Amethyst

This page kindly sponsored by Mineraliengrosshandel

Mun. Las Vigas de Ramírez (Mun. de Profesor Rafael Ramírez), Veracruz, Mexico
© Rob Lavinsky

Show Amethyst Photos (2959)

Formula:

SiO

Colour:

Purple

Lustre:

Vitreous

Name:

From Greek "a-methystos", meaning not drunk.

A variety of Quartz

A purple variety of quartz. The colour is caused by iron impurities in the 10s to 100s parts per million range (see references).
If heated, amethyst turns yellow-orange, yellow-brown, or dark brownish, and thus resembles the quartz variety citrine.

Classification of Amethyst

mindat.org URL:

http://www.mindat.org/min-198.html
Please feel free to link to this page.

Physical Properties of Amethyst

Lustre:

Vitreous

Colour:

Purple

Chemical Properties of Amethyst

Formula:

SiO

Essential elements:

O, Si

All elements listed in formula:

O, Si

Other Names for Amethyst

Synonyms:

Other Languages:

Basque:	Amatista
Bulgarian:	Аметист
Catalan:	Ametista
Czech:	Ametyst
Danish:	Ametyst
Dutch:	Amethist
Esperanto:	Ametisto
Estonian:	Ametüst
Finnish:	Ametisti
French:	Améthyste
Georgian:	ამეთვისტო
German:	Amethyst Bacchusstein Haaramethyst
Greek:	Αμέθυστος
Hebrew:	אחלמה אמתיסט
Hungarian:	Ametiszt
Irish Gaelic:	Aimitis
Italian:	Ametista
Japanese:	アメジスト紫水晶
Kazakh (Cyrillic Script):	Аметист
Latin:	Amethystus
Latvian:	Ametists

Lithuanian:	Ametistas
Nahuatl:	Tlapaltehuilōtl
Norwegian (Bokmål):	Ametyst
Polish:	Ametyst
Portuguese:	Ametista
Romanian:	Ametist
Russian:	Аметист
Samogitian:	Ametėsts
Serbian (Cyrillic Script):	Аметист
Simplified Chinese:	紫晶紫水晶
Slovak:	Ametyst
Slovenian:	Ametist
Spanish:	Amatista
Swedish:	Ametist
Thai:	เขี้ยวหนุมาน
Turkish:	Ametist
Ukrainian:	Аметист
Wolof:	Ametist

Varieties:

Burnt amethyst

Hair Amethyst

Other Information

Health Warning:

Quartz is usually quite harmless unless broken or powdered. Broken crystals and masses may have razor-sharp edges that can easily cut skin and flesh. Handle with care. Do not grind dry since long-term exposure to finely ground powder may lead to silicosis.

References for Amethyst

Reference List:

- +

Lietz, J. & Munchberg, W. (1957): The coloring of amethyst. II. The effect of ultraviolet and gamma-rays on the coloring. Neues Jahrbuch für Mineralogie, Monatshefte 1957, 25-33.

Chudoba, K. F. (1961): The significance of the color of amethyst. Aufschluss 12, 233-248 (in German).

Chudoba, K. F. (1962): Some relations between the causes of amethyst, smoky quartz, and citrine colors as given by modern science. Mineralogicheskii Sbornik (Lvov), (16), 91-105.

Lehmann, G. & Moore, W. J. (1966): Color center in amethyst quartz. Science 152, 1061-1062.

Lehmann, G. (1967): Iron color center as the cause of amethyst color. Zeitschrift für Naturforschung, Teil A: Astrophysik, Physik und Physikalische Chemie (1967), 22, 2080-2085.

Dennen, W. H. & Puckett, A. M. (1972): Chemistry and color of amethyst. Canadian Mineralogist 11, 448-456.

Cohen, Alvin J. & Hassan, F. (1974): Ferrous and ferric ions in synthetic alpha-quartz and natural amethyst. American Mineralogist 59, 719-728.

Balitskii, V. S. & Balitskaya, O. V. (1986): The amethyst-citrine dichromatism in quartz and its origin. Physics and Chemistry of Minerals 13, 415-421.

Cohen, A. J. (1985): Amethyst color in quartz, the result of radiation protection involving iron. American Mineralogist 70, 1180-1185.

Kostov, R. (1987): A discussion on the color of amethyst. Priroda (Sofia), 36(2), 10-15.

Cohen, Alvin J. (1989): New data on the cause of smoky and amethystine color in quartz. Mineralogical Record 20, 365-367.

Choh, S. H.; Jo, S. H.; Song, K. J.; Park, I. W.; Han, C. S. (1993): Thermal stability of iron(3+) centers in natural and synthetic amethyst. Bulletin of Magnetic Resonance 15, 35-40.

Vasconcelos P, Wenk HR, Rossman GR (1994) The Anahí ametrine mine,
Bolivia. Gems and Gemology 30, 4-23.

Rossman GR (1994) The colored varieties of the silica minerals. In: P.J.
Haney, ed., Reviews in Mineralogy 29, 433-468.

Balitsky VS, Lu T, Rossman GR, Makhina IB, Mar'in, AA, Shigley JE, Elen S, Dorogovin BA (1999) Russian synthetic ametrine. Gems and Gemology 35, 122-134.

Dedushenko, S. K.; Makhina, I. B.; Mar'in, A. A.; Mukhanov, V. A.; Perfiliev, Yu. D. (2004): What oxidation state of iron determines the amethyst colour? Hyperfine Interactions 156/157, 417-422.

Balzer, R. (2008): Amethyst Uruguay. 304 pp (in German and English).

Tumuklu, Ali; Gumus, Hande & Sen, Sezer (2008): Role of trace elements in natural amethysts in colouring. Asian Journal of Chemistry 20, 4138-4140.