Database of luminescent minerals 

ALBITE

Chemical formula: NaAlSi₃O₈

Family: Silicates

Status: IMA-GP

Crystal system : Triclinic

Display mineral: NON

Associated names (luminescent varieties, discredited names, synonyms, etc.): cleavelandite,  feldspath,  pericline,  perthite,  plagioclase, 

Luminescence:

Daylight picture

ALBITE, Gilgit District, Pakistan;
Col. G.Barmarin; Photo: G. Barmarin

Shortwave (254nm) picture

ALBITE, Gilgit District, Pakistan;   UVSW
Col. G.Barmarin; Photo: G. Barmarin

Pictures Galery:

  
  Go to the galery (2 pictures)

Do you have a photo of this mineral you would like to see in the gallery? Contact us!

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

No data

Thermoluminescence: OUI

Comments:

Pericline variety (ellongated albite following b axis) is sometime fluorescent: SW and LW: red; OL: bleu;

Cleavelandite variety (albite in lamellar masses) is sometime fluorescent: SW and LW: cream; SW: pink (very weak);

Activator(s) and spectrum:

Activator(s): Fe³⁺,

No spectrum yet

Comments on spectrum and activators:

Cathodoluminescence: faint light blue (Khibiny).

Best localities for fluorescence (*):

• Exilles, Susa Valley, near Torino, Torino Province, Piedmont, Italy;
• Poudrette quarry, Mont Saint-Hilaire, La Vallée-du-Richelieu RCM, Montérégie, Québec, Canada;
• Crestmore Quarry, Crestmore, Riverside County, California, USA (var. Orthoclase, dull blue-white SW);
• Orchard Quarry, Buckfield, Oxford Co., Maine, USA (red SW associated with apatite orange-yellow SW);
• Middle Moat Mountain locality, Hale Location, Carroll Co., New Hampshire, USA (red SW);
• Chamberlain Lane, South Glastonbury, Glastonbury, Hartford Co., Connecticut, USA (var cleavelandite, red SW);
• Fillow Quarry, Branchville, Redding, Fairfield Co., Connecticut, USA (Magenta-pink SW fluorescing cleavelandite +lavender fluorescing albite overgrowth on pale blue fluorescing microcline!);
• Dennis Hill locality, Litchfield, Kennebec Co., Maine, USA (weak SW but associated with cancrinite, fluorapatite  & nepheline);
• Gillette Quarry, Haddam Neck, Haddam, Middlesex Co., Connecticut, USA (albite white SW associated with chlorophane green SW);
• Glen Wills, Mt Wills Mining District, Omeo, East Gippsland Shire, Victoria, Australia (green SW);
• Ilimaussaq complex, Narsaq, Kitaa (West Greenland) Province, Greenland;
• Gilgit-Skardu Road, Skardu District, Baltistan, Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan;
• Shigar Valley, Skardu District, Baltistan, Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan;
• Hunza Valley, Gilgit District, Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan;
• Sar-e-Sang River, Sar-e Sang, Koksha Valley, Khash & Kuran Wa Munjan Districts, Badakhshan Province, Afghanistan;
• Manakana pegmatite, Manakana Commune, Tsaratanàna District, Betsiboka Region, Mahajanga Province, Madagascar (blue albite with minor fluorescence SW, coming on the market in Tucson 2015);
• Cap de Creus, Cadaqués, Alt Empordà, Girona, Catalonia, Spain (Green SW);

(*)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 ,
• The World of Fluorescent Minerals, Stuart Schneider, Schiffer Publishing, 2006, ISBN 0-7643-2544-2 ,

Reference for luminescence on the Internet:

Mineralogical reference on the Internet:

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

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

Internet Search:

  Image search on 'Google Images'

  Search for documents in all languages on Google

  Search on Wikipedia