Vesuvianite
Silicate mineral
title: "Vesuvianite" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["calcium-minerals", "magnesium-minerals", "aluminium-minerals", "mount-vesuvius", "gemstones", "geology-of-italy", "sorosilicates", "tetragonal-minerals", "minerals-in-space-group-126"] description: "Silicate mineral" topic_path: "science/earth-science" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vesuvianite" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Silicate mineral ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox mineral"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| boxbgcolor | #747827 |
| boxtextcolor | #fff |
| name | Vesuvianite |
| category | Sorosilicate |
| image | Vesuvianite-242685.jpg |
| caption | Vesuvianite from the Jeffrey Mine in Val-des-Sources, Quebec |
| formula | Ca10(Mg, Fe)2Al4(SiO4)5(Si2O7)2(OH,F)4 |
| IMAsymbol | Ves |
| strunz | 9.BG.35 |
| system | Tetragonal |
| class | Ditetragonal dipyramidal (4/mmm) |
| H-M symbol: (4/m 2/m 2/m) | |
| symmetry | P4/nnc |
| unit cell | a = 15.52 Å, c = 11.82 Å |
| Z = 2 | |
| color | Yellow, green, brown; colorless to white, brown-black, light green, emerald green, violet, blue-green to blue, pink, purple, red, black, commonly zoned |
| habit | Short pyramidal to long prismatic crystals common, massive to columnar |
| twinning | Fine twin domains observed |
| cleavage | Poor on {110} and {100} very poor on {001} |
| fracture | Sub conchoidal to irregular |
| tenacity | Brittle |
| mohs | 6–7 |
| luster | Vitreous to resinous |
| refractive | nω = 1.703–1.752 |
| nε = 1.700–1.746 | |
| opticalprop | Uniaxial (−) |
| birefringence | 0.004–0.006 |
| pleochroism | slight in colored varieties |
| streak | White |
| gravity | 3.32–3.43 |
| solubility | Vesuvianite is virtually insoluble in acids |
| diaphaneity | Subtransparent to translucent |
| other | striated lengthwise |
| references | |
| :: |
| boxbgcolor = #747827 | boxtextcolor = #fff | name = Vesuvianite | category = Sorosilicate | image = Vesuvianite-242685.jpg | alt = | caption = Vesuvianite from the Jeffrey Mine in Val-des-Sources, Quebec | formula = Ca10(Mg, Fe)2Al4(SiO4)5(Si2O7)2(OH,F)4 | IMAsymbol = Ves | strunz = 9.BG.35 | system = Tetragonal | class = Ditetragonal dipyramidal (4/mmm) H-M symbol: (4/m 2/m 2/m) | symmetry = P4/nnc | unit cell = a = 15.52 Å, c = 11.82 Å Z = 2 | color = Yellow, green, brown; colorless to white, brown-black, light green, emerald green, violet, blue-green to blue, pink, purple, red, black, commonly zoned | habit = Short pyramidal to long prismatic crystals common, massive to columnar | twinning = Fine twin domains observed | cleavage = Poor on {110} and {100} very poor on {001} | fracture = Sub conchoidal to irregular | tenacity = Brittle | mohs = 6–7 | luster = Vitreous to resinous | refractive = nω = 1.703–1.752 nε = 1.700–1.746 | opticalprop = Uniaxial (−) | birefringence = 0.004–0.006 | pleochroism = slight in colored varieties | streak = White | gravity = 3.32–3.43 | density = | melt = | fusibility = | diagnostic = | solubility = Vesuvianite is virtually insoluble in acids | diaphaneity = Subtransparent to translucent | other = striated lengthwise | references =
Vesuvianite, also known as idocrase, is a green, brown, yellow, or blue silicate mineral. Vesuvianite occurs as tetragonal crystals in skarn deposits and limestones that have been subjected to contact metamorphism.
The specific gravity is 3.4 and the Mohs hardness is . The name "vesuvianite" was given by Abraham Gottlob Werner in 1795, because fine crystals of the mineral are found at Vesuvius; these are brown in color and occur in the ejected limestone blocks of Monte Somma. Several other names were applied to this species, one of which, "idocrase" by René Just Haüy in 1796, is now in common use.
A sky bluish variety known as cyprine has been reported from Franklin, New Jersey and other locations; the blue is due to impurities of copper in a complex calcium aluminum sorosilicate. Californite is a name sometimes used for jade-like vesuvianite, also known as California jade, American jade or Vesuvianite jade. Xanthite is a manganese rich variety. Wiluite is an optically positive variety from Wilui, Siberia. Idocrase is an older synonym sometimes used for gemstone-quality vesuvianite. Also, Vessonite and Vassolite are variant spellings commonly encountered in the gem trade. ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Wezuwian_(Vesuvianite)_-_Alchuri,_Shigar_Valley,_Gilgit-Baltistan,_Pakistan.jpg" caption="Vesuvianite - Alchuri, Shigar Valley, [[Gilgit-Baltistan]], Pakistan."] ::
References
Additional sources
References
- Warr, L.N.. (2021). "IMA–CNMNC approved mineral symbols". Mineralogical Magazine.
- [http://www.mindat.org/min-4223.html Mindat with location data]
- [http://rruff.geo.arizona.edu/doclib/hom/vesuvianite.pdf Handbook of Mineralogy]
- https://www.mineralienatlas.de/lexikon/index.php/MineralData?mineral=Vesuvianite Mineralienatlas
- Leonard James. Spencer
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::