Green beryl coloured by chromium, vanadium or both. Rare because beryllium, scarce in the crust, seldom meets the chromium and vanadium of mafic rocks: it takes unusual geological conditions. Most stones hold visible inclusions, which the trade calls jardin, the garden.
Identity
- Formula
- Be₃Al₂Si₆O₁₈
- Chemical class
- Silicate
- Mineral group
- Aquamarine, Beryl
- Also known as
- Green beryl, Smaragdus (archaic)
Crystallography
- Crystal system
- Hexagonal
- Habits
- Prismatic, Columnar
- Fracture
- Conchoidal
Physical properties
- Mohs hardness
- 7.5
- Density
- 2.76 g/cm³
- Luster
- Vitreous
- Colors
- green, dark green, yellow-green, blue-green
- Streak
- white
- Transparency
- Transparent, Translucent
Geology
- Origins
- Hydrothermal, Metamorphic
- Host rocks
- Granite, Schist and gneiss, Limestone and chalk, Sandstone, shale and clay
- Associated minerals
- Calcite, Quartz, Pyrite, feldspar
- Found in
- Pegmatite deposit
- Geography
- Colombia, Zambia, Brazil, Zimbabwe, Afghanistan
Classification
- Rarity
- Very Rare
- Gem quality
- Yes
Arcane properties
- Affinity
- Life, Earth
- Effects
- Healing, Scrying
- Planar origin
- Material Plane
Sources
- Emerald. Mindat.org (Hudson Institute of Mineralogy).
- Beryl. Mindat.org (Hudson Institute of Mineralogy).
- J. W. Anthony, R. A. Bideaux, K. W. Bladh, M. C. Nichols, Beryl. Mineral Data Publishing, Handbook of Mineralogy, 2001.
- Emerald. Gemdat.org (Hudson Institute of Mineralogy).
- Gaston Giuliani, Lee A. Groat, Geology of Corundum and Emerald Gem Deposits: A Review. Gemological Institute of America, Gems & Gemology, 2019.
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