OPTICAL MINERALOGY

 study of the interaction of light with minerals

 most commonly limited to visible light and usually further limited to the non-opaque minerals
 opaque minerals commonly studied in reflected light (study is generally called ore microscopy)
 most general application of optical mineralogy is to aid in the identification of minerals, either in rock
thin sections or individual mineral grains
Polished thin section of opaque minerals best examined thru reflected light. Accomplished by attaching vertical
illuminator
Polarizing microscope
 used extensively to examine transparent minerals, fragments, grains and small crystals, as well as thin
sections of minerals, rocks and other crystalline aggregates
 particularly useful in the determination of the optical properties of individual crystals or aggregates
and in the interpretations of textures, structures, growth patterns, and various relationship of natural
or artificial substance.
Other types:
1. Phase microscope – useful in distinguishing minute obscure particles

Distinctive features of a Polarizing Microscope:

1. polarizer
2. analyzer
3. rotating stage
4. Amici-Bertrand lens – brought image to the plane of the diaphragm
5. accessories
 mica plate – cut to such thickness that it increases or decreases retardation of a section by
about 1/4λ (sodium light)
 gypsum plate
 quartz wedge – ground to produce interference colors from the beginning of the first to the
end of the third or fourth order. Equals 0.009
 compensator
Iris diaphragm – regulates the light entering the microscope
condenser – cut the area of light to equal the source field eliminating glare
 Schematic view of a polarizing light microscope (PLM).
Light travels along the optic axis from the light source into the substage lens system, in which either
orthoscopic or conoscopic light rays exit onto the sample placed on the rotatable stage. There is an E-W
polarizer below the stage and a removable N-S polarizer above.
Definition of terms:
Anisotropic - a mineral with more than one principal refractive index.
Birefringence - mathematical difference between the largest and smallest refractive index for an anisotropic
mineral.
biaxial mineral - with three principal refractive indices and two optic axes. Its indicatrix is a triaxial ellipsoid.
Dispersion - change of any optical property with wavelength.
Indicatrix - the three-dimensional surface describing the variation in refractive index with relationship to
vibration direction of incident light.
Isotropic mineral - mineral with the same refractive index regardless of vibration direction. Its indicatrix is a
sphere.
optical class - one of five possible classes (different indicatrices) to which a mineral can belong: isotropic,
uniaxial, +/-, or biaxial +/-.
optical orientation - the relationship between a mineral's crystallographic axes and optical indicatrix.
Pleochroism - the property of exhibiting different colors as a function of the vibration direction.
principal refractive index - for isotropic minerals -n, for uniaxial minerals – e and w, for biaxial minerals - a, b,
and g.
uniaxial mineral - with two principal refractive indices and one optic axis. Its indicatrix is a prolate or oblate
ellipsoid.
Orthoscopic observation – realistic virtual image with a flat field
Conoscopic observation – yields interference figures which represent an optical pattern caused by the
behavior of light in individual crystal
Phase – the relative position of corresponding points on different waves moving along the same line.
3 important fields:
1. image
2. object
3. source
Reflectivity of opaque minerals
Methods:
1. slit microphotometer
2. controlled photometer
Adjustment of Polarizing Microscope
1. Centering the stage with the field – centered when axis of rotation coincides with the tube axis, the
tube axis standing perpendicular to the center of the field of view
2. Crossing the polars – at right angles to each other by rotating it in the substage collar until the field
becomes dark, with both polars in the path of light
3. Testing the cross hairs – hair lines must be parallel to the planes of vibration of the two polars.
Natrolite can be used. Dark between crossed polars when edges of crystals are parallel to the
vibration directions. In 45º intermediate positions, natrolite shows maximum illumination. Natrolite
can be substituted by any crystalline material with straight-line edges and parallel extinction.
4. Determining the vibration plane of the lower polar – using either fibrous tourmaline fragments or a
rock section containing biotite showing cleavage.
Three types of samples commonly studied on the PLM in geology
1. Powders of minerals in the size range of 0.07 to 0.15 mm for use in the immersion method.
2. Single crystals of minerals approximately 0.03 to 3.0 mm for use on the spindle stage.
3. Rock thin sections, prepared by cutting, grinding, and polishing a slab of rock mounted on a
microscope slide to a thickness of 0.03 mm. Thin sections are by far the most common use of optical
mineralogy in geology. They are used by petrologists to identify the minerals present, their textural
relationships, to classify the rocks, and to locate minerals for microprobe analysis.
Theories of Light:
1. Corpuscular Theory – beam of light consists of a stream of minute particles, or photons, given off at
high velocity by a luminous body that travel through space in straight lines and eventually reach the
eye.
2. Wave Theory – advanced by Dutch scientist Christian Huygens which considered light to be
transmitted by the vibration of particle in the waves. The phenomena of light such as reflection,
refraction, diffraction and interference may be readily explained in accordance with this theory.
3. Electromagnetic Theory – proposed by Scottish physicist James Clerk Maxwell (1873) who
considered light as made up of waves but said that waves are electromagnetic. A wave consists of
rapidly alternating electric and magnetic fields normal to each other and normal to the direction of
propagation of light.
4. Quantum Theory – by Planck, assuming that radiating oscillators in a black body radiate energy
discontinuously in units called quanta.
Nomenclature of Wave Motion:
1. Displacement – may represent a curve combining movement around a circle with motion along a
straight line.
2. Vibration direction – lies in the wavefront and is perpendicular to the ray in isotropic media. In
anisotropic media, it is only perpendicular in limited directions.
3. Wavelength – distance between two successive crests or troughs, or any corresponding distance
along the wave.
4. Wavefront – surface determined at a given instant by all parts of a system of waves traveling along
the same direction and in the same phase. In anisotropic, wavefront is perpendicular only in certain
directions.
5. Wave normal – direction perpendicular to the wavefront. In isotropic, the wave normal and ray
direction are the same. In anisotropic, they differ aside from certain directions.
6. Frequency- number of vibrations in a given unit of time.
7. Amplitude – maximum displacement of a wave from the line of transmission
8. Period – time interval necessary for a wave to undergo a complete oscillation
9. Crest – point of the wave with the maximum upward displacement
 10. Trough - point of the wave with the greatest downward displacement
11. Beam – a group of light waves following along a sample path
12. Ray – straight-line path followed by light in moving from one point to another
13. Refractive index – equal to the ratio of the wave-normal velocity in a vacuum to the wave-normal
velocity in the medium whether isotropic or anisotrophic.
14. Monochromatic light – light of a single wavelength
15. Light vector – lies parallel to the plane of the wavefront. In isotropic, perpendicular to the direction
of the propagation. In anisotropic, still parallel but not perpendicular to the direction of the
propagation.
Types of Vector:
1. electric – measures the electrical displacement
2. magnetic – measures the magnetic displacement or induction.
Speed of light – 186,284 miles per second
White light – combination of all the different wavelengths visible to the eye. Maybe considered composed of
seven different colors.
Colors of Spectrum:
1. Red 700 mµ (620-770 nm)
2. Orange 620 mµ (592-620 nm)
3. Yellow 560 mµ (578-592 nm)
4. Green 515 mµ (500-578 nm)
5. Blue 470 mµ (464-500 nm)
6. Indigo 440 mµ (446-464 nm)
7. Violet 410 mµ (390-446 nm)
Visible light commonly is referred to as 400-700 nm
Polarization of light:
1. by reflection from a polished surfaces
2. repeated refraction at an angle through several plates of thin glass
3. by absorption by certain crystals such as tourmaline
4. by cleavages or prisms of optical calcite
4 types of Polarized Light
1. random
2. plane
3. circular
4. elliptical
Direction of the Vibration of Slow or Fast Rays
The two rays have different indeces of refraction:
1. the one with the greater index being the slow ray
2. and the one with the lesser index the fast ray
The determination is determined between crossed polars, the location of the two rays being established by
observing the position of the extinction
 when the mineral becomes dark, the vibration directions of the two rays are parallel to the planes of
vibration of the nicol prisms. Since the planes of vibration of the polars are parallel to the cross hairs
in the ocular, the vibration planes in the mineral will also be parallel to the cross hairs when in the
extinction position.
If the order of color increases, the parallel direction is the slow-ray vibration direction of the mineral. If
it decreases, the direction represents the fast ray.
A mica plate or gypsum plate is used to tell which of the two rays is fast and which is slow. When the
positions of the vibration directions of the rays are ascertained, the mineral is turned from extinction to the
position of maximum interference. Next either the gypsum or the mica plate is inserted in the tube of the
microscope with the slow-ray vibration direction of the mineral. If it decreases, the direction represents the
fast ray. One direction being known, the other is the opposite.
Extinction – dark between crossed polars
1. Parallel – cleavage parallel to the vibration direction of the polars
2. Inclined – cleavage or boundaries lie at oblique angles to the plane of vibration of the two polars
3. Symmetrical – plane of vibration of polars are parallel to the diagonals of the rhombic patterns.

Elongation
 crystal grains develop with an elongated habit and straight edges
 may have a lathlike shape under the microscope, may resemble small needles, may occur in long
crystals, or may show several other shapes of similar development
 when such crystals are anisotropic, it is possible to determine the fast and slow-ray vibration
directions with one of the marked accessory plates
a. in case the vibration direction of the slow ray of the crystal is parallel to the long direction,
the mineral is said to have positive elongation
b. when the vibration direction of the slow ray lies across the crystal in the short direction, the
mineral has negative elongation
c. terms may be stated briefly as length-slow and length-fast, length-slow indicating that the
vibration direction of the slow ray is parallel to the length of the crystal, and the length-fast
indicating the parallelism of the vibration direction of the fast ray.
Convergent Polarized Light
When a convergent lens is inserted just below the microscope stage, a cone of light passes through a mineral
plate expanding in different directions to different points in the field of view. When the mineral is
birefringent and crossed polars are used, an interference figure is ordinarily observed. Interference figures
are either uniaxial or biaxial.

 minerals crystallizing in the hexagonal and tetragonal crystal systems yield uniaxial figures
 those crystallizing in orthorhombic, monoclinic, and triclinic systems yield biaxial figures.
Color and Pleochroism
Color when present is a distinctive feature.
 Deeply colored minerals are most likely to be colored in thin sections.
 Isotropic minerals yield no color change as the mineral is rotated.
 Anisotropic minerals exhibit a change in color in varying degrees as the stage is rotated. The change
produced is known as pleochroism.
Hexagonal or tetragonal colored minerals are dichroic – i.e. the pleochroic coloring of minerals in these two
crystal systems as exhibited with the polarizer is twofold.
Orthorhombic, monoclinic, and triclinic minerals, when colored in thin section, exhibit three different colors
and are trichroic.
Form or Aggregation
Many minerals assume a peculiar development with surprising consistency. Such a tendency in the case of
individual crystal may be described as habit. Aggregation refers to the grouping of either a few or numerous
small crystals.
Incipient crystallization – development of minerals hindered by the viscosity of the inclosing fluid during the
period of crystallization, largely because of rapid cooling.
Special names applied to various forms of incipient crystallization:
1. Trichites – curved streaks of embryonic crystals in glass.
2. Margarites – long streaks of globular forms resembling portions of strings of seed pearls in curved or
straight lines
3. Longulites –
REFRACTIVE INDEX AND ITS MEASUREMENT
Refractive index
The refractive index (n) is a physical property of a mineral mathematically defined as:
n = vv / vm eq. [1]
where, n = refractive index of mineral
vv = velocity of light in a vacuum
vm = velocity of light in the mineral
There are three important points gained from an examination of Equation 1.
(1) The refractive index of a vacuum is 1.0.
(2) Refractive index is a unitless number.
(3) Because the velocity of light cannot exceed that in a vacuum (3x108 m/s), the refractive index of any
material is greater than 1.
Light refraction
Geometrically, light travels through a crystal with the incident and transmitting rays following Snell's Law,
mathematically written:
ni sin( i) = nt sin( t) eq.[2]
where,
ni = refractive index of incident media
nt = refractive index of transmitting media
qi = angle of incidence
qt = angle of transmission or refraction
Much of the science of physical optics and ray tracing is based on this formula. By analyzing Equation 2
the following are noted.
(1) Any ray at normal incidence onto a material of different refractive index will be transmitted without
any deviation (ray 1, Figure 3).
(2) When both the incident and transmitting media have the same refractive index, the incident and
transmitting angles are equal.
 (3) For the general case, when the angle of incident is not 0° and the refractive indices for the two
materials are unequal, the ray is refracted and the angle of refraction can be found from Equation 2
(ray 2, Figure 3).
(4) There is some angle at which an incident ray is refracted at 90°; this is termed total refraction and
used in refractometery to determine the refractive index of an unknown (ray 3, Figure 3).

Figure 3. Ray paths illustrating reflection and refraction. Rays 1, 2, 3

are incident from the lower left and each ray has a reflected and
refracted portion. The angle of reflection is equal to the angle of
incidence (qi). The angle of refraction, or transmittance (qt), can
be found by application of Snell's Law. Ray 3 shows the case of
total internal reflection when qt = 90°.
The angle at which total refraction occurs is called the critical angle.
Every incident ray, before the critical angle is reached, has a reflected as well as a transmitted portion. For
the reflected component, the angle of reflection is equal to the angle of incidence. For both rays the
intensities and polarization properties can also be calculated (Gunter, 1989). Snell's Law is obeyed by all
isotropic materials; however, it is not obeyed for random orientations in anisotropic materials.

The rainbow, created from drops of rain, or a glass prism are familiar examples of dispersion. The refractive
index of water, or glass, decreases with wavelength (like the curves in Figure 4). White light is composed of
the different wavelengths of light, and each wavelength possesses a different refractive index. Application of
Snell's Law (Equation 2) shows that a different angle of refraction occurs for different colors of light. Thus,
because of dispersion and geometrical optics from Snell's Law, the colors of the rainbow are easily
understood.
 Red light, with the lowest refractive index, is refracted the least and occurs on the outside of the
rainbow.
 Violet light, with the highest refractive index, is refracted the most and occurs on the inside of the
rainbow.
Measurement of refractive index
 two general methods to measure the refractive index of transparent compounds:
1. a direct measurement of the angle of refraction as found in Snell's Law or
routinely used to determine the refractive index of liquids and larger solid samples
(greater than 1 mm)
2. a comparison of the unknown material's refractive index to a known.
 normally used to determine the refractive indices of smaller samples (less than 1
mm)
developed early in this century and has become known as the immersion method.
In this method a solid sample of unknown refractive index is placed into a liquid of
known refractive index
By microscopic observations, the liquid is "adjusted" until its refractive index
matches that of the solid, thus determining the refractive index of the unknown.
works on the basis of refraction of light rays as defined in Snell's Law. When the
refractive index of the liquid (nl) and solid (ns) are the same, there is no refraction
of the light rays, basically making the samples invisible (the invisible man had the
ability to change his refractive index to that of air, thus becoming invisible, but how
did he see?). When there is a large difference between the refractive index of the
sample and liquid, light is refracted when entering and leaving the solid. The
refraction of these waves make the sample visible. The word "relief" is used to
semi-quantitatively denote the difference between the refractive index of the solid
and that of the liquid.
Samples at or near a match have low relief, while those farther from match have high relief.
 when nl < ns the sample has positive relief
 when nl > ns the sample has negative relief.

The mineral's relief is observed in thin section mineral identification. The epoxy holding the thin section to
the slide has a refractive index of approximately 1.55.
 refractive index of within +/- 0.04 will have low positive/negative relief
 refractive index within the range of +/- 0.04 to 0.12 will have moderate positive/negative relief
 while those with refractive indices above +/- 0.12 will have high positive/negative relief.
The Becke line method
 most commonly used technique to determine a match between nl and ns in the immersion method.
A crystal is immersed in liquid between a glass slide and a coverslip. After obtaining a focused view of
the crystal under the microscope in polychromatic light, the microscope is slightly de-focused by
racking the stage down. Two lines, one light and one dark, appear around the grain boundaries.
 the light Becke line moves into the material which has the larger refractive index. Basically, the grain
is functioning as a lens in the liquid
 when nl < ns, the grain acts as a convex lens, refracting the light into the grain's center - the light
Becke moving into the grain. When nl > ns, the grain acts as a diverging lens, sending the bright
Becke line into the liquid
 Another liquid is selected based upon the findings of the previous observation, and the process of
bracketing the solid with the liquid continues until the Becke lines become colored, at which time
another strategy is used
 The Becke lines become colored when the dispersion curves for the liquid and solid intersect in the
visible. The intersection point marking the precise wavelength of match was the refractive index of
the liquid and solid are equal. The microscopist usually attempts to determine the refractive index at
589.3 nm, the spectra line produced by a sodium gas discharge bulb. This match is found when the
Becke line that enters the grain becomes sky blue and the other orange-yellow line enters the grain.
Relationship
 refractive index decreases with wavelength
 refractive index decreases with increasing temperature
OPTICAL CLASSES - INDICATRIX THEORY
Optical classes:
Minerals are divided into one of six crystallographic systems based upon their symmetry:
1. cubic
 2. hexagonal
3. tetragonal
4. orthorhombic
5. monoclinic
6. triclinic
Minerals are also divided into classes based upon their optical behavior. There are two broad optical classes:
1. isotropic
– belong to the cubic crystal system
– some isotropic materials are amorphous
– the refractive index is the same in all directions
– Snell's Law always applies
– unpolarized light remains unpolarized after passage through an isotropic sample but will be
linearly polarized into two mutually perpendicular planes after passing through an
anisotropic mineral
2. anisotropic
 Snell's Law does not apply
 ray path is no longer perpendicular to the vibration direction
 anisotropic minerals are further subdivided into:
uniaxial
– minerals belong to either the hexagonal or tetragonal crystal systems
biaxial classes
– minerals belong to either the orthorhombic, monoclinic, or triclinic systems