QUARTZ CRYSTAL

Mineral characteristic.

Quartz - silicon dioxide, is one of the most common minerals on our planet. Quartz is a hard, scratch his crystal glass (but it is inferior to the hardness of corundum, topaz and diamonds). The origin of the term "crystal" is not entirely clear.

All the many varieties of quartz can be divided into crystal - rock crystal, smoky quartz, Morion, amethyst, citrine, rose quartz, prase, cat's eye, etc.-and cryptocrystalline - chalcedony: chrysoprase, cornelian, carnelian, Sarder, sapphirine, plasma, . heliotrope, flint, agate, onyx, etc. in addition, the jewelry used rocks consisting mainly of quartz - and jasper quartzite. Melted by volcanic processes, amorphous silica known as volcanic glass (obsidian). Quartz also forms opals and silicon.

Quartz and its varieties have long been used by man for practical purposes. On the ancient sites of primitive man, belonging to the Mesolithic (. 8-12 thousand years ago), I found all sorts of tools and hunting of flint, as well as hard quartz-bearing rock - jasper and quartzite. Since ancient times believed that certain stones can affect the fate, and that quartz crystals were the first and most ancient magical stones man. Crystals cover the full range of magical properties for all occasions for all zodiac signs.

Pure quartz is colorless and transparent like water. It represents silica - SiO2 with possible impurities and internal features of the structure. Single quartz crystals have six sides and a pointed tip of the pyramid. The most typical silica impurities - iron and aluminum compounds. Quartz takes many guises, forming a large group of minerals. There are arrays of fused crystals (pink, gray quartz). There are transparent crystals of rock crystal and yellow citrine, smoky rauhkvartsa, morion of black and purple amethyst. Sometimes milk quartz, rose quartz and blue. Green and brown quartz with impurities forms one of the varieties of aventurine. Quartz crystals can contain fine crystals of rutile and tourmaline (quartz-Nematomorpha). An interesting variant of quartz are cat, falcon and tiger's eye (associated with other minerals).

Quartz crystals are often saturate other rock, forming cracks and geodes (cavities). Weight Friends (splices) quartz crystals may reach several tons. In this series, especially isolated purple amethyst quartz. Unlike amethyst it has opaque and white concentric circles, the so-called growth zones. Crystals often ennoble annealing to produce golden, yellow and orange-brown shades. Crystals are irradiated to produce a deep purple color. Quartz artificially synthesized and used for various purposes.

Quartz is resistant to chemical attack, they do not respond to conventional strong acids, dissolved in hydrofluoric acid only. Alkalis and virtually no effect on the quartz. Quartz melting temperature of 1570 ^o C Today, very often you can find in the sale of synthetic quartz, which at a price comparable to the natural and issued for him. Most often it is the large beads, balls or magic crystals. They may even contain cracks or inclusions of air bubbles.

Bubbles in natural crystals typically form in areas where larger and smaller crystal naros suppressed over it, as if they are repeated a certain surface. The bubbles are formed even where there is a strong flow of feed material (distributed in the volume, as if frozen stream). Light curtains are formed in places of dense junction (fusion) of parallel crystals (they give shine inside). Cracks formed during abrupt temperature changes during crystallization, they, too, are not accidental (go to the places the greatest stress within the crystal). The random places nothing is formed, the crystals reject from a large part of the impurities. Disordered individual small or large vesicles often talk about synthetics.

The magical properties of stones.

It is also possible to push the water on quartz. It is believed that this water has on the human body healing and stimulating effect. It is not surprising that this is so. After all, the nature of life-giving water springs too often passes through the quartz layers. quartz properties depend on the specific variety. It is known that all quartz cleaners are ideal spaces. Crystals are very popular. make magic balls and ornaments made of quartz.