Database of luminescent minerals 

IDRIALITE

Chemical formula: C₂₂H₁₄

Family: Organic

Status: IMA-GP

Crystal system : Orthorhombic

Display mineral: NON

Associated names (luminescent varieties, discredited names, synonyms, etc.): curtisite, 

Luminescence:

Daylight picture

IDRIALITE,
Hernik mine, East Slovakia, 3.5 cm wide
Photo and Copyright: Paul Garland
Pictures on Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/fluorescent-minerals/pool/55922094@N00/
Used with permission of the author

Shortwave (254nm) picture

IDRIALITE under UVSW,
Hernik mine, East Slovakia, 3.5 cm wide
Photo and Copyright: Paul Garland
Pictures on Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/fluorescent-minerals/pool/55922094@N00/
Used with permission of the author

Pictures Galery:

  
  Go to the galery (3 pictures)

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Phosphorescence (in the common sense of the term) observable with the naked eye:

No data

Comments:

Identical to dimethylbenzphenanthrene (Handbook of Mineralogy) but possibly a complex mixture of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH).

Raman spectroscopy studies indicate that it may be a mixture of complex hydrocarbons including benzonaphthothiophenes (chemical formula: C₁₆H₁₀S) and dinaphthothiophenes (chemical formula: C₂₀H₁₂S)

Approximate abundance of PAHs contained in idrialite from Skaggs Springs (Wise et al. 1986) : picene [40%], chrysene [7%], benzo-phenanthro-thiophene [10%], dibenzo-carbazole [trace], dibenzo-fluorene [33%], indeno-fluorene [7%], and benzo-indeno-fluorene [4%].

Potentially dangerous substance: the PAH contened in Idrialite are toxic.

Activator(s) and spectrum:

Activator(s): Matière organique intrinsèque,

Peaks in the spectrum (nm):

Peaks at: 454nm, 482nm, 512nm, 544nm, 597nm ;

Col. G. Barmarin; Spectre: G. Barmarin

Spectrum Galery:

  
  Go to the galery (4 spectra)

Comments on spectrum and activators:

Blue luminescence due to the two linearly annelated benzene rings characteristic of aromatic compound (singlet-singlet electron transition within the benzene rings.Spectral lines (cm^-1): 250, 235, 222, 208;

Best localities for fluorescence (*):

• Skaggs Springs Mine, Skaggs Springs, Warm Springs Dam, Coast Range, Sonoma Co., California, USA;
• Hg deposit, Idria, Kraina, Slovenia, former Yugoslavia;
• Culver-Baer Mine, North Fork Little Sulphur Creek, Cloverdale, West Mayacmas District, Mayacmas Mts, Sonoma Co., California, USA;
• Great Western Mine, Great Western-Mirabel group, Middletown, East Mayacmas District, Mayacmas Mts, Lake Co., California, USA;
• Merník, Vranov nad Topľou Co., Prešov Region, Slovakia;

(*)The data are not exhaustive and are limited to a few remarkable localities for fluorescence

Bibliographic reference for luminescence:

• The Henkel Glossary of Fluorescent Minerals, Dr. Gerhard Henkel, Published by the FMS, 1989 ,
• Fluorescence: Gems and Minerals Under Ultraviolet Light, Manuel Robbins, 1994, Geoscience Press, ISBN 0-945005-13-X ,
• Luminescent Spectra of Minerals, Boris S. Gorobets and Alexandre A. Rogojine, Moscow, 2002 ,

Reference for luminescence on the Internet:

Mineralogical reference on the Internet:

  http://www.mindat.org/show.php?name=Idrialite

  http://webmineral.com/data/Idrialite.shtml

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