Olivine: Quick Facts and Characteristics
Olivine is a silicate mineral with a general formula of (Mg,Fe) 2 SiO 4 that is abundant in Earth''s crust and mantle. It is the source of the green gemstone perid
,(Mg,Fe)₂SiO₄。,。、、。,,péridot。。。—,。
Olivine is an abundant silicate found in Earth''s mantle, and many meteorites contain this mineral. Olivine is typically olive green in color, but can also be yellow-green to bright green and brownish-green to brown. The opacity of olivine ranges from transparent to translucent, and its texture is brittle with many fractures. Olivine is commonly associated with the green gemstone peridot.
Olivine is often found in dark-colored igneous rocks found in the surface of the Earth. These rocks are often located in tectonic plates and divergent plate boundaries. Olivine has a high crystallization temperature which makes it one of the first mineralize to crystallize from the Earth''s heat. Olivine is also easily transmuted by weathering, so it is rarely found in sedimentary rocks. Olivine may be found in sediment or sand when it is dispersed close to the source. Olivine crystals are also formed during the transmutation of dolomite or a dolomitic limestone.
Olivine is a group of silicate minerals with a generalized composition of A(2)SiO(4). The composition of common olivine minerals are listed below:
Olivine is considered to be an important mineral due to its presence in the seismic waves that cross the boundary between the Earth''s crust and mantle. Olivine is also found in high levels in the pieces of oceanic crust that are pushed up onto a continent or island. Olivine has also been found in pieces of upper mantle brought to the Earth''s surface during volcanic eruptions.
Olivine does not have frequent industrial purposes, but forsterite may be used to remove impurities from steel and to force a slag. Olivine can also be used as a casting sand and to make refractory brick but easier to obtain and less expensive materials are becoming more popular. Olivine is used as the gemstone for August and are most valued in its bright lime green and dark olive tints. Olivine as a gemstone is mostly mined at the San Carlos Reservation in Arizona to create small olivine gemstones infused with chromite or other minerals. Olivine used for larger productions such as dolomitic and serpentine marble is typically mined in Myanmar and Pakistan.
Olivine has been found in stony and stony-iron meteorites that orbit near Mars and Jupiter. Olivine is also found in distinct form on the parts of a planet or asteroid near the mantle-core boundary. In 2011,a NASA telescope observed sparkling green olivine crystals falling through a cloud of gas near a developing star. It was hypothesized that air currents raised freshly crystallized specks of olivine from the surface of the star into the atmosphere to make it drop down in an effect similar to rain.
Olivine (or chrysolite) is a mineral made of magnesium iron silicate with the formula (Mg,Fe)2SiO4
It ranges in colour from chartreuse green to pale olive. In its gem form, it is called peridot.
Dunite is a rock of 90%+ olivine. Dunite and other peridotite rocks are major constituents of the Earth''s mantle above a depth of about 400 kilometers. Dunite is rarely found on land, except where slabs of mantle rock from a subduction zone have been thrust onto continental crust. Olivine has also been found at several extraterrestrial locations, such as the moon and many passing space rocks - as well as the outer layers of dust orbiting young stars.
In Finland, olivine is marketed as an ideal rock for sauna stoves because of its comparatively high density and resistance to weathering under repeated heating and cooling.
Olivine in cross-polarized light
Crystals of olivine embedded in iron, in a slice of Esquel, a pallasite meteorite
Figure 1: The atomic scale structure of olivine looking along the a axis. Oxygen is shown in red, silicon in pink, and magnesium/iron in blue. A projection of the unit cell is shown by the black rectangle.
Olivine altered to iddingsite within a mantle xenolith.
Open-pit mining at Sunnylvsfjorden, Hurtigruten ship passing.
Light green olivine crystals in peridotite xenoliths in basalt from Arizona
Bright green olivine from Pakistan, showing chisel termination and silky luster
Olivine is the name of a group of rock-forming minerals that are typically found in mafic and ultramafic igneous rocks such as basalt, gabbro, dunite, diabase, and peridotite. They are usually green in color and have compositions that typically range between Mg2SiO4 and Fe2SiO4. Many people are familiar with olivine because it is the mineral of a very popular green gemstone known as peridot.
Most olivine found at Earth''s surface is in dark-colored igneous rocks. It usually crystallizes in the presence of plagioclase and pyroxene to form gabbro or basalt. These types of rocks are most common at divergent plate boundaries and at hot spots within the centers of tectonic plates.
Olivine has a very high crystallization temperature compared to other minerals. That makes it one of the first minerals to crystallize from a magma. During the slow cooling of a magma, crystals of olivine may form and then settle to the bottom of the magma chamber because of their relatively high density. This concentrated accumulation of olivine can result in the formation of olivine-rich rocks such as dunite in the lower parts of a magma chamber.
Crystals of olivine are sometimes formed during the metamorphism of a dolomitic limestone or dolomite. The dolomite contributes magnesium, and silica is obtained from quartz and other impurities in the limestone. When olivine is metamorphosed, it is transformed into serpentine.
Olivine is one of the first minerals to be altered by weathering. Because it is so easily altered by weathering, olivine is not a common mineral in sedimentary rocks and is only an abundant constituent of sand or sediment when the deposit is very close to the source.
Olivine is the name given to a group of silicate minerals that have a generalized chemical composition of A2SiO4. In that generalized composition, "A" is usually Mg or Fe, but in unusual situations can be Ca, Mn, or Ni.
The chemical composition of most olivine falls somewhere between pure forsterite (Mg2SiO4) and pure fayalite (Fe2SiO4). In that series, Mg and Fe can substitute freely for one another in the mineral''s atomic structure - in any ratio. This type of continuous compositional variation is known as a "solid solution" and is represented in a chemical formula as (Mg,Fe)2SiO4.
The name "olivine" is used instead of "forsterite" or "fayalite" because a chemical analysis or other detailed testing is needed to determine which one is dominant - if either is dominant. The name "olivine" serves as a quick, convenient, and inexpensive way to put a name on the material. A list of the more common olivine minerals and their composition is given in the table below.
Olivine receives its name from its usual olive-green color. Many geology students remember the color of olivine by using a rhyme: "olivine is green." That rhyme is true with most classroom specimens; however, there are rare iron-rich olivines (fayalites) that are brownish in color.
Olivine is thought to be an important mineral in Earth''s mantle. Its presence as a mantle mineral has been inferred by a change in the behavior of seismic waves as they cross the Moho - the boundary between Earth''s crust and mantle.
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