Mineralogical Studies on Some Selected Semi-Precious Stones from Northeast Jordan

Abstract

A semi-precious stone is known as a gem or gemstone (also a jewel, a gem, a precious stone), which is a portion of mineral in refined and cut form that could be used to create a jewelry or other embellishments. A gem also can be defined as any mineral that is highly prized for its beauty, durability, and rarity, is used for personal adornment and has been enhanced in some manner by altering its shape usually by cutting and polishing. Semi-precious stones occurred as xenolithes are widespread in Jordan within different source of rocks. High grade of copper as malachite and chrysocolla and plancheite is suitable for gemstone manufacture found in Finan area. High purity of garnet can be found in metamorphic rocks in Wadi Araba area, whereas xenoliths of pyroxene, olivine and spinel-perioditite and garnet are wide spread in basalt and pyroclastic materials in northeast Jordan. The studied semi-precious stones are part of the Miocene alkali basaltic rocks that covered the northeastern part of Jordan within Harrat Al-Shaam Basaltic Super Group Plateau concentrated mainly in volcanic centers and volcaniclastic materials of Aritian, Hassan, Ufiyahim and Bishriyya formations. Some of these xenoliths and xenocrysts can be considered as semi-precious stones. This study is focused on characterization of petrography, mineralogy and geochemistry of these semi-precious stones like olivine, pyroxene and garnet xenoliths that have been collected from selected areas in northeast Jordan. The samples were analyzed by polarizing microscope, X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). Cutting and polishing tests have shown that some of the studied xenoliths are suitable for manufacturing attractively colored gemstones and could be considered as semi-precious stones. The geological chances for the discovery of some hundreds of tons of these gemstone-raw materials are considered to be good in volcaniclastic materials that are associated within different volcanic centers at How to cite this paper: Tarawneh, K., Alnawafleh, H. and Yasin, I.B. (2020) Mineralogical Studies on Some Selected Semi-Precious Stones from Northeast Jordan. Natural Resources, 11, 168-183.

Characterization of the Physical and Mechanical Properties of the Harrat Ash Shaam Basalt (HASB)/Northeast Jordan

“…The petrography of basaltic rocks is characterized by a presence mainly of calcic-plagioclase feldspar and pyroxene-augite. Olivine present as phenocrysts or as xenocrysts in the groundmass of the basalt, sometime is mostly altered to iddengsite due to the chemical weathering [2]. Iron oxides as magnetite and ilmenite also are present in minor amount, in addition to the presence of iron-titanium oxides and spinel (Figure 2).…”

“…Basalt covers an area of 12,000 km 2 in HASB in northeast Jordan (Figure 1). The lava varies in thickness from 100 m up to 1000 m. The outcrops expose basaltic lava as well as pyroclastic materials, which contain abundant mineral xenoliths of mantle from the crustal origin [2]. The regional trend of the volcanic province is NW-SE, parallel to the local Sirhan Fault System and the Red Sea axis [3].…”

“…The first phase is of Oligocene age 22.0 -26.0 Ma, the second phase is of late Miocene (12 -8 Ma) and the third phase is mostly of Pliocene -Quaternary (6 -<0.5 Ma). Geochemical, mineralogical and petrographic studies can be found in many publications, among them [2] [6] [10] [13] [14]. The maximum recorded thickness of the basaltic succession in boreholes as recorded in the study area is about 478 m [15].…”

Mineralogy and Chemistry Characterization of the New Basaltic Intrusion at Maasser El Chouf/Lebanon

“…The argument can be made that Lebanon's basalt is part of the major trend of volcanic eruption in the Harrat Ashaam Basalt, which spans over 45,000 km 2 as a lava plateau, stretching about 1000 km in a NW-SE direction, distributed in Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia (Tarawneh et al, 2000(Tarawneh et al, , 2002(Tarawneh et al, , 2022(Tarawneh et al, , 2023Tarawneh, 2020;Ilani et al, 2001;Ibrahim et al, 2003). It is presumed that the volcanism of Harrat Ash Shaam Basalt, including Lebanon's territories, underwent three main episodes of volcanic activity: Oligocene to Early Miocene (26 to 22 Ma), Middle to Late Miocene (12 to 8 Ma), and Late Miocene to Quaternary (6 to less than 0.5 Ma) (Tarawneh et al, 2000).…”

Volcanoes as a Sustainable Resource for Engineering Applications: A case study from Harrat Ash Shaam Basalt (HASB), NE Jordan.

“…Bibliographies of early work in the North Arabian Volcanic Province including the HASB can be found in many publications, among them (Al Malabeh, 1993;Guba & Mustafa, 1988;Ibrahim et al 2003;Tarawneh, et al 2000;Ibrahim, 1993;Tarawneh et al 1999, Tarawneh, 2003. The outcrops expose "aa" and "pahoehoe" lava flow as well as scoria and pyroclastic materials, which contain abundant accidental xenoliths of mantle and crustal origin (Tarawneh, 2020;Al Malabeh, 1993). Ibrahim (1993) subdivided the basaltic flows in the NE Jordan into five volcanic groups belonging to the HASB.…”