Entry № 225
Green Tourmaline
Elbaite (var. Verdelite)
The heart of the tourmaline family — vivid, prismatic, and electrically alive.
Chakra
Heart
Element
Water · Earth
Zodiac
Libra · Capricorn
I. The Metaphysical Reading
How the stone has been held.
Green tourmaline (verdelite) is worked with as a stone of courageous compassion, held when someone needs to open the heart without losing boundaries. It is considered the masculine counterpart to pink tourmaline's feminine energy, and is used to strengthen the will to love.
- Chakra
- Heart
- Element
- Water · Earth
- Zodiac
- Libra · Capricorn
- Keynote
- The heart of the tourmaline family — vivid, prismatic, and electrically alive.
II. The Scientific Reading
What the lattice actually does.
Green tourmaline is the elbaite species of the tourmaline group, coloured by chromium and vanadium substituting into the aluminium site. Its trigonal crystals are strongly pyroelectric and piezoelectric, developing opposite charges at either end of the c-axis when heated or compressed. The finest vivid green crystals (chrome tourmaline) come from East Africa and are coloured by chromium, while the more common pale green stones contain vanadium.
- Formula
- Na(Li,Al)₃Al₆(BO₃)₃Si₆O₁₈(OH)₄
- System
- Trigonal
- Hardness
- 7 – 7.5 (Mohs)
- Provenance
- Brazil, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Namibia, Nigeria
References & Sources
Independent mineralogical references used to verify the scientific details above.
Mineral Profile
Fact Sheet
- Chemical Formula
- Na(Li,Al)₃Al₆(BO₃)₃Si₆O₁₈(OH)₄
- Crystal System
- Trigonal
- Mohs Hardness
- 7 – 7.5 (Mohs)
- Density
- 3.02 – 3.26 g/cm³
- Refractive Index
- 1.614 – 1.666
- Provenance
- Brazil, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Namibia, Nigeria
- Color Origin
- Vivid green to pale mint from chromium and vanadium
Related Crystals
Stones that share this lattice
Next in the Atlas
Grenatite
A metamorphic rock where garnet has become the whole story.
