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Gemstones have been found in Greenland, including diamond, ruby, sapphire, kornerupine, tugtupite, lapis lazuli, amazonite, peridot, quartz, spinel, topaz, and tourmaline.〔Thirangoon, 2009〕 Most of Greenland's ruby and sapphire occurrences are located near the village of Fiskenaesset/Qeqertarsuatsiaat on the southwest coast. A total of 31 ruby and sapphire occurrences have been confirmed in the Fiskenaesset/Qeqertarsuatsiaat district. One of these occurrences, Aappaluttoq, is being developed for a potential mining operation. When European scientists first arrived in Greenland over 200 years ago to study the geology, they encountered native Kalaallit (Greenlandic Inuit) people who were already familiar with the red gemstone ruby.〔Giesecke, 1833〕 The native inhabitants continued to assist the European explorers with their ruby exploration, leading them to some half dozen locations, spread out for over a hundred miles along the southwest shores of Greenland, known as the Kitaa Coast.〔Boggild, 1953〕 ==Gemmology== Ruby and pink sapphire are the red and pink varieties of the mineral corundum, an aluminum-oxide mineral Al2O3. The pink/red colour is formed in corundum by adding the element chromium to its crystal structure. Spectroscopy of rubies from the Aappaluttoq occurrence in Greenland confirm the presence of chromium as well as showing absorption in the UV region indicating high Fe (iron) content.〔Thirangoon, 2009〕 Characteristics reported in Thirangoon, 2009, include: * most of the crystals examined contained bohmite or kaolinite crystals. The presence of these minerals indicates the samples were not heat treated. * laser ablation studies confirm the presence of trace elements Ti, V, Cr, Fe, and Ga, which are similar to rubies from other sources. Aappaluttoq samples contained high Fe, low V, and low Ga content. Chromium content varied widely depending on the colour of the samples, ranging from light pink to dark red. * population-field plotting of trace elements shows a good separation of Aappaluttoq rubies from many other sources. * inclusions (identified by Raman spectrometry) noted in the sample suite examined include: bohmite, catapleiite, chlorite, cordierite, corundum, cosalite, dolomite, feldspar, magnesite, margarite, mica, pargasite, pyroxene, rutile, sapphirine, and sillimanite. Other inclusions observed included iridescent fine needle-like inclusions (possibly rutile), clouds of reflective thin films, and iridescent platelets. Many samples showed lamellar twinning. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Gemstone industry in Greenland」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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