Odontolite
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About Odontolite
Name:
From the root word for tooth in allusion to its occurrence as a replacement in fossil teeth.
Much Odontolite, or "Occidental Turquoise" is fossilized bone or teeth consisting of microcrystalline apatite.
It is frequently mis-identified as turquoise, and the majority (if not all) of "turquoise replacements" of fossils are likely to be odontolite rather than turquoise.
Originally thought to be coloured by vivianite, or perhaps by copper salts, recent research has suggested that the original material was fossilized mastodon ivory found in Miocene geological layers next to the Pyrenean chain, France - which had been heated to induce the blue colour change.
The original material is almost entirely fluorapatite, with traces of Fe, Mn, Ba and U. Odontolite owes its turquoise-blue color to Mn5+ ions in a distorted tetrahedral environment of four O2– ions (Reiche et al., 2001).
Visit gemdat.org for gemological information about Odontolite.
It is frequently mis-identified as turquoise, and the majority (if not all) of "turquoise replacements" of fossils are likely to be odontolite rather than turquoise.
Originally thought to be coloured by vivianite, or perhaps by copper salts, recent research has suggested that the original material was fossilized mastodon ivory found in Miocene geological layers next to the Pyrenean chain, France - which had been heated to induce the blue colour change.
The original material is almost entirely fluorapatite, with traces of Fe, Mn, Ba and U. Odontolite owes its turquoise-blue color to Mn5+ ions in a distorted tetrahedral environment of four O2– ions (Reiche et al., 2001).
Visit gemdat.org for gemological information about Odontolite.Unique Identifiers
Mindat ID:
32412
Long-form identifier:
mindat:1:1:32412:8
Synonyms of Odontolite
Other Language Names for Odontolite
French:Turquoise de nouvelle roche
Other Information
Health Risks:
No information on health risks for this material has been entered into the database. You should always treat mineral specimens with care.
Internet Links for Odontolite
mindat.org URL:
https://www.mindat.org/min-32412.html
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References for Odontolite
Reference List:
Reiche, Ina, Vignaud, Colette, Champagnon, Bernard, Panczer, Gérard, Brouder, Christian, Morin, Guillaume, Solé, Vicente Armando, Charlet, Laurent, Menu, Michel (2001) From mastodon ivory to gemstone: The origin of turquoise color in odontolite. American Mineralogist, 86 (11) 1519-1524 doi:10.2138/am-2001-11-1221
Localities for Odontolite
Showing 3 localities.
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The Locality List
- This locality has map coordinates listed.
- This locality has estimated coordinates.
ⓘ - Click for references and further information on this occurrence.
? - Indicates mineral may be doubtful at this locality.
- Good crystals or important locality for species.
- World class for species or very significant.
(TL) - Type Locality for a valid mineral species.
(FRL) - First Recorded Locality for everything else (eg varieties).
All localities listed without proper references should be considered as questionable.
Bolivia | |
| Petrov (n.d.) |
France | |
| Specimen in Natural History Museum |
USA | |
| Rick Dalrymple Collection |
Yarvicoya mine, Yarvicoya, Tapacari Province, Cochabamba, Bolivia