Quartz Economic Importance, Forms, Mineral and Color Enhancement

A brief treatment of quartz, Quartz Economic Importance, Forms, Mineral and Color Enhancement follows. Quartz, widely distributed mineral of many varieties that consists primarily of silica, or silicon dioxide (SiO₂). Minor impurities such as lithium, sodium, potassium, and titanium may be present. Quartz has attracted attention from the earliest times; water-clear crystals were known to the ancient Greeks as krystallos—hence the name crystal, or more commonly rock crystal, applied to this variety. The name quartz is an old German word of uncertain origin first used by Georgius Agricola in 1530.

What is Quartz?

Quartz is a chemical compound consisting of one part silicon and two parts oxygen. It is silicon dioxide (SiO₂). It is the most abundant mineral found at Earth’s surface, and its unique properties make it one of the most useful natural substances.

Quartz Economic Importance

Quartz has great economic importance. Many varieties are gemstones, including amethyst, citrine, smoky quartz, and rose quartz. Sandstone, composed mainly of quartz, is an important building stone. Large amounts of quartz sand also known as silica sand are used in the manufacture of glass and ceramics and for foundry molds in metal casting. Crushed quartz is used as an abrasive in sandpaper, silica sand is employed in sandblasting, and sandstone is still used whole to make whetstones, millstones, and grindstones. Silica glass also called fused quartz is used in optics to transmit ultraviolet light. Tubing and various vessels of fused quartz have important laboratory applications, and quartz fibres are employed in extremely sensitive weighing devices.

Quartz Forms

Quartz exists in two forms: (1) alpha-, or low, quartz, which is stable up to 573 °C (1,063 °F), and (2) beta-, or high, quartz, stable above 573 °C. These two are closely related, with only small movements of their constituent atoms during the alpha-beta transition. Structure of beta-quartz is hexagonal, with either a left- or right-handed symmetry group equally populated in crystals.

The structure of alpha-quartz is trigonal, again with either a right- or left-handed symmetry group. At the transition temperature the tetrahedral framework of beta-quartz twists, resulting in the symmetry of alpha-quartz; atoms move from special space group positions to more general positions.

At temperatures above 867 °C, beta-quartz changes into tridymite, but the transformation is very slow because bond breaking takes place to form a more open structure. At very high pressures alpha-quartz transforms into coesite and, at still higher pressures, stishovite. Such phases have been observed in impact craters.

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Quartz Mineral

Quartz is one of the most well-known minerals on earth. It occurs in basically all mineral environments, and is the important constituent of many rocks. Quartz is also the most varied of all minerals, occurring in all different forms, habits, and colors. There are more variety names given to Quartz than any other mineral. Although the Feldspars as a group are more prevalent than Quartz, as an individual mineral Quartz is the most common mineral.

Quartz Color Enhancement

Some forms of Quartz, especially the gemstone forms, have their color enhanced. Almost all forms of the yellow-brown variety Citrine are in fact heat treated. Much Amethyst is also heat treated to intensify color, and a green transparent form known as Green Amethyst or Prasiolite is formed by heat treating certain types of Amethyst.

There is also a transparent sky blue form of Quartz crystals, as well as a wildly iridescent type that are synthetically colored by irradiation of gold. In some localities, Hematite forms a thin red or brown layer internally in the Quartz crystal, giving it a natural bright red to brown coloring, and sometimes even a mild natural iridescence.

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Sources

www.britannica.com/science/quartz

geology.com/minerals/quartz.shtml#:~:text=Quartz%20is%20a%20chemical%20compound,Transparent%20%22rock%20crystal%22%20quartz.