Good day dear Hive community, first of all I would like to wish you all a pleasant day and hope you had a day that was full of positive experiences! In this post, I would like to bring a mineral a little closer and hope you can learn something new.
Here you can see a representative from the mineral class of silicates and germanates, which is also named zircon, which is also one of the most important sources for the element zirconium. The name originally comes from Persian and is derived from the word zargun which means gold colored and, by the way, it is one of the oldest minerals on earth and was already used in ancient times and in the 18th century, it was classified as its own mineral and in addition it can also be found on the moon. Zircon is available in many different colors such as yellow, orange, red, blue or yellow and can be traced back to the admixtures with other minerals and also the influence of radioactive and UV radiation can change the colors and the influence of strong heat can also change the colors and create brown specimens. The formation can usually be traced back to metamorphic or volcanic activities and the most important places of discovery include Norway, Belgium, Congo, USA or France and it is often found together with other minerals such as topaz, garnet or quartz. The areas of application are really diverse and it is often used for the production of ceramics or glass and due to the heat-resistant properties it is often used for the production of refractory materials and it can also be interesting to shield radioactive radiation and it is also of interest for the production of jewelry. Zirconium can also be found in Greek mythology and is associated with Hyakinthos and the mineral emerged from his blood after he was wounded by Apollo. The ancient alchemists associated zircon with the element fire in the Middle Ages and the ancient Egypt also used it for mummifications and was often mentioned in writings in ancient times.
Thank you very much for stopping by and I hope you could learn something new about this interesting topic! I captured these pictures with my Camera Sony Alpha 6000 plus 55-210 mm lens!
