Labradorite
| Refractive Index : 1.568 – 1.599 (+0.005 – 0.005) |
| Optical Characteristic : DR B + |
| Specific Gravity : 2.70 (+0.05 – 0.05) |
| Formula : (Ca,Na)(Si,AI)4O8 |
| Crystal System : Triclinic |
| Variety/Species : Plagioclase Feldspar |
| Species/Group : Feldspar Group |
| Birefringence : 0.007 to 0.010 |
| Dispersion : N/A |
| Hardness : 6 to 6.5 |
| Toughness : Poor |
| Ultrasonic : Never |
| Steam : Never |
| UV Long : Inert to Weak |
| UV Short : Inert to Weak |
| Pleochroism : Usually none |
| Strength : N/A |
|
|
| Pleochroism Colors : None |
| Heat : May fracture |
| Acids : Avoid hydrofluoric acid |
| Light : Stable |
| Polish Luster : Vitreous |
| Fracture : Uneven to splintery |
| Fracture Luster : Vitreous to pearly |
| Clarity Type : N/A |
| Tones : N/A |
| Saturations : N/A |
| Cause of Color : Interference of light reflecting off fine struture |
| Enhancements : Coating |
| Cleavage : Perfect and easy, 2 directions. Parting common. |
| Color Range : Body color: gray to nearly black, also colorless, green, yellow, orange, brown, brownish red, strong color flashes (labradorescence) usually blue, green, bluish, greenish, grayish, brownish, yellowish, orangy, reddish, blackish. |
| Transparency : Transparent to Opaque |
| Phenomena : Labradorescence, aventurescence, chatoyancy schiller effect. Rarely asterism |
|
|
| Separations : Natural Labradorite from- Beryl : RI (possibly), optic character/sign, magnification, cleavage Quartz : RI, optic charcter, cleaverage, magnification, SG (possibly) Scapolite : birefringence, optic charcter/sign, RI (possibly), fluorescence (possibly) |
| Identifying Characteristics and information Black, needle-like inclusions, repeated twinning |
| Spectral Data Not diagnostic |
| Trade Names and Misnomers Labradorite Labrasine Lynx Eye Ox-Eye Rainbow moonstone (M) Spectrolite |
Tags: labradorite, rainbow moonstone, spectrolite
Bookmark and Share!
Comments
No comments yet.
RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI
Leave a comment, tip or suggestion
You must be logged in to post a comment.