Amphibole Group

Hey dear community, first of all I would like to wish you all a pleasant day and hope you have a weekend full of interesting experiences! In this post, I would like to talk a little about minerals and hope you can expand your knowledge.

You can see here a mineral that also belongs to the Amphibole group and this group includes some of hundreds of minerals that are very similar in structure with the pyroxene group. The name of the group comes from the Greek and is derived from the word amphibolos which means as much as equivocal and refers to the danger of confusion with its doubles black tourmaline or epidot and in the past more mineralogists have dealt with this group and at the beginning of the 19th century, the term Amphibole appeared for the first time in writings by the French mineralogist René-Just Haüy (1743 - 1822), who found that there are more minerals that are very similar to it. Roughly, this group is divided into different subcategories which are all very similar due to the chemical composition and this is measured on the basis of the different proportions of the elements and it is important to mention that it can often contain toxic asbestos fibers and therefore collectors should always make sure to store it in sealed containers because serious health complaints can occur due to the inhalation. In the past it was even used as a material for insulation but this is no longer the case today and there are enough studies that it can lead to lung cancer and it was also used for the production of fireproof materials but was completely replaced for these purposes and enjoys great interest especially in the circles of collectors. The shape of the crystals can vary greatly and the different varieties are also very different in color from each other and there are gray, black or even red specimens and the formation can be traced back to volcanic activities but can also be metamorphic origin.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you could learn something new about minerals! I captured these pictures with my Camera Sony Alpha 6000 plus 55-210 mm lens.