Chinese
Name: 螢光方鈉石 / 優伯石/ 正長岩/火焰石
English Name: Yooperlite / Syenite rock
Optical Effect:Fluorescence under UV
Chemical: Syenites comprise a slight amount of silica, incredibly big amounts of alkalies, and alumina.
Syenite:Syenite’s name comes from Syene, Egypt, the place where this type of rock was first discovered and classified by ancient Roman naturalist Pliny the Elder.Syenite is a coarse-grained intrusive igneous rock with a general composition similar to that of granite, but deficient in quartz, which, if present at all, occurs in relatively small concentrations (< 5%).
Syenite is intrusive igneous rock that basically composed of an alkali feldspar and a ferromagnesian mineral. A unique group of alkali syenites is characterized by the presence of a feldspathoid mineral inclusive of nepheline, leucite, cancrinite, or sodalite.
Hardness:5.5 - 6.0
SG:~ 2.7
Locality:Michigan
Colour:To the naked eye, they look like gray rocks, but under the UV light, the mineral composite makes the rocks glow.
Background:Recently discovered by Erik Rintamaki, Yooperlite rocks are actually Syenite rocks that are rich in fluorescent Sodalite
In 2017, Erik went out on a beach in Lake Superior with a UV light and discovered dozens of these glowing rocks. To the naked eye, they look like gray rocks, but under the UV light, the mineral composite makes the rocks glow. |