Lapis lazuli is composed primarily of the mineral lazurite, but commonly contains calcite and pyrite. The darkfield photomicrograph below illustrates a thin section of a rock containing lapis minerals photographed with a Nikon Optiphot at using a 10x objective.

The name "lapis lazuli" means blue rock and the mineral is usually found in a brilliant blue with violet or greenish tints. The rich blue color derives from sulfur-containing compounds intertwined in the crystalline lattice. This beautiful mineral was first mined in Afghanistan thousands of years ago, and is very commonly used for making jewelry in the middle east and throughout the world. The best source for lapis is the mountains in remote Afghanistan, although the mineral is also found in Chile and in smaller quantities in Russia and other countries.

BACK TO THE DARKFIELD GALLERY

Questions or comments? Send us an email.

© 1998-2022 by Michael W. Davidson and The Florida State University. All Rights Reserved. No images, graphics, scripts, or applets may be reproduced or used in any manner without permission from the copyright holders. Use of this website means you agree to all of the Legal Terms and Conditions set forth by the owners.

This website is maintained by our
Graphics & Web Programming Team
in collaboration with Optical Microscopy at the
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory.

Last modification: Friday, Nov 13, 2015 at 02:19 PM

Access Count Since June 6, 1999: 52986

For more information on microscope manufacturers,
use the buttons below to navigate to their websites: