earth science

Red beryl

Red beryl is a earth science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Red beryl rather than just read about it. In short: Red beryl, formerly known as bixbite and marketed as red emerald or scarlet emerald, is an extremely rare variety of beryl as well as one of the rarest minerals on Earth. The gem gets its red color from manganese ions incorporated within the beryl crystal structure.

Key takeaways

Red beryl belongs to earth science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Red beryl to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Red beryl from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Red beryl, formerly known as bixbite and marketed as red emerald or scarlet emerald, is an extremely rare variety of beryl as well as one of the rarest minerals on Earth. The gem gets its red color from manganese ions incorporated within the beryl crystal structure. The color of red beryl is stable up to 1,000 °C (1,830 °F). Red beryl can come in various tints like strawberry, bright ruby, cherry, and orange. The largest crystals of red beryl are about 2 cm (0.79 in) wide and 5 cm (2.0 in) long. However, most crystals are under 1 cm (0.39 in) long. Recently, the red variety of pezzottaite has been sold in markets as red beryl by some sellers.

History Red beryl was discovered in 1904 by Maynard Bixby in the Thomas Range in mid-western Utah. In 1912 the gem was named bixbite by Alfred Eppler after Maynard Bixby. The old synonym "bixbite" is deprecated, since it can cause confusion with the mineral bixbyite. The greatest concentration of gem-grade red beryl comes from the Ruby-Violet Claim in the Wah Wah Mountains, discovered in 1958 by Lamar Hodges, of Fillmore, Utah, while he was prospecting for uranium. This claim was bought by Denise Knoeller as part of Red Emerald Inc. in 2020.

Rarity Red beryl is very rare and has been reported only from a handful of locations: Wah Wah Mountains, Paramount Canyon, Round Mountain and Juab County, all in the south-western United States. The narrow geographic range suggests that the specific conditions needed for its formation do not occur frequently. This gem is a thousand times rarer than gold. The Utah Geological Survey estimated that one red beryl is found for every 150,000 diamonds. According to Gemmological Association of Great Britain a 2 carat red beryl is as rare as a 40 carat diamond. Red beryl is valued roughly the same price or higher than emerald despite being a hundred times rarer. Its rarity has made it less popular but red beryl crystals that are over 1 carat can sell for US$20,000. In 2008, one carat could sell for US$5000 or more. Limited geographical occurrence means that the Red Emerald Inc controlled world production of natural red beryl as of 2021.

Characteristics The dark red color of red beryl is attributed to Mn3+ ions. Red beryl rough crystals can be easily distinguished by hexagonal crystal systems. This gem has been known to be confused with pezzottaite, a caesium analog of beryl, that has been found in Madagascar and more recently Afghanistan; cut gems of the two varieties can be distinguished from their difference in refractive index. Red beryl is similar to emerald and dissimilar to other beryls in that it has inclusions like feathers and fractures. Some mineral inclusions include quartz, feldspar, hematite, and bixbyite.

Chemistry

The hexagonal crystal system found in beryls are formed of AlO6 octahedra, as well as BeO4 and SiO4 tetrahedra. The hexagonal channels of red beryl are primarily unoccupied and no detectable water has been found within. Red beryl gets its color from natural chemical doping, whereby Mn3+O6 replaces AlO6 at certain positions. The deep color Mn3+O6 may be in part explained by the Jahn-Teller effect on spin disallowed transitions.

Formation While gem beryls are ordinarily found in pegmatites and certain metamorphic rock, red beryl forms in topaz-bearing rhyolites. It is formed by crystallizing under low pressure and high temperature from a pneumatolytic phase along fractures or within near-surface miarolitic cavities of the rhyolite. Associated minerals include bixbyite, quartz, orthoclase, topaz, spessartine, pseudobrookite and hematite. Synthetic red beryl is produced using hydrothermal process similar to that used for emeralds, however cobalt and manganese are used as dopants to produce a dark red gem.

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Red beryl

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Red beryl claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In earth science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Red beryl before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Red beryl ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Red beryl

In research: Red beryl appears in earth science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Red beryl in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Red beryl is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Beryl group, Crystals, Gemstones, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Red beryl outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Red beryl in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Red beryl means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Red beryl out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Red beryl in simple terms?

Why does Red beryl matter?

Because it connects several earth science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Red beryl?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Red beryl.