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Concept
Beryl
Summary
Beryl (ˈbɛrəl ) is a mineral composed of beryllium aluminium silicate with the chemical formula Be3Al2Si6O18. Well-known varieties of beryl include emerald and aquamarine. Naturally occurring, hexagonal crystals of beryl can be up to several meters in size, but terminated crystals are relatively rare. Pure beryl is colorless, but it is frequently tinted by impurities; possible colors are green, blue, yellow, pink, and red (the rarest). It is an ore source of beryllium.
The word beryl – beril – is borrowed, via beryl and beryllus, from Ancient Greek βήρυλλος bḗryllos, which referred to a 'precious blue-green color-of-sea-water stone'; from Prakrit veruḷiya, veḷuriya 'beryl' (compare the pseudo-Sanskritization वैडूर्य vaiḍūrya 'cat's eye; jewel; lapis lazuli', traditionally explained as '(brought) from (the city of) Vidūra'), which is ultimately of Dravidian origin, maybe from the name of Belur or Velur, a town in Karnataka, southern India. The term was later adopted for the mineral beryl more exclusively.
When the first eyeglasses were constructed in 13th-century Italy, the lenses were made of beryl (or of rock crystal) as glass could not be made clear enough. Consequently, glasses were named Brillen in German (bril in Dutch and briller in Danish).
Beryl is a common mineral, and it is widely distributed in nature. It is found most commonly in granitic pegmatites, but also occurs in mica schists, such as those of the Ural Mountains, and in limestone in Colombia. It is less common in ordinary granite and is only infrequently found in nepheline syenite. Beryl is often associated with tin and tungsten ore bodies formed as high-temperature hydrothermal veins. In granitic pegmatites, beryl is found in association with quartz, potassium feldspar, albite, muscovite, biotite, and tourmaline. Beryl is sometimes found in metasomatic contacts of igneous intrusions with gneiss, schist, or carbonate rocks. Common beryl, mined as beryllium ore, is found in small deposits in many countries, but the main producers are Russia, Brazil, and the United States.
Official source
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