Azul Imperial
Azul Imperial is the trade name of a stone from Brazil . In the geological sense it is a quartzite . Azul Imperial is a metamorphite , a transformed rock.
Origin, location and composition
This natural stone was created from a former quartz-rich sandstone massif, which under heat and pressure transformed into a new rock, a quartzite, with completely different technical properties. The age of its deposit is estimated to be around 1.2 billion years and it is classified in the Espinaço (Precambrian) stratigraphic group. The extraction sites are located west of the village of Boquira in the Brazilian Serra da Vereda landscape (Bahia state). The deposit of Azul Imperial is part of the mountain range that extends from the southwest near Macaúbas to the north, in which numerous quarries of the very famous Azul do Macaubas are located.
The deposit conditions of the Azul Imperial between Boquira and Macaúbas are characterized by a variety of related and other rocks. For example, chlorite slate, biotitic mica slate, iron-shed quartzite , also itabirite , amphibolite , dolomite and conglomerates of differentiated composition occur.
It is not the mineral dumortierite that is responsible for its blue color , but kyanite . Kyanite is an aluminum silicate and occurs in Azul Imperial with a share of 5 to 8 percent. Other accompanying minerals ensure an amazing variety of colors in the rock.
Properties and use
Azul Imperial has a green-blue wavy structure and is often confused with another quartzite from Brazil, the Azul do Macaubas. Quartzites are stones that are characterized by high abrasion resistance and this natural stone is particularly suitable for floor coverings , kitchen worktops and facades . There is no discoloration problem with Azul Imperial, as is the case with the blue types of natural stone that contain the mineral sodalite .
literature
- Karlfried Fuchs: Natural stones from all over the world, discover, determine, use. Callwey, Munich 1997
Individual proof
- ↑ Karlfried Fuchs: Natursteine, p. 144 (see literature)