Amazonite and Smoky QuartzThis gem quality piece comes from the collection of Jack Halpern, famed mi

Amazonite and Smoky QuartzThis gem quality piece comes from the collection of Jack Halpern, famed mineral collector from San Francisco. The light blue minerals are the gemstone amazonite, a type of the mineral microcline, while the darkened, burned minerals are smoky quartz.In general, neither microcline nor quartz should have these colors. Microcline commonly appears pink due a bit of iron that sneaks into its structure, but the blue varieties like this have been noted to have a small bit of lead dissolved in them, maybe in addition to iron. The exact origin of this color may come from either the lead or a combination of the lead and the iron, with the electrons from one interacting with the electrons of the other.The Smoky Quartz has literally been burned. Microcline has a good amount of potassium in its structure, and over time one isotope of potassium undergoes radioactive decay. The energy given off by that decay can find a little bit of aluminum trapped in the quartz, knock an electron off of that aluminum, and in the process create an ionized species that can absorb visible light.-JBB#MineralmondayImage credit: https://flic.kr/p/s5hM1Reference: https://www.mindat.org/min-184.html -- source link

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