"Pyrites Island Pyrites Island is the largest of three small islands lying northeast of Gam Point and forming the east side of Esther Harbor, off the north coast of King George Island in the South Shetland Islands. In 1913–14, the rocky extremity of Gam Point and the adjoining islands to the northwest and southeast were named Esther, Pyritis or Pyritic Islands by Scottish geologist David Ferguson, who reported they were composed of pyrites and vein quartz. From Ferguson's description it appears that the ice cliff behind the Gam Point has advanced since 1914 so that this ""island"" is now joined"
"Pyrite The mineral pyrite, or iron pyrite, also known as fool's gold, is an iron sulfide with the chemical formula FeS (iron(II) disulfide). Pyrite is considered the most common of the sulfide minerals. Pyrite's metallic luster and pale brass-yellow hue give it a superficial resemblance to gold, hence the well-known nickname of ""fool's gold"". The color has also led to the nicknames ""brass"", ""brazzle"", and ""Brazil"", primarily used to refer to pyrite found in coal. The name ""pyrite"" is derived from the Greek πυρίτης (""pyritēs""), ""of fire"" or ""in fire"", in turn from πύρ (""pyr""), ""fire"". In ancient Roman times,"
"are pseudofossils and lack the pentagonal symmetry of the animal. Pyrite The mineral pyrite, or iron pyrite, also known as fool's gold, is an iron sulfide with the chemical formula FeS (iron(II) disulfide). Pyrite is considered the most common of the sulfide minerals. Pyrite's metallic luster and pale brass-yellow hue give it a superficial resemblance to gold, hence the well-known nickname of ""fool's gold"". The color has also led to the nicknames ""brass"", ""brazzle"", and ""Brazil"", primarily used to refer to pyrite found in coal. The name ""pyrite"" is derived from the Greek πυρίτης (""pyritēs""), ""of fire"" or ""in fire"","
"(being the most common of the gem garnets). Almandine occurs in metamorphic rocks like mica schists, associated with minerals such as staurolite, kyanite, andalusite, and others. Almandine has nicknames of Oriental garnet, almandine ruby, and carbuncle. Pyrope (from the Greek ""pyrōpós"" meaning ""fire-eyed"") is red in color and chemically an aluminium silicate with the formula MgAl(SiO), though the magnesium can be replaced in part by calcium and ferrous iron. The color of pyrope varies from deep red to black. Pyrope and spessartine gemstones have been recovered from the Sloan diamondiferous kimberlites in Colorado, from the Bishop Conglomerate and in a"
"nicknamed fool's gold, pyrite is sometimes found in association with small quantities of gold. Gold and arsenic occur as a coupled substitution in the pyrite structure. In the Carlin–type gold deposits, arsenian pyrite contains up to 0.37% gold by weight. Pyrite enjoyed brief popularity in the 16th and 17th centuries as a source of ignition in early firearms, most notably the wheellock, where the cock held a lump of pyrite against a circular file to strike the sparks needed to fire the gun. Pyrite has been used since classical times to manufacture ""copperas"" (iron(II) sulfate). Iron pyrite was heaped up"
"Pyrope The mineral pyrope is a member of the garnet group. Pyrope is the only member of the garnet family to always display red colouration in natural samples, and it is from this characteristic that it gets its name: from the Greek for ""fire"" and ""eye"". Despite being less common than most garnets, it is a widely used gemstone with numerous alternative names, some of which are misnomers. ""Chrome pyrope"", and ""Bohemian garnet"" are two alternative names, the usage of the latter being discouraged by the Gemological Institute of America. Misnomers include ""Colorado ruby"", ""Arizona ruby"", ""California ruby"", ""Rocky Mountain"
"this name was applied to several types of stone that would create sparks when struck against steel; Pliny the Elder described one of them as being brassy, almost certainly a reference to what we now call pyrite. By Georgius Agricola's time, c. 1550, the term had become a generic term for all of the sulfide minerals. Pyrite is usually found associated with other sulfides or oxides in quartz veins, sedimentary rock, and metamorphic rock, as well as in coal beds and as a replacement mineral in fossils, but has also been identified in the sclerites of scaly-foot gastropods. Despite being"
"Rainbow Pyrite Rainbow pyrite, also known as iridescent pyrite, is a variety of pyrite (FeS) which is colored the colors of the rainbow by small traces of molybdenum, and its iridescence is caused by oxidation. Rainbow pyrite occurs in spherical concretions, often with internal shrinkage fractures. Iridescent pyrite was discovered near the Volga river in Russia. Rainbow pyrite is a recently discovered mineral. It was discovered near Ulyanovsk, Russia, on the Volga river. Although rainbow pyrite can be found throughout many locations in the world, including Peru, Bolivia, Mexico, and South Africa, iridescent pyrite has only so far been found"
"Marcasite The mineral marcasite, sometimes called white iron pyrite, is iron sulfide (FeS) with orthorhombic crystal structure. It is physically and crystallographically distinct from pyrite, which is iron sulfide with cubic crystal structure. Both structures do have in common that they contain the disulfide S ion having a short bonding distance between the sulfur atoms. The structures differ in how these di-anions are arranged around the Fe cations. Marcasite is lighter and more brittle than pyrite. Specimens of marcasite often crumble and break up due to the unstable crystal structure. On fresh surfaces it is pale yellow to almost white"
"be used in identification of pyrope under the microscope. Pyrope The mineral pyrope is a member of the garnet group. Pyrope is the only member of the garnet family to always display red colouration in natural samples, and it is from this characteristic that it gets its name: from the Greek for ""fire"" and ""eye"". Despite being less common than most garnets, it is a widely used gemstone with numerous alternative names, some of which are misnomers. ""Chrome pyrope"", and ""Bohemian garnet"" are two alternative names, the usage of the latter being discouraged by the Gemological Institute of America. Misnomers"
"are a popular substitute for diamond and are also known as ""Matura diamond"". The name derives from the Persian ""zargun"", meaning ""gold-hued"". This word is corrupted into ""jargoon"", a term applied to light-colored zircons. The English word ""zircon"" is derived from ""Zirkon"", which is the German adaptation of this word. Yellow, orange and red zircon is also known as ""hyacinth"", from the flower ""hyacinthus"", whose name is of Ancient Greek origin. Zircon is ubiquitous in the crust of Earth. It occurs as a common accessory mineral in igneous rocks (as primary crystallization products), in metamorphic rocks and as detrital grains"
"""ferrum"" (Latin for iron), as the iron-rich analogue of pyroxmangite. The word pyroxene, in turn comes from the Greek words for ""fire"" (πυρ) and ""stranger"" (ξένος). Pyroxenes were named this way because of their presence in volcanic lavas, where they are sometimes seen as crystals embedded in volcanic glass; it was assumed they were impurities in the glass, hence the name ""fire strangers"". However, they are simply early-forming minerals that crystallized before the lava erupted. Pyroxferroite was first discovered in 1969 in lunar rock samples from the Sea of Tranquility during the Apollo missions. Together with armalcolite and tranquillityite, it"
"Pyrrhotite Pyrrhotite is an iron sulfide mineral with the formula FeS (x = 0 to 0.2). It is a nonstoichiometric variant of FeS, the mineral known as troilite. Pyrrhotite is also called magnetic pyrite, because the color is similar to pyrite and it is weakly magnetic. The magnetism decreases as the iron content increases, and troilite is non-magnetic. Pyrrhotite exist as a number of polytypes of hexagonal or monoclinic crystal symmetry; several polytypes often occur within the same specimen. Their structure is based on the NiAs unit cell. As such, Fe occupies an octahedral site and the sulfide centers occupy"
"weighed more than 24,000 carats, and was discovered in Wyoming, US. Another name for blue iolite is steinheilite, after Fabian Steinheil, the Russian military governor of Finland who observed that it was a different mineral from quartz. Praseolite is another iolite variety which results from heat treatment. It should not be confused with prasiolite. Cordierite """"Praseolite"" redirects here. For the green variety of quartz see prasiolite."" Cordierite (mineralogy) or iolite (gemology) is a magnesium iron aluminium cyclosilicate. Iron is almost always present and a solid solution exists between Mg-rich cordierite and Fe-rich sekaninaite with a series formula: (,)() to (,)()."
"iron pyrite, a common mineral, is usually described as consisting of Fe and the persulfido anion S. The sulfur atoms within the disulfido dianion are bound together via a short S-S bond. ""Late"" transition metal disulfides (Mn, Fe, Co, Ni) almost always adopt the pyrite or the related marcasite motif, in contrast to early metals (V, Ti, Mo, W) which adopt 4+ oxidation state with two chalcogenide dianions. Several metals, mainly for the early metals (Ti, V, Cr, Mn groups) also form trichalcogenides. These materials are usually described as M(E)(E) (where E = S, Se, Te). A well known example"
"in only one location, near the Volga river in Russia. Rainbow Pyrite Rainbow pyrite, also known as iridescent pyrite, is a variety of pyrite (FeS) which is colored the colors of the rainbow by small traces of molybdenum, and its iridescence is caused by oxidation. Rainbow pyrite occurs in spherical concretions, often with internal shrinkage fractures. Iridescent pyrite was discovered near the Volga river in Russia. Rainbow pyrite is a recently discovered mineral. It was discovered near Ulyanovsk, Russia, on the Volga river. Although rainbow pyrite can be found throughout many locations in the world, including Peru, Bolivia, Mexico, and"
"United States after Hurricane Katrina were attributed to oxidation of pyrite, which releases hydrogen sulfide gas. These problems included a foul odor and corrosion of copper wiring. In the United States, in Canada, and more recently in Ireland, where it was used as underfloor infill, pyrite contamination has caused major structural damage. Modern tests for aggregate materials certify such materials as free of pyrite. Pyrite and marcasite commonly occur as replacement pseudomorphs after fossils in black shale and other sedimentary rocks formed under reducing environmental conditions. However, ""pyrite dollars"" or ""pyrite suns"" which have an appearance similar to sand dollars"
"Itabirite Itabirite, also known as banded-quartz hematite and hematite schist, is a laminated, metamorphosed oxide-facies iron formation in which the original chert or jasper bands have been recrystallized into megascopically distinguishable grains of quartz and the iron is present as thin layers of hematite, magnetite, or ""martite"" (pseudomorphs of hematite after magnetite). The term was originally applied in Itabirito (Pico de Itabirito), in the state of Minas Gerais and southern part of Belo Horizonte, Brazil, to a high-grade, massive specular hematite ore (66% iron) associated with a schistose rock composed of granular quartz and scaly hematite. The term is now"
"of a strongly pleochroic, reddish or green orthopyroxene (formerly known as hypersthene). The alkali feldpars in the group are generally perthites, with intergrowths of albite and orthoclase or microcline. Rocks of the charnockite series may be named by adding orthopyroxene to the normal igneous nomenclature (e.g. orthopyroxene-granite), but specific names are in widespread use such as norite, mangerite, enderbite, jotunite, farsundite, opdalite and charnockite (in the strict sense); equivalents of gabbro, monzonite, tonalite, monzodiorite, monzogranite, granodiorite and granite. All charnockites were once thought to be igneous, but it is now recognized that many are metamorphic, because, despite the high temperatures"
"oxygen and water over time to cause swelling and cracking. Pyrrhotite Pyrrhotite is an iron sulfide mineral with the formula FeS (x = 0 to 0.2). It is a nonstoichiometric variant of FeS, the mineral known as troilite. Pyrrhotite is also called magnetic pyrite, because the color is similar to pyrite and it is weakly magnetic. The magnetism decreases as the iron content increases, and troilite is non-magnetic. Pyrrhotite exist as a number of polytypes of hexagonal or monoclinic crystal symmetry; several polytypes often occur within the same specimen. Their structure is based on the NiAs unit cell. As such,"
"Pyroxene The pyroxenes (commonly abbreviated to ""Px"") are a group of important rock-forming inosilicate minerals found in many igneous and metamorphic rocks. Pyroxenes have the general formula XY(Si,Al)O where X represents calcium, sodium, iron (II) or magnesium and more rarely zinc, manganese or lithium and Y represents ions of smaller size, such as chromium, aluminium, iron (III), magnesium, cobalt, manganese, scandium, titanium, vanadium or even iron (II). Although aluminium substitutes extensively for silicon in silicates such as feldspars and amphiboles, the substitution occurs only to a limited extent in most pyroxenes. They share a common structure consisting of single chains"
"point between galena detectors and the more mechanically complicated perikon mineral pairs. Pyrite detectors can be as sensitive as a modern 1N34A germanium diode detector. Pyrite has been proposed as an abundant, inexpensive material in low-cost photovoltaic solar panels. Synthetic iron sulfide was used with copper sulfide to create the photovoltaic material. Pyrite is used to make marcasite jewelry. Marcasite jewelry, made from small faceted pieces of pyrite, often set in silver, was known since ancient times and was popular in the Victorian era. At the time when the term became common in jewelry making, ""marcasite"" referred to all iron"
"Cordierite """"Praseolite"" redirects here. For the green variety of quartz see prasiolite."" Cordierite (mineralogy) or iolite (gemology) is a magnesium iron aluminium cyclosilicate. Iron is almost always present and a solid solution exists between Mg-rich cordierite and Fe-rich sekaninaite with a series formula: (,)() to (,)(). A high-temperature polymorph exists, indialite, which is isostructural with beryl and has a random distribution of Al in the (,) rings. Cordierite, which was discovered in 1813, is named after the French geologist Louis Cordier (1777–1861). Cordierite typically occurs in contact or regional metamorphism of pelitic rocks. It is especially common in hornfels produced"
"its surface. Chalcopyrite is brighter yellow with a greenish hue when wet and is softer (3.5–4 on Mohs' scale). Arsenopyrite is silver white and does not become more yellow when wet. Iron pyrite is unstable at Earth's surface: iron pyrite exposed to air and water decomposes into iron oxides and sulfate. This process is hastened by the action of ""Acidithiobacillus"" bacteria which oxidize the pyrite to produce ferrous iron and sulfate. These reactions occur more rapidly when the pyrite is in fine crystals and dust, which is the form it takes in most mining operations. Sulfate released from decomposing pyrite"
"and has a bright metallic luster. It tarnishes to a yellowish or brownish color and gives a black streak. It is a brittle material that cannot be scratched with a knife. The thin, flat, tabular crystals, when joined in groups, are called ""cockscombs."" In marcasite jewellery, pyrite used as a gemstone is termed ""marcasite"" – that is, marcasite jewellery is made from pyrite, not from the mineral marcasite. In the late medieval and early modern eras the word ""marcasite"" meant both pyrite and the mineral marcasite (and iron sulfides in general). The narrower, modern scientific definition for marcasite as orthorhombic"
"transmitted light, hence the name, from the Greek ""pyr"" and ""argyros"", ""fire-silver"" in allusion to color and silver content, given by E. F. Glocker in 1831. The streak is purplish-red, thus differing markedly from the scarlet streak of proustite and affording a ready means of distinguishing the two minerals. The Mohs hardness is 2.75, and the specific gravity 5.85. The refractive indices (nω=3.084 nε=2.881) and birefringence (δ=0.203) are very high. There is no very distinct cleavage and the fracture is conchoidal. The mineral occurs in metalliferous veins with calcite, argentiferous galena, native silver, native arsenic, &c. The best crystallized specimens"
"(often with a greenish tinge) and because of this is often used as a kimberlite indicator mineral in areas where erosive activity makes pin pointing the origin of the pipe difficult. These varieties are known as ""chrome-pyrope"", or ""G9""/""G10"" garnets. In hand specimen, pyrope is very tricky to distinguish from almandine; however, it is likely to display fewer flaws and inclusions. Other distinguishing criteria are listed in the adjacent table. Care should be taken when using these properties as many of those listed have been determined from synthetically grown, pure-composition pyrope. Others, such as pyrope's high specific gravity, may be"
"for March. Jaspilite is a banded iron formation rock that often has distinctive bands of jasper. The name means ""spotted or speckled stone"", and is derived via Old French ""jaspre"" (variant of Anglo-Norman ""jaspe"") and Latin ""iaspidem"" (nom. ""iaspis"") from Greek ἴασπις ""iaspis"" (feminine noun), from an Afroasiatic language (cf. Hebrew ישפה ""yashpeh"", Akkadian ""yashupu""). Green jasper was used to make bow drills in Mehrgarh between 4th and 5th millennium BC. Jasper is known to have been a favorite gem in the ancient world; its name can be traced back in Arabic, Azerbaijani, Persian, Hebrew, Assyrian, Greek and Latin. On"
"the production of ferrites, useful magnetic storage media in computers, and pigments. The best known sulfide is iron pyrite (FeS), also known as fool's gold owing to its golden luster. It is not an iron(IV) compound, but is actually an iron(II) polysulfide containing Fe and ions in a distorted sodium chloride structure. The binary ferrous and ferric halides are well-known, with the exception of ferric iodide. The ferrous halides typically arise from treating iron metal with the corresponding hydrohalic acid to give the corresponding hydrated salts. Iron reacts with fluorine, chlorine, and bromine to give the corresponding ferric halides, ferric"
"an amber rusty color and has a hardness of about 5.5. The luster is waxy or greasy to vitreous. The outer, more altered parts are relatively high in water and low in uranium. Its streak is yellow to brownish. The inner parts are brown, greenish brown, yellowish brown, or yellow. It is translucent to opaque Uranpyrochlore (of Hogarth 1977) Uranpyrochlore (ellsworthite) (Ca,U)(Ti,Nb,Ta)O(OH) is a rare earth mineral mostly found in the northern parts of North America. It is named after Hardy V. Ellsworth of the Canadian Geological Survey by Walker and Parsons. Ellsworthite is also known under the name {Betafite}."
"mining from the seams, or other processing, which then exposes the sulfides in the ore to air and water. The presence of pyrites in coal has been recognized to be self-heating. The second risk factor involves an additional capability of pyrites to provide fire ignition under certain conditions. Pyrites, which derive their name from the Greek root word pyr, which means fire, can cause sparks when struck by steel or other sufficiently hard surfaces. Before the use of flintlock guns, for example, pyrites were used to strike sparks to ignite gunpowder in an earlier model type gun, known as a"
"Siderite Siderite is a mineral composed of iron(II) carbonate (FeCO). It takes its name from the Greek word σίδηρος ""sideros,"" “iron”. It is a valuable iron mineral, since it is 48% iron and contains no sulfur or phosphorus. Zinc, magnesium and manganese commonly substitute for the iron resulting in the siderite-smithsonite, siderite-magnesite and siderite-rhodochrosite solid solution series. Siderite has Mohs hardness of 3.75-4.25, a specific gravity of 3.96, a white streak and a vitreous lustre or pearly luster. It crystallizes in the trigonal crystal system, and are rhombohedral in shape, typically with curved and striated faces. It also occurs in"
"is usually grey. The brown external appearance is due to oxidation of its surface. Ironstone, being a sedimentary rock is not always homogeneous, and can be found in a red and black banded form called tiger iron, sometimes used for jewelry purposes. Sometimes ironstone hosts concretions or opal gems. Ironstone occurs in a variety of forms. The various forms of ironstone include siderite nodules; deeply weathered saprolite, i.e. (laterite); and ooidal ironstone. Ironstone, although widespread, is a limited source of iron (Fe). Historically, most of British iron originated from ironstone, but it is now rarely used for this purpose because"