【原】【GIA 2023 夏季】美国科罗拉多州水晶中的斜绿泥石和白云母

Figure 1. This quartz crystal cluster from Larimer County, Colorado, contains numerous bluish green and white spherical inclusions on phantom growth planes. Photo by Annie Haynes; courtesy of Nico Jackson.

图1 水晶晶簇产自科罗拉多州拉里默，在其内部幻晶生长面上可见大量的蓝绿色和白色的球状包裹体，

Recently the author encountered a parcel of quartz with phantom layers consisting of beautiful bluish green and white spheres (figure 1). Raman analysis identified the green spheres as clinochlore (figure 2), Mg5Al(AlSi3O10)(OH)8, a member of the chlorite group. Many of the white orbs appeared to be secondarily altered, presumably by fluids entering through fractures in the quartz host, though some showed no clear evidence of alteration. Raman analysis of one of the unaltered white spheres identified it as muscovite, KAl2(AlSi3O10)(OH)2. Minute dark brown to black spheres were also present and visually consistent with hematite, but that could not be confirmed by Raman analysis.

最近作者遇到一个石英样品，在其环境生长层上可见蓝绿色和白色球状内含物（图1）。拉曼光谱分析表明，绿色球状内含物为斜绿泥石（图2），化学式为Mg5Al(AlSi3O10)(OH)8，属于绿泥石族。白色球状内含物似乎经历过次生蚀变作用，可能与热液进入寄主石英中的裂隙有关，但有些内含物并没有显示出明显的蚀变证据。对其中一个为经蚀变作用的白色球状内含物进行拉曼光谱分析，结果表明其为白云母，化学式为KAl2(AlSi3O10)(OH)2。此外，可见细小的深棕色至黑色球状内含物，视觉上与赤铁矿相一致，但无法得到拉曼光谱的证实。

Figure 2. These bluish green spheres in the quartz crystal were identified as clinochlore, and the white spheres were identified as muscovite. Photomicrograph by Nathan Renfro; field of view 4.23 mm.

图2 水晶中的蓝绿色球状内含物为斜绿泥石；白色球状内含物为白云母。视域4.23mm。

This material is from Larimer County, Colorado, where it was collected in 2020 by Nico Jackson. So far, three pockets of material have been discovered, with a total production of about 10 kg. While chlorite-group minerals are relatively common inclusions in quartz, the soft texture and greenish blue color of these clinochlore spheres are less common in the author’s experience. These green clinochlore spheres with contrasting white muscovite spheres are a striking addition to the possible minerals seen in the micro-world of quartz.

样品产自产自科罗拉多州拉里默，由Nico Jackson于2020年收藏。截止目前已经发现三袋共计10公斤的样品。虽然绿泥石族矿物是水晶中常见的内含物之一，但质地柔软的蓝绿色球状斜绿泥石在笔者的经验中并不常见。球状的绿色斜绿泥石和白色的白云母形成了鲜明的对比，是水晶微观世界中可能存在的矿物的重要补充。