Blue dravite (“indicolite”) from the Elahera gem field, Sri Lanka

Autor(en)
L. Nasdala, M. Wildner, G. Giester, C. Chanmuang N., M. R. Scicchitano, C. Hauzenberger
Abstrakt

A strongly dichroic (vivid blue to near-colourless) tourmaline specimen from the Elahera gem field, central Sri Lanka, was identified as dravite. The sample shows strong Fe2+-related optical absorption (E perpendicular to c) in the red range and comparably weak red emission due to Cr3+. The discovery of virtually Cu-free blue dravite (with a Li content of only about 3 ppm) shows that blue colour in gem tourmaline is not restricted to Cu- and/or Fe-bearing elbaite and other lithium tourmalines. Also, this study reconfirms the usefulness of Raman spectroscopy for non-destructive mineral identification. The sensitivity of Raman shifts of O-H stretching bands to their nearest-neighbour cations allowed us to exclude the presence of significant amounts of Li ions, even before obtaining results of light-element analysis. (C) 2021 Gem-A (The Gemmological Association of Great Britain)

Organisation(en)
Institut für Mineralogie und Kristallographie
Externe Organisation(en)
Helmholtz-Zentrum Potsdam Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum, Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz
Journal
The Journal of Gemmology
Band
37
Seiten
618-630
Anzahl der Seiten
13
ISSN
1355-4565
DOI
https://doi.org/10.15506/JoG.2021.37.6.618
Publikationsdatum
06-2021
Peer-reviewed
Ja
ÖFOS 2012
104026 Spektroskopie, 105116 Mineralogie, 105113 Kristallographie
Schlagwörter
ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete
Geochemistry and Petrology
Link zum Portal
https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/de/publications/c9a0a693-8b9b-48eb-817e-077a22437d82