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Identification and paragenesis Olivine is usually named for its typically olive-green color (thought to be a result of traces of nickel), though it may alter to a reddish color from the oxidation of iron. It has a conchoidal fracture and is rather brittle. The hardness of olivine is 6.5–7, its relative density is 3.27–3.37, and it has a vitreous luster. It is transparent to translucent. Transparent olivine is sometimes used as a gemstone called peridot, the French word for olivine. It is also called chrysolite, from the Greek words for gold and stone. Some of the finest gem-quality olivine has been obtained from a body of mantle rocks on Zabargad island in the Red Sea. Olivine occurs in both mafic and ultramafic igneous rocks and as a primary mineral in certain metamorphic rocks. Mg-rich olivine crystallizes from magma that is rich in magnesium and low in silica. That magma crystallizes to mafic rocks such as gabbro and basalt. Ultramafic rocks such as peridotite, and dunite can be residues left after extraction of magmas, and typically they are more enriched in olivine after extraction of partial melts. Olivine, or high pressure structural variants, constitute over 50% of the Earth's upper mantle, making it one of the Earth's most common minerals by volume. The metamorphism of impure dolomite or other sedimentary rocks with high magnesium and low silica content also produces Mg-rich olivine, or forsterite. Fe-rich olivine is relatively much less common, but it occurs in igneous rocks in small amounts in rare granites and rhyolites, and extremely Fe-rich olivine can exist stably with quartz and tridymite. In contrast, Mg-rich olivine does not occur stably with silica minerals, as it would react with them to form orthopyroxene ((Mg,Fe)2Si2O6). Mg-rich olivine has also been discovered in meteorites, on Mars, and on Earth's moon. The spectral signature of olivine has been seen in the dust disks around young stars. The tails of comets (which formed from the dust disk around the young Sun) often have the spectral signature of olivine, and the presence of olivine has recently been verified in samples of a comet from the Stardust spacecraft. Crystal structure
High pressure polymorphs and phase diagram At the high temperatures and pressures found at depth within the Earth the olivine structure is no longer stable. Below depths of about 410 km olivine undergoes a phase transition to the sorosilicate wadsleyite and at about 520 km depth wadsleyite transforms into ringwoodite which has the spinel structure. These phase transitions lead to a discontinuous increase in the density of the Earth's mantle that can be observed by seismic methods. The pressure at which these phase transitions occur depends on temperature and iron content (Deer et al. 1992). At 800 °C the pure magnesium end member, forsterite, transforms to wadsleyite at 11.8 gigapascals (118 kbar) and to ringwoodite at pressures above 14 GPa (140 kbar). Increasing the iron content decreases the pressure of the phase transition and narrows the wadsleyite stability field. At about 0.8 mole fraction fayalite, olivine transforms directly to ringwoodite over the pressure range 10–11.5 GPa (100–115 kbar). Fayalite transforms to Fe2SiO4 spinel at pressures below 5 GPa (50 kbar). Increasing the temperature increases the pressure of these phase transitions. Historical and mythical uses According to Rebbenu Bachya, the word "Tarshish" in the verse Exodus 28:20 means "Chrysolite" and was the stone on the Ephod representing the tribe of Asher. See also Notes | ||||||||||||
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