ARAGONITE

 


Chemical formula: CaCO3

Family: Carbonates

Status: IMA-GP

Crystal system : Orthorhombic

Display mineral: OUI

Associated names (luminescent varieties, discredited names, synonyms, etc.): flos ferrinicholsonitestrontio-aragonitemossottitetarnowitziteammoliteseptariaperlektypéiteErzbergite

 

Luminescence:

Longwave UV (365nm) colors:

                                                                


Yellowish White , White , Bluish White , Pinkish White , Orange , Orange Red , Red , Violet red , Violet Pink , Pink , Salmon pink , Blue , Greenish white ,

Intensity LW:Strong

Frequency LW:Very often

Midwave UV (320nm) colors:

                                                                


Pink , White , Bluish White , Yellowish White , Pinkish White , Pale Yellow , Orange Red , Red , Violet red , Violet Pink , Salmon pink , Greenish white , Yellowish ,

Shortwave UV (254nm) colors:

                                                                                    


Bluish White , White , Bluish White , Yellowish White , Pinkish White , Pale Yellow , Orange , Orange Red , Red , Violet red , Violet Pink , Pink , Salmon pink , Yellowish Green , Green , Greenish white , Yellowish ,

Intensity SW:Medium

Frequency SW:Very often

Longwave (365nm) picture


ARAGONITE, Sicily, Italy.
OL (365 nm)
Col. G.Barmarin; Photo: G. Barmarin

Shortwave (254nm) picture


ARAGONITE, Sicily, Italy.
OC (254 nm)
Col. G.Barmarin; Photo: G. Barmarin

 

Pictures Galery:

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

Type d'UV

Couleur

Intensité

Fréquence d'observation

UV longs (365nm):

Greenish white StrongOften

UV moyens (320 nm):

Greenish white StrongOften

UV courts (254 nm):

Greenish white StrongOften
 

Thermoluminescence: OUI

Comments:

Kunz and Baskerville noted that aragonite fluoresces often strongly during their memorable investigation of 13000 mineral specimens in 1903.

Activator(s) and spectrum:

Activator(s): Mn2+ , (UO2)2+ (ion Uranyle) en impureté,  ST (Singlet-triplet)-Matière organique en impureté,  Ce3+,  Sm3+,  Eu3+,  Dy3+,  Centres dûs aux effets des radiations,  

Peaks in the spectrum (nm):

  Sm3+ repl. Ca2+ : 603, 640nm 

  Mn2+ : broad band at 630nm (120nm half-width) 

  Dy3+ : 482, 486, 578, 579nm 

  Radiation induced center : 580nm (very short decay time of approximately 20 ns)


Spectrum: Michael Gaft, Petah Tikva, Israel. Plot: Institute of Mineralogy, University of Vienna, Austria, with permission of the authors.

Spectrum Galery:

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Comments on spectrum and activators:

Fluo green: due to U in traces;
Activators: Mn2+, Sm3+, Dy3+ (Gaft)
The broad luminescence band peaking at 580 nm with very short decay time of approximately 20 ns, could by analogy with Terlingua-type calcite may be preliminarily ascribed to radiation induced luminescence center. (Gaft)

Under cw laser excitation at 532 and 780nm several bands and narrow lines have been found in visible and IR parts of the spectrum. Evidently they may be connected with another type of Mn2+, trivalent REE, such as Sm3+, Eu3+ and different types of Nd3+ centers. The origin of the broad band peaking at approximately 700 nm needs further study.

The frequent occurrence of slight amounts of Strontium in aragonite was known during the time of Becquerel and he ascribed the luminescence to the presence of strontium. Later, Nichols confirmed the idea. Hence the name strontioaragonite for some specimen of very bright red fluorescing aragonite. 

Actually, strontium is not considered anymore as the activator responsable for the red fluorescence of aragonite and  Mn and REE are considered as the principal activators of this red fluorescence.

Best localities for fluorescence (*):

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

Bibliographic reference for luminescence:

Reference for luminescence on the Internet:

  • MONT-SAINT-HILAIRE, History, Geology, Mineralogy, Laszlo HORVATH, The Canadian Mineralogist, Special Publication 14, 2019


Images:


Mineralogical reference on the Internet:

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

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

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