Heliotrope (mineral)

Heliotrope ( tumbled stone ).

The sprinkles of iron oxide once symbolized the drops of Christ's blood .

As heliotrope (from Greek Ἥλιος "sun" and τροπή "turn, turn," meaning "sun turner") or Blutjaspis one is variety of chalcedony called.

Heliotrope is light to dark green in color with red speckles. The green color is caused by the inclusion of hornblende , the red speckles by iron oxide . Since it, like chalcedony, is microcrystalline, it is found exclusively in the form of massive, translucent to opaque aggregates . Important sites include Australia , Brazil , the People's Republic of China , India and the USA . There is also an outcrop of the stone on the Isle of Rum in Scotland. where the engl. Mineral called Bloodstone makes up about 50% of the flint industry .

Heliotrope is due to its vivid color play a prized gem and is depending on the quality drum stones , Cabochonen or panel stones gems processed.

The synonym blood jasper is often used in trade, but strictly speaking it is a misnomer, as heliotrope, unlike jasper, has a radial structure. However, the caking into spherical aggregates simulates the granular structure of the jasper.

The English synonym bloodstone is often misleadingly translated as blood stone . However, the German synonym blood stone denotes the hematite .

According to medieval church beliefs, the stone was said to contain the drops of Christ's blood.

See also

• Systematics of the minerals
• List of minerals
• List of mineral jewelry and precious stones

literature

• Stefan Weiß: The large Lapis mineral directory . 4th edition. Christian Weise Verlag, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-921656-17-6 .

Web links

Commons : Heliotrope  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• mindat - Bloodstone (English, with list of localities)