Tourmaline Slices

More information about tourmaline

Tourmaline Images

Slices of pink tourmaline from Madagascar. Select an image from the two clickable slices (92K) prepared from cuts down the length of the crystal.

Or just view the images of the slices (35K), showing the progression of color down from the top of the crystal.

A slice of tourmaline from Cruzeiro, Brazil, showing spectacular color banding. View images of the slice (38K) with clickable spectra , or view just the GIF 38K, JPG 13K, slice.

Images of the absorption spectra

These are representative optical absorption spectra of various portions of the tourmaline slices:

The spectrum of the pink zone (4K) from the pink slice in the upper left of the picture of the slices (35K) of pink tourmaline. The pink color is from manganese.
Spectrum of the pale grey zone (4K) between the pink and black zones in the first pink slice.
Spectrum of the darker zone (4K) immediately adjacent to the black center of the first pink slice.
Spectrum of the darkest zone (4K) in the center of the first pink slice. Absorption from iron (2+ oxidation state) dominates the spectrum.

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