Database of luminescent minerals 

wernerite

Chemical formula: See MEIONITE / (voir aussi/see also MARIALITE)

Family: Silicates

Status:

Crystal system : Tetragonal

Display mineral: OUI

Luminescence:

Daylight picture

Wernerite;
Grenville, Argenteuil Co., Québec, Canada
Photo and Copyright:
Middleearthminerals.com
Used with permission of the author

Longwave (365nm) picture

Wernerite UVLW, Grenville, Argenteuil Co., Québec, Canada
Photo and Copyright: G. Barmarin

Shortwave (254nm) picture

Wernerite UVSW, Grenville, Argenteuil Co., Québec, Canada
Photo and Copyright: G. Barmarin

Pictures Galery:

  
  Go to the galery (8 pictures)

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

No data

Comments:

One of the most spectacular bright yellow luminescent mineral!

Activator(s) and spectrum:

Activator(s): S₂^-,

Peaks in the spectrum (nm):

(S₂)^- : Very broad band peaking around 600-603 nm with some waves superposed

Col. G. Barmarin; Spectre: G. Barmarin

Spectrum Galery:

  
  Go to the galery (1 spectra)

Comments on spectrum and activators:

De Ment studied the fluorescence spectrum of wernerite in 1943.

 The emission spectrum is dependent upon excitation wavelength, indicating that S₂^- occupies several different sites.

The luminescence emission spectrum is peculiar in that it is a series of distinct, nearly equally spaced bands, covering the region from 500 to 700nm with maximum intensity just below 600nm. This luminescence was originally attributed to 2+ UO 2 . Kirk (1954; 1955) showed that the luminescence center was more likely to be a polysulfide ion, S,, and later (Schulman and Kirk, 1964) deduced it to be S 2. Similar luminescence is found in hackmanite and in sodium thiosulfate reduced at 900 ° C. under UV light. The luminescence of wernerite can be enhanced by heating the samples to 900 °C for 24 h. (see Burgner R, Scheetz B, White W (1978) Vibrational structure of the S₂^- luminescence in scapolite. Phys Chem Miner 2:317–324).

Best localities for fluorescence (*):

• Otter Lake, Grenville, Quebec, Canada ;
• McGill Scapolite Prospect (Mc Gill Farm), Pointe-au-Chêne, Grenville-sur-la-Rouge, Argenteuil RCM, Laurentides, Québec, Canada ;
• Grenville Scapolite Prospect, Grenville-sur-la-Rouge, Argenteuil RCM, Laurentides, Québec, Canada ;
• Valyermo, California, USA ;
• Fort Coulonge Quebec, Canada (associated with blue sodalite, hauyne fl.orange LW and diopside fl.blue SW);
• Old St. Joe Mine in Edwards NY, USA (1969, associated with lazurite, phlogopite fl. yellow SW, hauyne fl. orange LW, diopside fl.skyblue SW);
• Autoroute 50 roadcut, Argenteuil County, Quebec, Canada ;
• Beluga sapphire property, Kimmirut (Lake Harbour), Baffin Island, Nunavut Territory, Canada ;
• Lady Smith, Pontiac RCM, Outaouais, Québec, Canada exploited by Darryl MacFarlane around 1996 ;

(*)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 ,
• Handbook of Fluorescent Gems and Minerals, a practical guide for the gem and mineral collector, Jack de Ment, 1949 ,

Reference for luminescence on the Internet:

Mineralogical reference on the Internet:

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

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

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