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Simone Conti

Nosean on Sanidine from In den Dellen quarries, Germany

Nosean on Sanidine from the In den Dellen quarries in Germany. The overall size is about 6 x 5 x 4 cm and weights 74 g.

Under long wave the nosean is bright orange, while the sanidine is bluish white. Under short wave there is just a dim red fluorescence. Under normal light the sanidine are white opaque crystals, while the nosean “druzy” transparent tiny crystals are on top of the sanidine.

Two fluorescence spectra were measured: the first from a nosean-rich region, while the second one from a sanidine-only area. The first one shows the typical vibrionic emission of sulphur (S2-) in sodalite group minerals (group of peaks around 650nm), plus two other smaller peaks at about 440nm and 500nm. The second spectrum shows only the two smaller peaks. I think these are from the sanidine, but I do not know much about sanidine fluorescence and its activator(s). From the vibrionic emission, the maximum peak is at 643nm. According to the ebook written by Ludo Van Goethem and Axel Emmermann, this correspond to the emission of nosean (sodalite peak maximum is at 625nm, nosean at 645nm, haüyne and lazurite at 695nm). The original label said it contained haüyne, not nosean, so the label was probably wrong. Also, photos on Mindat of haüyne from this quarry show light blue crystals, while the druzy in this sample is transparent.


There is another white translucent mineral mixed with the sanidine (not fluorescent), but I don’t know what it is (as far as I know, this could be the sanidine, and the fluorescent one an unknown).

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