Unique environments create distinctive red, pink, blue, and green "kinds" of the mineral beryl, among them emerald (IMAGE)

Carnegie Science Earth and Planets Laboratory

Unique environments create distinctive red, pink, blue, and green "kinds" of the mineral beryl, among them emerald

Caption

Beryl, the most common mineral containing the element beryllium comes in many beautiful colors such as emerald — its common name. The innovative approach to classification includes lumping several species with the beryl structure into a single "root mineral kind" ​while splitting off several individual "natural kinds" based on their unique formational environments, which create distinct red, pink, blue, and green "kinds"

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ARKENSTONE/Rob Lavinsky

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Must credit ARKENSTONE/Rob Lavinsky

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