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Chris Clemens

Pabstite, Santa Cruz, California

Pabstite is a rare barium tin titanium silicate mineral that is only found in 4 known locations worldwide: 1.) Santa Cruz, California; 2.) Baja California, Mexico; 3.) Dara-i-Pioz Glacier, Tajikistan; and 4.) Muzeinyi Valley, Kyrgyzstan. It is the tin analogue of the mineral benitoite and shows a similar bright blue/white fluorescent response under short wave UV. The specimen shown here is from the only known US occurrence, the Pacific Limestone Products Quarry (Kalkar Quarry), Santa Cruz, California. This miniature-sized specimen measures 12.5 x 10.1 x 4.7 mm.

The photograph above shows brightly fluorescent pabstite on a non-fluorescent matrix, seen under short wave UV (254nm). Under short wave UV, the pabstite shows a bright blue/white response that is very similar to that seen from the closely related mineral benitoite.

The same specimen seen under visible light.

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