Mineralogy Database

Beryl Mineral Data

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General Beryl Information

Help on Chemical  Formula: Chemical Formula: Be3Al2Si6O18
Help on Composition: Composition: Molecular Weight = 537.50 gm
   Beryllium   5.03 %  Be   13.96 % BeO
   Aluminum   10.04 %  Al   18.97 % Al2O3
   Silicon    31.35 %  Si   67.07 % SiO2
   Oxygen     53.58 %  O
             ______        ______ 
             100.00 %      100.00 % = TOTAL OXIDE
Help on Empirical Formula: Empirical Formula: Be3Al2Si6O18
Help on Environment: Environment: Mainly granitic pegmatites.
Help on IMA Status: IMA Status: Valid Species (Pre-IMA) Prehistoric
Help on Locality: Locality: Pala pegmatite District, San Diego Co., California for morganite. Columbia for emeralds. Russia for heliodor. Link to MinDat.org Location Data.
Help on Name Origin: 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.
Help on Name Pronunciation: Name Pronunciation: Beryl Say BERYL
Help on Synonym: Synonym: Aquamarine - Blue varitey
  Emerald - green
  Goshenite - colorless
  Heliodor - yellow
  ICSD 2791
  Morganite - pink
  PDF 9-430
 

Beryl Image

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  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

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  Beryl

Comments: Transparent Aquamarine, the blue variety of beryl.
Location: Nagar, Pakistan. Scale: 3 x 4 x 8.5 cm.
© Dan Weinrich

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  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

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  Beryl

Comments: Transparent Morganite, the pink variety of beryl.
Location: Nuristan, Laghman Province, Afghanistan. Scale: 9.2 x 6.5 cm.
© John Veevaert

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  Beryl

Comments: Transparent Heliodor, the yellow variety of beryl.
Location: Wolodarsk, Wolynsky, Ukraine. Scale: 2.8 x 0.7 cm.
© John Veevaert

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  Beryl

Comments: Red beryl prism on rhyolite matrix.
Location: Violet claims, Wah Wah Mountains, Beaver County, Utah, USA. Scale: Size Not Given.
© Lou Perloff / Photo Atlas of Minerals

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  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

Help on Axial Ratios: Axial Ratios: a:c = 1:0.9975
Help on Cell Dimensions: Cell Dimensions: a = 9.215, c = 9.192, Z = 2; V = 675.98 Den(Calc)= 2.64
Help on Crystal System: Crystal System: Hexagonal - Dihexagonal Dipyramidal H-M Symbol (6/m 2/m 2/m) Space Group: P 6/mmc
Help on X Ray Diffraction: X Ray Diffraction: By Intensity(I/Io): 2.867(1), 3.254(0.95), 7.98(0.9),
Help on Forms: Forms:

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Help on Above

Forms: ( 1 1 2) ( 2 1 2) ( 0 0 1) ( 1 0 2) ( 1 0 0) ( 1 1 0)

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Physical Properties of Beryl

Help on Cleavage: Cleavage: {0001} Imperfect
Help on Color: Color: Green, Blue, Yellow, Colorless, Pink.
Help on Density: Density: 2.63 - 2.9, Average = 2.76
Help on Diaphaneity: Diaphaneity: Transparent to subtranslucent
Help on Fracture: Fracture: Brittle - Conchoidal - Very brittle fracture producing small, conchoidal fragments.
Help on Habit: Habit: Columnar - Forms columns
Help on Habit: Habit: Crystalline - Coarse - Occurs as well-formed coarse sized crystals.
Help on Habit: Habit: Prismatic - Crystals Shaped like Slender Prisms (e.g. tourmaline).
Help on Hardness: Hardness: 7.5-8
Help on Luminescence: Luminescence: Non-fluorescent.
Help on Luster: Luster: Vitreous - Resinous
Help on Streak: Streak: white
 

Optical Properties of Beryl

Help on Dichroism (e): Dichroism (e): yellowish green, colorless, or colorless.
Help on Dichroism (w): Dichroism (w): bluish green, blue, or pink.
Help on Gladstone-Dale: 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
Help on Optical Data: Optical Data: Uniaxial (-), e=1.564-1.595, w=1.568-1.602, bire=0.0040-0.0070.
 

Calculated Properties of Beryl

Help on Electron Density: Electron Density: Bulk Density (Electron Density)=2.74 gm/cc
note: Specific Gravity of Beryl =2.77 gm/cc.
Help on Fermion Index: Fermion Index: Fermion Index = 0.06
Boson Index = 0.94
Help on Photoelectric: Photoelectric: PEBeryl = 1.55 barns/electron
U=PEBeryl x rElectron Density= 4.24 barns/cc.
Help on Radioactivity: Radioactivity: GRapi = 0 (Gamma Ray American Petroleum Institute Units)
Beryl is Not Radioactive
 

Beryl Classification

Help on  Dana Class: 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
Help on  Strunz Class: 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

Help on References: References: NAME( Sinkankas66) PHYS. PROP.(Enc. of Minerals,2nd ed.,1990) OPTIC PROP.(Heinrich65)
Help on See Also: 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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