In geology and mineralogy, a mineral variety is a subset of a mineral species or mineraloid with some special characteristic, such as specific impurities or structural defects.[1] For example, amethyst is a variety of quartz with a purple tinge due in part to iron impurities.
Mineral varieties can be further subdivided into sub-varieties.[1]
Unlike mineral species, mineral varieties are not defined or named by the International Mineralogical Association (IMA).
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b A. S.Povarennykh (1972): "The Mineral Species as a Basic Concept of Mineralogy", pages 79-80. In: Crystal Chemical Classification of Minerals, Springer doi:10.1007/978-1-4684-1743-2_3 ISBN 978-1-4684-1745-6
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