G. H. Faye A/-D E' H' Nickel "
G. H. Faye A/-D E' H' Nickel "
G. H. Faye A/-D E' H' Nickel "
ZOISITEFROM TANZANIA
AsstRAcr
Recentlygemmologistshaveshorrnccnsiderableinterstinv'anadium-
b""Jrrg ,oiril - (Andenon 1968; Liddicoat & Crowning-
lro^ i^n' nia
and^ phvsical
shield 1968; Meen ir6tt, til crystallographic' "I-ti"* (1969)'
ptrp""i"t which h"u" b"t t describedrecently by Hurlbut
"1 it itt pleochroism which
The most strikinf property of this materiai
several of the
from trichroi"'i" ai"f'roic on heating' Although (Ander-
"ft"nf,
;;;ft ;trorption bands have been located*itt " spectroscope
for each principal optical
son 1968), the details of the absorptionspectrum knowledge
only through a
direction do not seemto have been reported.
ofthepolarizationpropertiesofthespectralfeaturescanthepleochroism
oltheuntreatedandheatedzoisitebeunderstood.Thisnoteisdevoted
to that end.
were obtainedthrough
A number of specimensof the Tanzanian zoisite
the courtesy H. R.;;;y,-"urator of the.referenceseneso{ the National
"f Canada' Of the two specimens
Mineral Collection, GeologicalSurvey of
(eaih conchoidallyfr;;:d), whore'detailed spectraare reported in this
study, one was tan i; J";; in ordinary white light and trichroic in
white light' and dichroic in
pJ""r""J itgftt, *t it" t1"" other was blue in
the tan crystal Y-0'26/e'
polarized light. Microprobe analysis-gave.for
Ti-0.04%, Fe and ff;t; detot"d;-a"d for the blue crystal V-0'18%'
of two other'specimens
Fe, Mn and Ti not detected'Microprobe analysis
sliowed their V contents to be 0'24 to
ol the trichroic u"ri"t/ J 'oisite
The -V and Ti contents
O-.g0%,and their Ti content to be 0'024/o'
of a secondbl,r" ie'e 0'20% and 4 0'U% respectively'Thus'
"rystai-
--l
scientists, Mineral sciences Division, Mines Branch Department of
n*u"r.r,
Energy, Mines and Resources'Ottawa' Canada'
PLE@HROISM OF ZOISITE FROM TANZANIA
813
0.8
0.7
o.6
ul
(,
z
cl
E
o
o
o
+:'_Z-;N
\ .r-{t
PLEOCHNOISMOF ZOIIIITE FROM TANZANIA 8I5
Frc, la. Spectra of an a-c section of tan zoisitg tlickness: 0.32 cm.
A E // Z : a spectrun of qntreated zoisite.
B E // Z : a spectmm of zoisite after heating to 600"C.
_ C Unpolatized spectrum of zoisite after heaiing-to 600.C.
Frc. lb. Spectra of an a-c section of tan zoisite
A E // Y : a spectmm of untreated zoisite.
B E // Y :,a spectrum of untreated zoisite after heating to 600"C.
Frc. lc. Spectra ol an a-b section of tan zoisite, thi&ness : 0.1g cm. "
A E // X : b spectrum of untreaied tan zoisite.
B E // X : b, spectnmr of untreated tan zoisite after heating to 600.C.
(_-_- C Unpolarized spectnrm of tan zoisite after being heated ti 600.C.
lll
(J
z
.D
E,
o
at,
gt
zs?o|!to
cnil x lo-5
Frc. 2. Unpolarized spectnrm ol a random section of untreated
blue zoisite, thickness: 026 cm.
816 THE caNADIAN MINEnALocrsr
'&(F), (oa)
,5r,tpl
40
)qtr),$4el
35
B<630 sn''l
30
lrit
b 25
x
t
E
o
o
!
t
3p o
E
5
g
3
E
o
3T,lF),raz
o 500 t0@ F@ aooozgoo30oo3500
Dq(cm-r)
E r*gy level diagram fo,r d electronic conflgura_
..Frc..4.
tion in an octahedral field; B : 630 cm. (after BLkes
1968).
820 TrrE cANADIAN MTNERALoGIST
can-
Tia+ charge transfer (Faye and Harris 1969). However, this process
of the Tanzanian zoisite because the polariza'
not be invoked for the
"asu band cannot be related to the Alr,r-,tlr,,
tion properties of the 22'5}0-crvtt
possibility
or the Al. .-Al. vectors, i.e. the directions in which there is the
ot overlap or tzs or)Lrals of titanium ions on adjacent octahedral sites.
1 .-
AcrNowr,rnctvlENTs
analyses'
The authors are grateful to Dr. D. C. Harris lor microprobe
mineral sections'
and to Mr. P. O'Donovan for assistance in preparing
for helpful discussions'
Special thanks are due to Dr. M. G. Townsend
RErrnpNcrs
Anornsor,B.W.(1963):Triplebill:Threeitemsofinteresttogemmologists.l.Gem
moL ll' 1-3.
So"Es"-i.S.ifg68) : Energylevel4iagrarns-for
-*-tvti;istipt transitionmetalionsin cubiccrlstal fields'
i, tvt"toTiU-nii"ri6 Laboratory"The PennssluaninStateUniu'" Uni'
uersitgPark,Penn. small
Buws, RG. (1966): Apparatusfor measuringpolarizedabsorptionspectraof
crystals.l. Sci.Instrum, 43, 58-6Jli, -
corro'u FJ. * w"*fr;*,-'c.- irs66l : Ad,uanced.inorganit chetnistrg"Semnd Ed.
IntersciencePubtishers,brc., New York.
Dor;;; W.e. (1SOS) r-nun"u**t and comparisonof the structuresof zoisite and
clinozoisite.Amer.Mineral.53' 1882-1898.
PLEOCHROISM OF ZOISTTE FROM TANZANIA 821
Fau,
$'H.- & Hannrs,-D.c. (1969) : on the origin of corour and preochroism in anda-
Iusite from Brazil. Can. Mineral. 10, 47-56:
Hunrrur, (19ry) : Gem zoisite from Tanzania. Amer. Mineral, 54,702-709.
LrDDr@ATr 9.1
ILl. if CRowNrNGsHrEL4 G.R. (1969): More about zoisite, Lapida,rA1.,22n
736-740.
McC-r.unn,
P:S.^1196?) : Optical spectra of transition-metal ions in corundum. !. Chem.
Phss., 36,2757-2729.
MecFanr-enr, Rjl'!- (1964) : opticar and magnetic properties of trivalent
vanadium
- mmplexes.l. Chern. phys., 40,323_327.
Mrrm,^V^3. (1968): Zoisite - a newly found gem from Tanzania.
Lapidarg !.,22,
636-637.
Scnwanz,. H.P. (1967)_: The efiect of crystal fleld stabilization
on the distribution of
transition metals between metamorphic minera\ Geochfun. cosmochii-,
Acta, 3r,
503-517.
!T*"* M.D. (1963) : Oplicgl spectrum of divalent vanadium. phgs. Reu.130, 639-646.
*"i?I: Drcrus,1.e.& cnoss,p.C. (tgttj ; Mobcutariiniiii^.'i"<;raw_Hiil,
l\ew 9.tl
lork.
Manuscript receivedApril 1910"emendeil Mag lgl0.