A Short Study on Rare Occurrences of Apatite from the Ilimaussaq Complex, Greenland
Rarest of the rare from Greenland - apatite has only been observed in a handful of pieces over the decade+ we have been exploring Greenland. The white-light photo we took below was of a piece found one year; We did not have our UV camera so no UV photos of this piece. The 2nd piece is of a specimen collected by Howie Green (and in his collection). The apatite fluoresces a nice blue under midwave UV, really nothing under shortwave or longwave UV. The specimens found have either been in a blue sodalite matrix or in association with sorensenite. The 2nd set of photos shows apatite in association with sorensenite, white light and midwave. The 3rd set of photos show the apatite fluorescing yellow under SW (not observed in the specimens shown in the first set of photos).
Closeup of Apatite - unusual habit
Apatite on Sodalite - Midwave (Photo Howie Green)
Apatite and Sorensenite under MW (Photo M Cole)
Jan Sanderhoff in the Fluorescent Minerals Facebook group made a new discovery. Pink sorensenite and blue apatite in white light. FOV: 80x50 mm. The apatite on this piece fluoresces yellow under longwave (365nm Convoy torch). He doesn't report the fluorescence MW, but the LW response is the first we have observed from Greenland. Photos below show SW, LW, White Light and a closeup. Courtesy Jan Sanderhoffon FB.
