Beryl Mineral Data
General Beryl Information
Chemical Formula:
Be3Al2Si6O18
Composition:
Molecular Weight = 537.50 gm
Beryllium 5.03 % Be 13.96 % BeO
Aluminum 10.04 % Al 18.97 % Al2 O3
Silicon 31.35 % Si 67.07 % SiO2
Oxygen 53.58 % O
______ ______
100.00 % 100.00 % = TOTAL OXIDE
Empirical Formula:
Be3 Al2 Si6 O18
Environment:
Mainly granitic pegmatites.
IMA Status:
Valid Species (Pre-IMA) Prehistoric
Locality:
Pala pegmatite District, San Diego Co., California for morganite. Columbia for emeralds. Russia for heliodor. Link to MinDat.org Location Data.
Name Origin:
From the ancient Greek, beryllos, signifying a "precious blue-green color of sea water" stone, but through later usage, applied only to beryl.
Name Pronunciation:
Beryl
Synonym:
Aquamarine - Blue varitey
Emerald - green
Goshenite - colorless
Heliodor - yellow
ICSD 2791
Morganite - pink
PDF 9-430
Beryl Image
Images:
Beryl
Comments: Transparent Goshenite, the colorless variety of beryl with orthoclase and muscovite.
Location: Pingwu, Sichuan, China.
Scale: 9 x 8.5 cm.
© Fabre Minerals
Images:
Beryl
Comments: Transparent Aquamarine, the blue variety of beryl.
Location: Nagar, Pakistan.
Scale: 3 x 4 x 8.5 cm.
© Dan Weinrich
Images:
Beryl Calcite
Comments: Transparent emerald, the green variety of beryl on calcite (marble) matrix.
Location: Coscuez, Boyacá, Colombia.
Scale: 2.5 x 2.5 cm.
© Fabre Minerals
Images:
Beryl
Comments: Transparent Morganite, the pink variety of beryl.
Location: Nuristan, Laghman Province, Afghanistan.
Scale: 9.2 x 6.5 cm.
© John Veevaert
Images:
Beryl
Comments: Transparent Heliodor, the yellow variety of beryl.
Location: Wolodarsk, Wolynsky, Ukraine.
Scale: 2.8 x 0.7 cm.
© John Veevaert
Images:
Images:
Apatite-(CaF) Beryl Muscovite Apatite
Comments: Pink crystals of fluorapatite with pale blue beryl (aquamarine) on books of muscovite crystals.
Location: Nagar area, Gilgit district, Northern Areas, Pakistan.
Scale: 3 x 3 cm.
© Dan Weinrich
Beryl Crystallography
Axial Ratios:
a:c = 1:0.9975
Cell Dimensions:
a = 9.215, c = 9.192, Z = 2; V = 675.98 Den(Calc)= 2.64
Crystal System:
Hexagonal - Dihexagonal Dipyramidal H-M Symbol (6/m 2/m 2/m) Space Group: P 6/mmc
X Ray Diffraction:
By Intensity(I/Io ): 2.867(1), 3.254(0.95), 7.98(0.9),
Forms:
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Forms:
( 1 1 2)
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Physical Properties of Beryl
Cleavage:
{0001} Imperfect
Color:
Green, Blue, Yellow, Colorless, Pink.
Density:
2.63 - 2.9, Average = 2.76
Diaphaneity:
Transparent to subtranslucent
Fracture:
Brittle - Conchoidal - Very brittle fracture producing small, conchoidal fragments.
Habit:
Columnar - Forms columns
Habit:
Crystalline - Coarse - Occurs as well-formed coarse sized crystals.
Habit:
Prismatic - Crystals Shaped like Slender Prisms (e.g. tourmaline).
Hardness:
7.5-8
Luminescence:
Non-fluorescent.
Luster:
Vitreous - Resinous
Streak:
white
Optical Properties of Beryl
Dichroism (e):
yellowish green, colorless, or colorless.
Dichroism (w):
bluish green, blue, or pink.
Gladstone-Dale:
CI meas = 0.008 (Superior) - where the CI = (1-KPDmeas /KC ) CI calc = -0.039 (Excellent) - where the CI = (1-KPDcalc /KC )
KPDcalc = 0.2205,KPDmeas = 0.2106,KC = 0.2123 Ncalc = 1.56 - 1.62
Optical Data:
Uniaxial (-), e=1.564-1.595, w=1.568-1.602, bire=0.0040-0.0070.
Calculated Properties of Beryl
Electron Density:
Bulk Density (Electron Density)=2.74 gm/cc note: Specific Gravity of Beryl =2.77 gm/cc.
Fermion Index:
Fermion Index = 0.06 Boson Index = 0.94
Photoelectric:
PEBeryl = 1.55 barns/electronU=PEBeryl x r Electron Density= 4.24 barns/cc.
Radioactivity:
GRapi = 0 (Gamma Ray American Petroleum Institute Units) Beryl is Not Radioactive
Beryl Classification
Dana Class:
61.01.01.01 (61) Cyclosilicate Six-Membered Rings
(61.01) with [Si6O18] rings; possible (OH) and Al substitution
(61.01.01) Beryl group
61.01.01.01 Beryl Be3Al2Si6O18 P 6/mmc 6/m 2/m 2/m
61.01.01.02 Bazzite Be3(Sc,Al)2Si6O18 P 6/mcc 6/m 2/m 2/m
61.01.01.03 Indialite Mg2Al4Si5O18 P 6/mcc 6/m 2/m 2/m
61.01.01.04 Stoppaniite ! (Fe,Al,Mg)4(Na,[])2[Be6Si12O36]•2(H2O) P 6/mmc 6/m 2/m 2/m
61.01.01.05 Pezzottaite ! Cs(Be2Li)Al2Si6O18 R 3c 3m
Strunz Class:
09.CJ.05 09 - SILICATES (Germanates)
09.C - Cyclosilicates
09.CJ -[Si6O18]12- 6-membered single rings (sechser-Einfachringe),
09.CJ.05 Beryl Be3Al2Si6O18 P 6/mmc 6/m 2/m 2/m
09.CJ.05 Bazzite Be3(Sc,Al)2Si6O18 P 6/mcc 6/m 2/m 2/m
09.CJ.05 Indialite Mg2Al4Si5O18 P 6/mcc 6/m 2/m 2/m
09.CJ.05 Stoppaniite ! (Fe,Al,Mg)4(Na,[])2[Be6Si12O36]•2(H2O) P 6/mmc 6/m 2/m 2/m
09.CJ.05 Pezzottaite ! Cs(Be2Li)Al2Si6O18 R 3c 3m
Other Beryl Information
References:
NAME( Sinkankas66) PHYS. PROP.(Enc. of Minerals,2nd ed.,1990) OPTIC PROP.(Heinrich65)
See Also:
Links to other databases for Beryl :
1 - Alkali-Nuts(English)
2 - Alkali-Nuts(Francais)
3 - Am. Min. Crystal Structure Database
4 - Amethyst Galleries' Mineral Gallery
5 - Athena
6 - CalTech Mineral Spectroscopy
7 - EUROmin Project
8 - Ecole des Mines de Paris
9 - GeoScienceWorld
10 - Glendale Community College
11 - Google Images
12 - Google Scholar
13 - Handbook of Mineralogy (MinSocAm)
14 - Handbook of Mineralogy (UofA)
15 - HyperPhysics
16 - MinDAT
17 - Mineral and Gemstone Kingdom
18 - Mineralienatlas (Deutsch)
19 - NSDL Reciprocal Net (JAVA)
20 - NSDL Reciprocal Net (JAVA)
21 - Online Mineral Museum
22 - Philatelic Mineralogy
23 - QUT Mineral Atlas
24 - Ruff.Info
25 - Scandinavian mineral gallery
26 - Tradeshop.com - The Rainbow of Gems
27 - University of Texas at Austin
28 - WWW-MINCRYST
29 - YupRocks
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Print or Cut-and-Paste your Beryl Specimen Label here :
Beryl
Be3Al2Si6O18
Dana No: 61.01.01.01 Strunz No: 09.CJ.05
Locality:
Notes:
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