Can iolite be submerged in water?

Have you ever noticed how beautiful late summer evenings are, when the haze of lilac twilight has already fallen to the ground, shrouding everything around in a ghostly veil of mystery? The sun has already set, and the glow of the scarlet sunset has been replaced by a yellowish glow, stretching out as an even strip on the horizon; the sky seems to stretch into one giant rainbow – the golden air turns into transparent white air, a soft blue flair flows out of it, so for a moment it seems: day not finished yet. But following the azure ribbon, sapphire-blue ink spreads across the sky, which gradually turns purple and finally comes to a thick dark velvet, on which the first stars are already scattered with diamonds. These moments are so fleeting and light, they end so quickly that you madly want to stop time and forever admire the play of colors. And merciful Nature turned out to be receptive to human desires: she created a precious stone, the play of colors no less beautiful than the rare minutes of sunset twilight. From the dossier:
Cordierite (iolite) is a mineral of the subclass of island silicates. Hardness 7,0-7,5 on the Mohs scale, density 2,58-2,7 g/cm3, perfect cleavage, transparent, glassy luster. Other names: violet stone, dichroite, false sapphire, blue jade, lynx sapphire, water sapphire, Varangian stone. This beautiful mineral was unknown for a long time – only at the beginning of the 19th century it was described by the famous scientist Pierre Louis Antoine Cordière from France. Naturally, the gem was named after its discoverer – cordierite. However, another term is much more often used in our time – iolite, a combination of the Greek words “ion” – violet, and “lithos” – stone. The very name “violet stone” directly indicates that lilac and violet types of cordierite are called iolites. There are cordierites that are completely colorless, as well as blue and light blue – they are called “water sapphires.” Deep blue cordierites are called “lynx sapphires” or “false sapphires.” There are translucent blue-violet iolites, which are cut into cabochons – in ancient times they were confused with jade, considered its blue variety. So, at first glance, cordierite gives the impression of being just another “understudy”, which, due to its similarity to amethyst, sapphire, or jade, can be used as a substitute for these famous and expensive minerals. But in reality this is not the case – cordierite has a unique property that makes it stand out from the crowd and makes it especially interesting for a connoisseur. This stone is distinguished by pleochroism, which, translated from scientific to generally accepted, means that the crystals simultaneously contain blue and yellow gamuts, and the cut stones, depending on the angle of view, cast an intense blue , sometimes grayish, sometimes lilac, sometimes colorless, sometimes golden like a twilight sky. Therefore, jewelers take great care when processing iolites: the direction of change in shades must be taken into account, otherwise the finished stone may turn out to be almost transparent; it is impossible to make dark-colored specimens too massive, otherwise the charm of color transitions is lost. In addition, iolite is quite fragile – this, coupled with its rarity and small number of defect-free natural stones, makes it an uncommon guest on jewelry counters, despite its almost mystical beauty. The largest example is a gem weighing 180 g, located in the British Museum of Natural History. Today, iolite can sometimes be found as inserts in rings, earrings or pendants. Lithotherapists recognize cordierite as an excellent remedy for nervous disorders – tension, stress, obsessions, groundless fears, neurosis, overexcitation, and even mental illness. In general, the “iolithotherapy” session looks like this: every day, after sunset, the patient should hold the stone crystal in his hand for 10-15 minutes so that electric light falls on it, and simply admire it, peering at the whimsical play of edges shining under the lamp. This action can also help improve vision. If you suffer from insomnia, then jewelry with iolite should be placed at the head of the bed – this will help you quickly immerse yourself in the arms of Morpheus and bring bright, beautiful dreams. A stone set in silver is used to transform ordinary water into a life-giving elixir: after the iolite has spent one night in a glass of water, the liquid is obviously saturated with specific minerals, which significantly invigorate, give strength and energy, and improve mood. Worn on the body, the stone heals the entire body, harmonizes the state of the body, and calms. Iolite is a good preventive measure and an assistant in the treatment of diabetes, kidney and bladder diseases, and accelerates the resorption of kidney stones. It is also useful for allergy sufferers. Energetically, cordierite spiritually cleanses, cools passions, awakens in a person the best feelings and qualities – honesty, fidelity, devotion, prudence. It enhances psychic capabilities, activates the subconscious and opens the “third eye”. Iolite is useful to wear for those who have dedicated their lives to the spiritual path – priests, healers, monks. However, it will also be useful for practicing magicians – the stone releases energy, directs it in the right direction, and increases strength. But this does not mean that jewelry with iolite cannot be worn by ordinary people – on the contrary, it is a talisman for those who dream of living their lives peacefully, in love and harmony with their family. Iolite does not allow disagreements to develop and develop into a real quarrel, maintains the fidelity of spouses, protects mutual love and tenderness for many years, and creates a cozy, light atmosphere in the house. In a way, iolite can be called the “talisman of office workers” – it ensures the favor of superiors, the sympathy of colleagues, a conflict-free and pleasant existence at work, protects against envious people, gossip and intrigue, and also brings money and material well-being. Astrologically, iolite is most suitable for Sagittarius and Air signs, but in general it is not contraindicated for anyone. The influence of cordierite – or iolite, which is essentially the same thing – may seem to some to be too weak and sluggish compared to the “talents” of other gems: neither can replace a clear day with pouring rain, nor instantly win the favor of another beauty, nor It will not be possible to build a dizzying career with its help. This means that it will not be possible to shift responsibility to the “wrong” amulet, and the result of your efforts will depend solely on you. Which, in general, is not bad – we are too accustomed to the fact that there is an endless number of large and small helpers around us, and sometimes it doesn’t hurt to apply a little more energy. And iolite will provide us with it in abundance – and at the same time with composure and calmness, which will not allow us to spin in a whirlwind of affairs, each of which, of course, will be important and urgent. Meanwhile, perhaps the most important talent of a modern person is the ability to relax and abstract, and it’s so easy to do this by taking a moment out of your busy schedule to admire the sunset fading in the sky – or at least look into the twilight depths of iolite. Several hundred kilometers below the Earth’s surface there is an ocean of water, a deep reservoir that formed already in the Archean period, more than 2,7 billion years ago. True, this ocean is unusual: it is unsuitable for swimming, navigation, or life in general, because since its inception, the water in it has been in a fossilized state, or rather, in the crystalline structure of minerals formed more than 2 billion years ago. This conclusion about the age of the fossilized ocean was reached by Russian scientists from the Institute of Geochemistry and Analytical Chemistry named after. Vernadsky of the Russian Academy of Sciences (GEOKHI RAS) with the help of colleagues from France and Germany. An article about their research, carried out with the support of a grant from the Russian Science Foundation (RSF), was published in the latest issue of the journal Nature on Thursday night Moscow time. Scientists have long suspected the existence of huge reservoirs of “fossilized” water deep underground, but the first evidence was received only recently. Two years ago An article by Canadian scientists was published in Nature, who analyzed the composition of the rare mineral ringwoodite, the inclusion of which they discovered in an ancient diamond. Ringwoodite and wadsleyite are two minerals into which the main mantle mineral olivine transforms. This occurs at depths of 410–660 km, in the so-called transition zone of the mantle, under the influence of high pressure. The peculiarity of these two minerals is their ability to concentrate many more water molecules than the original olivine. If olivine contains water in an amount of 100 g per ton, then ringwoodite and wadsleyite can collect several hundred times more.

“Diamond” ringwoodite, as the Canadians found out, contained 1,4% water. And this was clear evidence that in the transition zone of the mantle there is a huge reservoir of water, equal to several volumes of the World Ocean and collected by these minerals like sponges.

“However, it was impossible to say anything about the age of water from this diamond,” the lead author of the new work, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Alexander Sobolev, head of the laboratory of igneous and metamorphic rocks at GEOKHI, told Gazeta.Ru. “It could be 100 million years old, like the kimberlite that brought this diamond out of the depths, and several billion years old, like some African diamonds. We decided to clarify this issue and began to study a very rare type of igneous rocks – komatiites, which were formed by almost complete melting of deep mantle material only in the Archean, more than 2 billion years ago. These melts formed in hot mantle plumes that passed from the earth’s core through the transition zone. In Archean times, the Earth was much hotter than it is now, and ancient mantle plumes may have already been partially melted in the transition zone. Since water easily dissolves in the melt, mantle jets and then komatiites should have picked it up from the transition zone, if, of course, it was already there. We examined 2,7 Ga komatiite lava flows from various locations in Canada. It was pointless to study the water content in the rock; time had long ago turned it into dust, changed its composition in an unrecognizable way, so the analysis of such remains would not have yielded anything. Therefore, we began to look for komatiite melt inclusions encapsulated in olivine. When these lavas flowed to the surface, olivine, crystallizing, captured microportions of the melt and completely isolated them from the external environment. And these microportions retained their original composition, including the volatile elements contained in it. It was in these melts that we discovered the primary water content in them, and it turned out to be high.

We have thus proven that a huge reservoir of water, probably no less than the volume of the modern ocean, already existed at depths of 410–660 km at least 2,7 billion years ago.”

The work of Sobolev’s group was funded by the Russian Science Foundation: the researchers received a three-year grant “Origin of ultramafic magmas: komatiites, boninites, meimechites,” within which they were allocated 5 million rubles. annually. However, as often happens in science, the answer given gave rise to new questions. The main one concerned where so much water could come from at such impressive depths. Until now, it was believed that water got to such depths during the subduction of tectonic plates, when, during its constant drift, one plate, when meeting another, begins to sink under it – first at an angle, and then almost vertically. As the plates go down, they take with them some of the water that on the surface participated in their change. Together with the plates, the water minerals formed in them were transformed and went into the deep mantle, and there water accumulated for billions of years, becoming part of solid minerals. Today, this beautiful theory has been questioned by GEOKHI scientists: according to their calculations, too much water had accumulated in the transition zone already 2,7 billion years ago. And if, as is believed today, plate tectonics, and therefore subduction, have existed on Earth for about 3 billion years, three hundred million years is clearly not enough to accumulate such an amount.

“Perhaps the main water accumulated there at the very beginning, during the formation of the planet, but this is not a statement, but only a question still awaiting its answer,” says Alexander Sobolev.

In addition, as part of the grant, scientists were able to study komatiites discovered in South Africa, which are older than Canadian ones – their age exceeds 3,3 billion years. “We are now finishing the analysis of African samples,” says Sobolev, “and I hope that their study, the results of which we plan to publish this year, will answer the question of how so much water accumulated at such depths.”