Museum Collection
This specimen is part of the museum collection catalog.
Not for Sale.
Zircon
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| Classification |
Mineral |
| Tags |
No special tags. |
| Origin Location |
Unknown |
| Description |
Two small bright orange-red opaque zircon crystals. This mineral played an important role in scientific and human history, as it was theorized that Zircon could be used to measure the age of he Earth. The reason for this is that Zircon contains trace amounts of Uranium when formed, but no Lead. This allows the decay of Uranium 238 (with a half life of 4.5 Billion years), into Lead 206, to be precisely measured, similarly to carbon dating. The application of this principle led the scientist Clair Patterson to go to the very ends of the earth researching discrepancies between predicted and measured lead levels in these minerals, studying lead concentrations in the sea floor, and extracting ice cores from Greenland and Antarctica. During this work, Patterson discovered troubling information about global lead pollution, which ultimately resulted in the gradual ban of leaded gasoline, potentially saving millions of lives. |
| Luster |
Vitreous |
| Luster (Groundmass) |
Not noted, see photo. |
| Optical Phenomena |
Not noted, see photo. |
| Mineral Group / Note |
Zirconium Nesosilicate |
| Handling |
No special handling is required. |
| Modifications |
No modifications. |
| Size Group |
Thumbnail |
| Weight |
Not weighed precisely yet, please inquire. |
| Dimensions |
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| Quantity |
1 Specimen |
| Mineral List |
Zircon: Zr(SiO4)
zirconium silicon tetroxide *
* Formula chemical names are auto-generated - may be incorrect on complex formulas.
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Specimen Analysis |
Color Table
Colors found in this specimen image are shown below. Higher number indicates greater concentration of that color.
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Similarly Colored Minerals:
Minerals with similar color profiles are shown below.
How it Works
Rhodochrosite Serandite Crocoite Rhodonite / Galena Wendwilsonite Vanadinite |
Elements in this Specimen:
Elements that are part of the official chemical structure of the minerals occurring in this specimen are indicated below.
How it Works
Element List:
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Minerals with Similar Chemistry:
Minerals that are similar in terms of their chemical makeup are shown below.
How it Works
This Mineral Formula Similar Mineral Formula
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Mineral Group:
Search the catalog for minerals that share the same group as this specimen:
How it Works
Structural Group(s):
Fleischers Group(s):
zircon
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| Tools |
Edit Specimen
Search Wikipedia: Zircon (Wiki)
Search Mindat: Zircon
Search Web Mineral DB: Zircon
Search for Handbook of Mineralogy: Zircon
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