Monday 11 July 2016

DESKTOP 1077 - AZURITE

Azurite is a soft, deep blue copper mineral produced by weathering of copper ore deposits. It is also known as Chessylite after the type locality at Chessy-les-Mines near Lyon, France. The mineral, a carbonate, has been known since ancient times, and was mentioned in Pliny the Elder's Natural History under the Greek name kuanos (κυανός: "deep blue," root of English cyan) and the Latin name caeruleum.

The blue of azurite is exceptionally deep and clear, and for that reason the mineral has tended to be associated since antiquity with the deep blue color of low-humidity desert and winter skies. The modern English name of the mineral reflects this association, since both azurite and azure are derived via Arabic from the Persian lazhward (لاژورد), an area known for its deposits of another deep blue stone, lapis lazuli ("stone of azure").

This post is part of the Blue Monday meme,
and also part of the Macro Monday meme,
and also part of the Through my Lens meme.

2 comments:

  1. Looks like a blue x-ray of your body.

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  2. Hi Nick, Thank you for joining Blue Monday in spite of the problems I was having. It should not happen again.

    Your blue is so intriguing and the explanation of how it is such a deep blue is very interesting. I smiled at LV's comment. She is such a sweetie.

    Happy Blue Monday and have a great week.
    Jeanne

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