Tourmaline

tourmaline, borosilicate mineral of complex and variable composition. Three types of tourmaline, distinguished by the predominance of certain elements, are usually recognized: iron tourmaline (schorl), black in colour; magnesium tourmaline (dravite), brown; and alkali tourmaline, which may be pink (rubellite), green (Brazilian emerald), or colourless (achroite). Some crystals are pink at one end and green at the other; concentric colour zoning may also occur. The coloured varieties, when transparent and free from flaws, are cut as gems.

Tourmaline is very abundant and has the best-developed crystals in pegmatites and in metamorphosed limestones in contact with granitic magmas. Because tourmaline is resistant to weathering, it accumulates in detrital deposits and is a common accessory mineral in sedimentary rocks. Gem-quality pegmatites are found in the United States (southern California and Maine), Brazil, and Madagascar.

In addition to its use as a gem, tourmaline is employed in pressure devices because of its piezoelectric properties—that is, its ability to generate electric charge under mechanical stress or its change in shape when voltage is applied. It has been used in depth-sounding apparatus and other devices that detect and measure variations in pressure.

Coloured crystals of tourmaline are very strongly dichroic—that is, they are of different colour when viewed in the direction of different axes; the ordinary ray is almost completely absorbed. Plates cut parallel to the vertical axis of a tourmaline crystal allow only the extraordinary ray through; if two such plates are placed in crossed position, the light is entirely blocked. A pair of these plates form a very simple polarizing apparatus known as tourmaline tongs.