Aquamarine

Transcript:

Sarah: So we're outside of our volcano again, but now down below a different section of the volcano, we're going to find a new structure. So I'm going to head down here, and it's super far down so we do have a nice elevator that we can take. 

Kim: Oh, that's handy. That's great. 

Sarah: All right. And we've got more really hot water down here, and some interesting things. I've actually got two things I want to look at, and this is the first one. So we can see we can see the pegmatite again, and then inside the pegmatite, we have aquamarine. And we've got a little slide of it too. So there is our ROM samples, and then there is what it looks like in Minecraft. So, anything that you want to tell our friends about aquamarine? 

Kim: Sure. So aquamarine is a beautiful gemstone, it is always that foam green color, and I think you've done an excellent job in replicating it throughout the world here. Aquamarine is the gem variety, so it always is very clear and you can see through it, and it's cut into beautiful gemstones because it is a very, very, hard material, and it's just one of those colors that really catches your eyes. 

Sarah: And when we were building this, it was really important that we got it inside the pegmatite, that was one of Veronica's really important notes. Is there anything that you want to say about that? 

Kim: Yes, so aquamarine definitely occurs in pegmatites, and that's why they get so large. We have some really great examples of these large gemstones in our collection at the ROM, and makes them into these beautiful large gemstone, so that is some place that they do form, for sure.

Collections Database Info

Within the game, "prismarine" is a mineral that closely resembles beryl variety aquamarine. The colour shifts from very blue to blue-green like the colours of the water it is associated with in the game. On Earth, beryl is formed in igneous intrusive environments(pegmatites), metamorphic environments or in veins or cavities associated with hydrothermal activity (super-heated water). Beryl variety aquamarine is used primarily as gem material.