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Garnet Gem

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Garnets are a group of silicate minerals, and the major varieties are pyrope, grossular, almandine, spessartine and andradite. All species of garnets are bright pink, and highly transparent pyrope and grossular are excellent gemstones. Almandine, which is deep purple, is also called ‘ziyawu’, meaning purple black tooth in Chinese. In ancient Chinese customs, garnet jewellery was often used as a talisman of evil. Garnets are common gem minerals that are widely distributed and are often found along the contact zone between igneous rocks and regional metamorphic rocks (Fig. 2).

Fig. 2
figure 72 figure 72

Garnet crystals

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(2020). Garnet Gem. In: Chen, A., Ng, Y., Zhang, E., Tian, M. (eds) Dictionary of Geotourism. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-2538-0_785

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