Amethyst Formation : How is amethyst formed?
How is amethyst formed?
Amethyst forms when trace impurities of iron (Fe³⁺) and other transition metals replace silicon atoms in the crystal structure of quartz. Natural irradiation further enhances the color. Depending on the type and amount of radiation, the resulting amethyst can display a variety of purple hues.
1. Hydrothermal Origin: Amethyst crystallizes from hot, silica-rich fluids circulating through the Earth's crust. These fluids are often associated with volcanic activity or hydrothermal vents, where temperatures can reach several hundred degrees Celsius.
2. Quartz Crystallization: As the hydrothermal fluid cools, dissolved silica (SiO₂) precipitates and forms quartz, the mineral to which amethyst belongs. This typically occurs within cavities within volcanic rocks, geodes, or fractures in existing rock formations.
3. Iron Incorporation: Trace elements of iron (Fe³⁺) and other transition metals present in the fluid become incorporated into the growing quartz lattice. These impurities act as chromophores, selectively absorbing specific wavelengths of light and generating the characteristic purple color of amethyst.
4. Radiation Activation: Natural radiation from surrounding rocks or cosmic rays further excites the iron impurities within the quartz lattice. This radiation enhances the purple color of amethyst through electronic transitions within the chromophore, leading to deeper and more vibrant hues.
5. Geochemical Conditions: The specific shade and intensity of amethyst color is influenced by several factors, including the type and concentration of iron impurities, the duration and intensity of radiation exposure, and the presence of other trace elements within the crystal lattice.
6. Crystal Growth and Zoning: The formation of amethyst can occur over millions of years, with crystals growing slowly and gradually. This can lead to color banding or zoning within the crystal, reflecting variations in the concentration of iron impurities and the timing of radiation exposure throughout the growth process.
7. Geode Formation: In some cases, amethyst crystals form within geodes, which are hollow cavities within volcanic rocks lined with mineral crystals. These geodes can contain stunning specimens of amethyst with well-developed crystal faces and intricate color patterns.
The color in amethyst from most localities is unevenly distributed in the individual crystals. In amethyst geodes, it is often most intense in the growth zones under the rhombohedral faces (at the tips). Occasionally the color is deeper under either the r or z rhombohedral faces, giving the crystal a pinwheel appearance when viewed from the top. In prismatic crystals, the color may appear in phantom-like thin layers, while in scepters and skeleton quartz the color is often concentrated along the edges, and accompanied by smoky zones. Despite the intense color, the content of iron occupying Si positions in amethyst is rather low, in the 10-100 ppm range (Dennen and Puckett, 1972).
When heated to more than about 300-400°C, amethyst loses its violet color and often turns yellow, orange or brown, and then resembles the quartz variety citrine, but depending on the locality and the temperature during the heat treatment it may also turn colorless or - rarely - green (Rose and Lietz, 1954; Neumann and Schmetzer, 1984).
Irradiation with UV light will also destroy the color centers, and accordingly prolonged exposure to sunlight will slowly fade amethyst (Currier, 1985). The photo to the right shows the effects of heat (bottom left and right) and UV irradiation (top right) on the color of a specimen from Uruguay.
Amethyst is pleochroic (Haidinger, 1847; Pancharatnam, 1954; Raman, 1954): when the polarization of the light is changed from parallel to the c-axis to perpendicular to the c-axis, amethyst changes its color from blue-violet to purple. The strength of the effect varies to a considerable degree, and changes in the hue depending on the direction of the transmitted light may be observable with the naked eye, in particular in crystals with a zonar development of color, which may even show sky-blue tones.
Amethyst crystals do not get very large, crystals longer than 30cm are very rare.
It is found in various forms and shapes, the most common growth forms are:
1. Druzy crystal aggregates which outline cavities; the crystals are usually short-prismatic and often lack prism faces. Most common in volcanic rocks, but also in hydrothermal veins, and even in cavities in sedimentary rocks;
2. Scepters (late syntaxial overgrowth) on other color varieties of quartz, in particular in high- to medium-temperature environments like alpine-type fissures and pegmatites
3. Split-growth crystals ("artichoke quartz") in hydrothermal veins in ore deposits, but also in volcanic rocks.
4. As individual well-formed crystals in small cavities and fissures, in particular in volcanic rocks.
5. As hydrothermal vein filling, often with several growth phases with variable color that cause a banding pattern.
In general, only the common crystallographic forms of quartz, the hexagonal prism and the positive and negative rhombohedra are found on amethyst crystals. Druzy amethyst may lack prism faces. Crystals with additional faces like the trigonal bipyramid s are known only from very few localities.
Amethyst often contains zones of polysynthetic Brazil law twinning, that is, it is composed of alternating layers of right- and left-handed twin domains, typically under the positive rhombohedral faces ("r faces" {1 0 -1 1}; Brewster 1823; McLaren and Pitkethly, 1982; Taijing and Sunagawa, 1990). Usually, this cannot be recognized on the crystal's surface unless it is etched, but some amethysts from certain localities show a "fingerprint" pattern on the rhombohedral faces that reflects the geometry of the left- and right-handed domains, like the specimen from Uruguay shown below.
