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File:Lapis lazuli in pyritic limestone (Rio Tascadero Limestone, Lower Cretaceous; Flor de los Andes Mine, Andes Mountains, Chile) (49166160572).jpg

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Lapis lazuli in pyritic limestone from Chile. (DMNH 11367, Denver Museum of Natural & Science, Denver, Colorado, USA)

This stunning blue material is from the famous Flor de los Andes Lapis Lazuli Deposit in central Chile. "Lapis lazuli" is an odd term for a rare, lazurite-dominated, metamorphic rock. The highest-quality examples on Earth are from the Hindu Kush Mountains of Afghanistan. The blue is lazurite, which is a sodalite-group feldspathoid mineral: (Na,Ca)8(AlSiO4)6(SO4,S,Cl)2 - sodium calcium chloro-sulfo-aluminosilicate-sulfate. The gray material that hosts the lapis lazuli is marine fossiliferous limestone of Early Cretaceous age.

The rocks in this area of Chile were metamorphosed twice during the Tertiary: 1) contact metamorphism by intrusion of monzogranites of the Río Las Cuevas Granite (late Late Oligocene, 24 Ma); 2) sulfur-metasomatism by intrusion of dacites and rhyodacties of the Portezuelo del Azufre Intrusion (late Middle Miocene to Late Miocene, 9-13 Ma).

Neither of these metamorphic events converted the limestone to marble. The sulfur-metasomatism event resulted in the formation of blue-colored lazurite and brassy gold-colored pyrite.

Stratigraphy & age of host limestone: Río Tascadero Limestone, Berriasian Stage to possibly Barremian Stage, lower Lower Cretaceous

Locality: Flor de los Andes Mine, in or near a glacial cirque at the headwaters of Lapislázuli Creek (a tributary of the Tascadero River), southeast of Ovalle & northwest of Illapel, Coquimbo Region, Andes Mountains, near the border with Argentina, central Chile (~31º 14’ 50.52” South latitude, ~70º 32’ 10.73” West longitude)
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Source Lapis lazuli in pyritic limestone (Rio Tascadero Limestone, Lower Cretaceous; Flor de los Andes Mine, Andes Mountains, Chile)
Author James St. John

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This image was originally posted to Flickr by James St. John at https://flickr.com/photos/47445767@N05/49166160572 (archive). It was reviewed on 4 December 2019 by FlickreviewR 2 and was confirmed to be licensed under the terms of the cc-by-2.0.

4 December 2019

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current06:41, 4 December 2019Thumbnail for version as of 06:41, 4 December 20193,504 × 2,371 (7.86 MB)Ser Amantio di Nicolao (talk | contribs)Transferred from Flickr via #flickr2commons

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