Aquamarine

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Aquamarine

Aquamarine (Lat. aqua marina, "water of the sea") is a gemstone

Gemstone

A gemstone or gem, also called a precious or semi-precious stone, is a piece of attractive mineral, which — when cut and polished — is used to make jewellery or other adornments....
-quality transparent variety of beryl

Beryl

The mineral beryl is a beryllium aluminium Silicate minerals#Cyclosilicates with the chemical formula Be3Al26. The hexagonal crystals of beryl may be very small or range to several meters in size....
, having a delicate blue or turquoise

Turquoise

Turquoise is an opaque, blue-to-green mineral that is a hydrate phosphate of copper and aluminium, with the chemical formula copperaluminium648?4water....
color, suggestive of the tint of seawater

Seawater

Seawater is water from a sea or ocean. On average, seawater in the world's oceans has a salinity of about 3.5%, or 35 parts per thousand . This means that every 1 kg of seawater has approximately 35 grams of sea salt ....
. It is closely related to the gem emerald

Emerald

Emeralds are a variety of the mineral beryl colored green by trace amounts of chromium and sometimes vanadium. Beryl has a Hardness of 7.5 - 8 on the 10 point Mohs scale of mineral hardness....
. Colors vary, and in addition to blue, yellow beryl (heliodor), rose pink beryl (morganite

Morganite

Morganite, also known as "Pink Beryl," "Rose Beryl," "Pink Emerald," and "Cesian Beryl," is a rare light pink to rose-colored Gemstone-quality variety of the mineral beryl , which is better known for its green variety and its blue variety ....
), red beryl (formerly bixbite), and white beryl (goshenite) are also to be found.

marine is a beryl with a hexagonal crystal structure

Crystal structure

In mineralogy and crystallography, a crystal structure is a unique arrangement of atoms in a crystal. A crystal structure is composed of a motif, a set of atoms arranged in a particular way, and a lattice....
and a chemical formula

Chemical formula

A chemical formula is a way of expressing information about the atoms that constitute a particular chemical compound, and how the relationship between those atoms changes in chemical reactions....
of Be₃Al₂(SiO₃)₆, a beryllium

Beryllium

Beryllium is a chemical element with the symbol Be and atomic number 4.A Bivalent element, beryllium is found naturally only combined with other elements in minerals....
aluminium

Aluminium

Aluminium or aluminum is a silvery white and ductile member of the boron group of chemical elements. It has the symbol Al; its atomic number is 13....
silicate mineral

Silicate minerals

The silicate minerals make up the largest and most important class of rock-forming minerals, comprising approximately 90 percent of the crust of the Earth....
.

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Encyclopedia

Aquamarine (Lat. aqua marina, "water of the sea") is a gemstone

Gemstone

Beryl

Turquoise

Seawater

Emerald

Morganite

Composition

Aquamarine is a beryl with a hexagonal crystal structure

Crystal structure

Chemical formula

Beryllium

Beryllium is a chemical element with the symbol Be and atomic number 4.A Bivalent element, beryllium is found naturally only combined with other elements in minerals....
aluminium

Aluminium

Aluminium or aluminum is a silvery white and ductile member of the boron group of chemical elements. It has the symbol Al; its atomic number is 13....
silicate mineral

Silicate minerals

The silicate minerals make up the largest and most important class of rock-forming minerals, comprising approximately 90 percent of the crust of the Earth....
. It has a specific gravity

Specific gravity

Specific gravity is defined as the ratio of the density of a given solid or liquid substance to the density of water at a specific temperature and pressure, typically at 4?C and , making it a dimensionless quantity ....
of 2.68 to 2.74 and a Mohs hardness of from 7.5 to 8. Aquamarine typically is on the low end of the specific gravity range, normally at less than 2.7. The pink variety exhibits a high specific gravity of around 2.8. Refractive indices

Refractive index

The refractive index of a medium is a measure for how much the speed of light is reduced inside the medium. For example, typical soda-lime glass has a refractive index of 1.5, which means that in glass, light travels at times the speed of light in a vacuum....
range around 1.57 to 1.58.

Locations of deposits

It occurs at most localities which yield ordinary beryl, some of the finest coming from Russia

Russia

Russia , or the Russian Federation , is a list of countries spanning more than one continent country extending over much of northern Eurasia....
. The gem-gravel placer

Placer mining

Placer mining is the mining of Alluvium deposits for minerals. This may be done by Open pit mining or by various forms of tunneling into ancient riverbeds....
deposits of Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is an island country in South Asia, located about off the southern coast of India....
contain aquamarine. Clear yellow beryl, such as occurs in Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is a country in South America. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, occupying nearly half of South America, the List of countries by population country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world....
, is sometimes called aquamarine chrysolite. When corundum

Corundum

Corundum is a crystalline form of aluminium oxide and is one of the rock -forming minerals. It is naturally clear, but can have different colors when impurities are present....
presents the bluish tint of typical aquamarine, it is often termed Oriental aquamarine.

In the United States

United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
, aquamarines can be found at the summit of Mt. Antero

Mount Antero

Mount Antero is the tenth highest peak in Colorado, with an elevation of 14,269 ft . It is named for Chief Antero of the Uintah band of Ute Tribes....
in the Sawatch Range

Sawatch Range

The Sawatch Range is a mountain range in central Colorado which includes eight of the twenty highest peaks in the Rocky Mountains, including Mount Elbert, at elevation, the highest peak in the Rockies....
in central Colorado

Colorado

The State of Colorado is a U.S. state located in the Mountain States of the United States of America. Colorado may also be considered to be a part of the Western United States and Southwestern United States regions of the United States....
. In Wyoming, aquamarine has been discovered in the Big Horn mountains

Big Horn Mountains

The Big Horn Mountains are a mountain range in northern Wyoming and southern Montana in the United States, forming a northwest-trending spur from the Rocky Mountains extending approximately 200 miles northward on the Great Plains....
, near Powder River Pass. In Brazil

Brazil

Minas Gerais

Minas Gerais was so named for its great riches in the mining industry. It is one of the 26 states of Brazil of Brazil, the second most populous and fourth largest by area in the federation....
, Espírito Santo

Espírito Santo

Esp?rito Santo is one of the states of Brazil of southeastern Brazil, often referred to by the abbreviation "ES". Its capital is Vit?ria and the largest city is Vila Velha....
and Bahia

Bahia

Bahia is one of the 26 states of Brazil, and is located in the northeastern part of the country on the Atlantic coast.It is the fourth most populous Brazilian state after S?o Paulo , Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro , and the fifth-largest in size....
. Colombia

Colombia

Colombia , officially the Republic of Colombia , is a country in north-western South America. Colombia is bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the north west by Panama; and to the west by the Pacific Ocean....
, Zambia

Zambia

The Republic of Zambia is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west....
, Madagascar

Madagascar

Madagascar, or Republic of Madagascar , is an island nation in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa. The main island, also called Madagascar, is the List of islands by area, and is home to 5% of the world's plant and animal species, of which more than 80% are Endemism to Madagascar....
, Malawi

Malawi

The Republic of Malawi is a landlocked country in southeast Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the northwest, Tanzania to the northeast and Mozambique, which surrounds it on the east, south and west....
, Tanzania

Tanzania

Tanzania , officially the United Republic of Tanzania , is a country in East Africa that is bordered by Kenya and Uganda on the north, Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the west, and Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique on the south....
and Kenya

Kenya

The Republic of Kenya is a country in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia to the north, Somalia to the northeast, Tanzania to the south, Uganda to the west, and Sudan to the northwest, with the Indian Ocean running along the southeast border....
also produce aquamarine.

The biggest aquamarine ever mined was found at the city of Marambaia, Minas Gerais, Brazil, in 1910. It weighed over 110 kg, and its dimensions were 48.5 cm long and 42 cm in diameter.

Culture and historical/mythical usage

Aquamarine (along with bloodstone
Heliotrope (mineral)

The mineral heliotrope, also known as bloodstone, is a form of chalcedony . The "classic" bloodstone is green chalcedony with red inclusion s of iron oxide or red jasper....
) is the birthstone associated with March. It is also the gemstone for the 19th Anniversary.
People in the Middle Ages
Middle Ages

File:Karl 1 mit papst gelasius gregor1 sacramentar v karl d kahlen.jpgThe Middle Ages of European history are a period in history which lasted for roughly a millennium, commonly dated from the fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th century to the beginning of the Early Modern Period in the 16th century, marked by the division of Western Christi...
thought that aquamarine could magically overcome the effects of poison
Poison

In the context of biology, poisons are Chemical substance that can cause disturbances to organisms, usually by chemical reaction or other activity on the molecular scale, when a sufficient quantity is absorbed by an organism....
.
Ancient sailors traveled with aquamarine crystals, believing that it would ensure a safe voyage, and guarantee a safe return; they often slept with the stones under their pillow to ensure sound sleep. They believed the siren’s (mermaid
Mermaid

A mermaid is a mythological aquatic creature that is half human , half aquatic creature .Various cultures throughout the world have similar figures....
) fish-like lower body was made of aquamarine.

Aquamarine

Composition

Locations of deposits

Culture and historical/mythical usage

See also