American Mineralogist's Image Gallery

Ramanite-(Rb): Rb[B5O6(OH)4]·2H2O  
Ramanite-(Cs): Cs[B5O6(OH)4]·2H2O  
Santite: KB5O6(OH)4·2(H2O)

Comments: Unheated Type-B melt inclusions in graphic quartz. 1 = ramanite-(Cs), 2 = sassolite, 3 = ramanite-(Rb), 4 = santite, 5 = topaz, V = vapor. (AmMin, v93:1035).
Location: Graphic pegmatite quartz from the Island of Elba, Italy. Scale: Scale Bar 15µm.
© American Mineralogist

Reidite: ZrSiO4

Comments: Scanning electron microscope photomicrograph of the surface of an etched shocked zircon with a skeletal crystalline phase that may be reidite. X-ray diffraction data indicate that this zircon contains minor amounts of reidite. (AmMin 87:563).
Location: Found in an upper Eocene impact ejecta layer in marine sediments on the upper continental slope off New Jersey and on Barbados. Scale: See Image.
© American Mineralogist

Rondorfite: Ca8Mg(SiO4)4Cl2  
Kumtyubeite: Ca5(SiO4)2F2  
Srebrodolskite: Ca2Fe+++2O5  
Wadalite: Ca6Al5Si2O16Cl3

Comments: BSE image of kumtyubeite (Kmt) associated with srebrodolskite (Srb), bultfonteinite (Blt), Ca- kydrosilicates, wadalite (Wad), rondorfite (Rndr), and ettringite (dark gray). (AmMin, v94:1361).
Location: Rock-forming mineral found in skarn carbonate-xenoliths in ignimbrites of the Upper Chegem volcanic structure, Kabardino-Balkaria, Northern Caucasus, Russia. Scale: See Image.
© American Mineralogist

Rubicline: (Rb,K)AlSi3O8

Comments: Rubicline (white) including grains of quartz (black) in microcline (gray) associated with albite (black) and muscovite (mottled dark gray). BSE image (AmMin, 83:1336).
Location: Pollucite-bearing rare-element pegmatite at San Piero in Campo, Elba, Italy. Scale: Grain size 20 µm.
© American Mineralogist

Rudashevskyite: (Fe,Zn)S

Comments: B&W reflected light image of rudashevskyite (Rud) attached to large schreibersite grain (Schr), associated with troilite (Tr), idiomorphic roedderite tablets (Roed), and clinoenstatite (Px) (AmMin, v93:903).
Location: Indarch meteorite, Shusha, Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan. Scale: See Image.
© American Mineralogist

Rustenburgite: (Pt,Pd)3Sn  
Tatyanaite: (Pt,Pd,Cu)9Cu3Sn4

Comments: Back-scattered electron images showing inclusions of rustenburgite intergrown with taimyrite-tatyanaite aggregates. (AmMin, v 42, p 608).
Location: Kondyor PGE placer, Khabarovskiy Kray, eastern Siberia, Russia. Scale: See Image.
© American Mineralogist

Santite: KB5O6(OH)4·2(H2O)  
Ramanite-(Rb): Rb[B5O6(OH)4]·2H2O  
Ramanite-(Cs): Cs[B5O6(OH)4]·2H2O

Comments: Unheated Type-B melt inclusions in graphic quartz. 1 = ramanite-(Cs), 2 = sassolite, 3 = ramanite-(Rb), 4 = santite, 5 = topaz, V = vapor. (AmMin, v93:1035).
Location: Graphic pegmatite quartz from the Island of Elba, Italy. Scale: Scale Bar 15µm.
© American Mineralogist

Schollhornite: Na0.3CrS2·(H2O)  
Daubreelite: Fe++Cr2S4  
Caswellsilverite: NaCrS2

Comments: Polished section (PPL) of schiillhornite (Sh), coexisting with caswellsilverite (Cw), ferromagnesian alabandite (Ab) and daubreelite (Db). (AmMin, v70:638).
Location: Norton County (Kansas-Nebraska) enstatite achondrite meteorite. Scale: Scale bar is 0.08 mm.
© American Mineralogist

Schreibersite: (Fe,Ni)3P  
Allabogdanite: (Fe,Ni)2P

Comments: Relict grain of allabogdanite crystal (ABG) surrounded by schreibersite rim (SCHR) in plessite matrix (PL). Black phase is a secondary Fe-Ni-hydroxide. Backscattered electron image. (AmMin, 87:1249).
Location: Onello iron meteorite (high-Ni ataxite) Onello River basin, Aldan shield, Saha (Sakha) Republic (Yakutia), Eastern-Siberian Region, Russia. Scale: Scale bar 10 µ-m.
© American Mineralogist

Schreyerite: V+++2Ti3O9

Comments: SEM image of schreyerite crystal studied by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. AmMin, v91, p197.
Location: Metamorphic rocks of the Sludyanka complex at the southern shore of Lake Baikal, Russia. Scale: Picture width 0.14 mm.
© American Mineralogist

Sederholmite: NiSe  
Kitkaite: NiTeSe  
Penroseite: (Ni,Co,Cu)Se2

Comments: B&W polished section image showing kitkaite replacing calcite in penroseite, clausthalite and sederholmite. Note the absence of the clausthalite envelope around kitkaite..
Location: Valley of the Kitka river in Kuusamo, northeast Finland. (AmMin, v50:581). Scale: 100 X.
© American Mineralogist

Serrabrancaite: MnPO4·(H2O)

Comments: SEM micrograph of dark brown to dark greenish black isometric crystals of serrabrancaite up to 0.3 mm size. (AmMin, 85:848).
Location: Alto Serra Branca pegmatite near Pedra Lavrada, Paraiba, Brazil. Scale: See Image.
© American Mineralogist

Shirozulite: KMn3(AlSi3)O10(OH,F)2

Comments: Back-scattered-electron image of shirozulite. Shr = shirozulite; Tp = tephroite; Ap = apatite; Rds = rhodochrosite; Bm = bementite. (AmMin, 89:233).
Location: Tauchi mine, Aichi Prefecture, Japan. Scale: See Image.
© American Mineralogist

Silicon: Si  
Moissanite: SiC

Comments: Backscattered electron image of metallic inclusion in moissanite (SiC). The gray shading in the BSE mage consists mainly of pure silicon (Si metal). The brighter areas are composed of Fe-silicide. (AmMin, 88:1818).
Location: Found in a cobble at a beach along the Turkish coast of the Mediterranean Sea, around 150 km NW from Izmir, and is most likely derived from Tertiary volcanic rocks outcropping in the area. Scale: Scalebar 200 µ-m.
© American Mineralogist

Simmonsite: Na2LiAlF6

Comments: Backscattered electron images of primary assemblage of cryolite-cryolithionite (cl) simmonsite (sm) and trace elpasolite (ep). (AmMin, v 84, p 770).
Location: Zapot amazonite-topaz-zinnwaldite pegmatite located in the Gillis Range, Mineral Co., Nevada, USA. Scale: See Image.
© American Mineralogist

Sorosite: Cu(Sn,Sb)  
Tin: Sn  
Stistaite: SnSb

Comments: Back-scattered electron image of large sorosite crystal (So=partly skeletal) adjacent to stistaite (St). Tn=native tin. Note abundant microcrystals of sorosite isolated within native tin. (AmMin 83:903).
Location: Baimka gold-platinum group mineral placer deposit, Chukotka, Russian Far East. Scale: Image Size 1.5 cm.
© American Mineralogist

Spriggite: Pb3[(UO2)6O8(OH)2](H2O)x; x ~ 3

Comments: Secondary electron microscope image of spriggite crystals and twins. (AmMin, 89:341).
Location: Number 2 workings, Radium Ridge, Northern Flinders Ranges, South Australia. Scale: See Image.
© American Mineralogist

Srebrodolskite: Ca2Fe+++2O5  
Kumtyubeite: Ca5(SiO4)2F2  
Wadalite: Ca6Al5Si2O16Cl3  
Rondorfite: Ca8Mg(SiO4)4Cl2

Comments: BSE image of kumtyubeite (Kmt) associated with srebrodolskite (Srb), bultfonteinite (Blt), Ca- kydrosilicates, wadalite (Wad), rondorfite (Rndr), and ettringite (dark gray). (AmMin, v94:1361).
Location: Rock-forming mineral found in skarn carbonate-xenoliths in ignimbrites of the Upper Chegem volcanic structure, Kabardino-Balkaria, Northern Caucasus, Russia. Scale: See Image.
© American Mineralogist

Srilankite: (Ti,Zr)O2

Comments: Backscatter electron image of srilankite (Sri) - rutile (Rt) - ilmenite (Ilm) composite grain (AmMin, v 89, p 761).
Location: Atlantis II Fracture Zone, Southwest Indian Ridge, Southern Indian Ocean. Scale: See Image.
© American Mineralogist

Stistaite: SnSb  
Sorosite: Cu(Sn,Sb)  
Tin: Sn

Comments: Back-scattered electron image of large sorosite crystal (So=partly skeletal) adjacent to stistaite (St). Tn=native tin. Note abundant microcrystals of sorosite isolated within native tin. (AmMin 83:903).
Location: Baimka gold-platinum group mineral placer deposit, Chukotka, Russian Far East. Scale: Image Size 1.5 cm.
© American Mineralogist