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Mineral

Chrysoberyl

Oxide Minerals

Chrysoberyl is an aluminate of beryllium with the formula BeAl2O4, both a mineral and a gemstone, and its name comes from the Greek words for gold and beryl, meaning a gold-white spar. Despite the similar names, chrysoberyl and beryl are two completely different gemstones, although both contain beryllium, aluminium and oxygen. It lies at 8.5 on the Mohs scale, the third-hardest frequently encountered natural gemstone, between corundum and topaz, and its crystals often form cyclic twins called trillings. In this atlas it is the mineral species that gemstones recorded as chrysoberyl record.

Chrysoberyl is an aluminate of beryllium with the formula BeAl2O4, both a mineral and a gemstone, and its name comes from the Greek words for gold and beryl, meaning a gold-white spar. Despite the similar names, chrysoberyl and beryl are two completely different gemstones, although both contain beryllium, aluminium and oxygen. It lies at 8.5 on the Mohs scale, the third-hardest frequently encountered natural gemstone, between corundum and topaz, and its crystals often form cyclic twins called trillings. In this atlas it is the mineral species that gemstones recorded as chrysoberyl record.

Facts
Chemical Formula
BeAl2O4 1
Chemical Formula
BeAl2O4 1
Hardness (Mohs)
8.5 1
Hardness (Mohs)
8.5 1
Colour
Grey or Black 2
Colour
Grey or Black 2
Colour
Brown 2
Colour
Brown 2
Colour
Red or Pink 2
Colour
Red or Pink 2
Colour
Orange or Yellow 2
Colour
Orange or Yellow 2
Colour
Green 2
Colour
Green 2
Lustre
Vitreous 2
Lustre
Vitreous 2
Rarity
Uncommon 2
Rarity
Uncommon 2
Classification
Strunz Class
Oxides and Hydroxides 1
Strunz Class
Oxides and Hydroxides 1
Crystal System
Orthorhombic 1
Crystal System
Orthorhombic 1
Use
Gemstone 1
Use
Gemstone 1
Connections

Caused By

Fractional Crystallization, Processes
Source Chrysoberyl (Wikipedia)
Metasomatism, Processes
Source Chrysoberyl (Wikipedia)

Crystallizes In System

Orthorhombic Crystal System, Concepts
Orthorhombic Crystal System, Concepts

In Discipline

Mineralogy, Disciplines
In the Other Atlases

Mineral Species Of

Chrysoberyl

Also in Divinity Atlas: of this mineral species.

Chrysoberyl Cats Eye

Also in Divinity Atlas: of this mineral species.

Found In

Brazil

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Source Geology.com: Chrysoberyl gemstone and mineralArticle text
Quote, Article text
small deposits have since been discovered in Brazil, India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, China, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Madagascar, Tasmania, and the United States
China

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Source Geology.com: Chrysoberyl gemstone and mineralArticle text
Quote, Article text
small deposits have since been discovered in Brazil, India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, China, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Madagascar, Tasmania, and the United States
India

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Source Geology.com: Chrysoberyl gemstone and mineralArticle text
Quote, Article text
small deposits have since been discovered in Brazil, India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, China, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Madagascar, Tasmania, and the United States
Madagascar

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Source Geology.com: Chrysoberyl gemstone and mineralArticle text
Quote, Article text
small deposits have since been discovered in Brazil, India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, China, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Madagascar, Tasmania, and the United States
Myanmar

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Source Geology.com: Chrysoberyl gemstone and mineralArticle text
Quote, Article text
small deposits have since been discovered in Brazil, India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, China, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Madagascar, Tasmania, and the United States
Russia

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Source Geology.com: Chrysoberyl gemstone and mineralArticle text
Quote, Article text
It was first discovered in the Ural Mountains of Russia in the late 1800s
Sri Lanka

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Source Geology.com: Chrysoberyl gemstone and mineralArticle text
Quote, Article text
These stones were produced in Sri Lanka
Tanzania

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Source Geology.com: Chrysoberyl gemstone and mineralArticle text
Quote, Article text
small deposits have since been discovered in Brazil, India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, China, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Madagascar, Tasmania, and the United States
United States

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Source Geology.com: Chrysoberyl gemstone and mineralArticle text
Quote, Article text
small deposits have since been discovered in Brazil, India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, China, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Madagascar, Tasmania, and the United States
Zimbabwe

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Source Geology.com: Chrysoberyl gemstone and mineralArticle text
Quote, Article text
small deposits have since been discovered in Brazil, India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, China, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Madagascar, Tasmania, and the United States
Sources
1. Chrysoberyl (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia Foundation
  • Chrysoberyl, lead paragraph
    The mineral or gemstone chrysoberyl is an aluminate of beryllium
  • Chrysoberyl, article text
    Chrysoberyl is the third-hardest frequently encountered natural gemstone and lies at 8.5 on the Mohs scale of mineral hardness, between corundum (9) and topaz (8).
View the Source
2. minerals.net: Chrysoberyl
minerals.net
  • Color field
    Yellow, orange-yellow, yellow-green, dark to light green, brownish-green, bluish-green, brown, gray. The variety Alexandrite becomes reddish in artificial light.
  • Luster field
    Vitreous
  • Description
    Chrysoberyl is an uncommon mineral
View the Source
Chrysoberyl (Wikipedia)
  • Caused By: Fractional Crystallization, Occurrence
    As the main magma body cools, water originally present in low concentrations became more concentrated in the molten rock because it could not be incorporated into the crystallization of solid minerals.
  • Caused By: Metasomatism, Occurrence
    Chrysoberyl can also grow in the country rocks near to pegmatites, when Be- and Al-rich fluids from the pegmatite react with surrounding minerals.
View the Source
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