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Minerals possess many properties. Color is usually the first and most easily observed. For many minerals, color is a reliable diagnostic property used for identification. For others, it is the most variable and unreliable property. But what causes color in minerals? This is something that was debated among geologists for years. It is only in the last 1520 years that we have really begun to understand the causes.
Color Centers
Color can also be caused by structural defects in minerals. For example, an excess electron that is unattached to any single atom may be trapped in a structural defect such as a void due to a missing ion. A hole, or the absence of an electron, can have the same effect. These are what are called color centers. In the mineral fluorite, the purple color is due to what is called a Frenkel defect. A fluorine ion has been moved from its normal site in the mineral to another site. An electron remains in the hole to maintain electrical neutrality. This electron can exist in the ground state and in various excited states. The movement of the electron among these various states causes color and fluorescence. If the fluorite is heated, the structure returns to normal and the color fades.
Physical Impurities
Impurities may produce color in minerals. Normally colorless calcite can be colored black by MnO2 or carbon. Tiny specks of red or green minerals can impart their color to minerals. For example, chlorite (green) in quartz , and hematite (red) in feldspar, calcite, and jasper.
Fine Structures
In some minerals the presence of closely spaced structures produces an iridescence or play of colors. For example, the colors seen in precious opal results from the interference of light reflected from submicroscopic layers of nearly spherical particles arranged in a regular pattern. The layering produces a pearly or milky opalescence. In some varieties of plagioclase feldspar, closely spaced intergrowth structures produce an iridescence in blues and greens with changing angles of incident light (see the display of feldspar minerals). This is seen in moonstone which is a light-colored variety of plagioclase (albite to oligoclase). The iridescence seen in the rock anorthosite, commonly used as a facing stone on buildings, is due to the presence of dark gray plagioclase. Plagioclase exhibits essentially complete solid solution between two endmembers: albite (NaAlSi3O8) and anorthite (CaAl2Si2O8). The intergrowth structures in plagioclase and the compositional range are as follows: Peristerite intergrowths - An2-15 (albite to oligoclase) Boggild intergrowths - An47-58 (andesine to labradorite) Huttenlocher integrowths - An60-85 (labradorite to bytownite)