Grossular garnet is a calcium aluminum silicate that commonly has a green color.
Pronunciation: GROSS•you•lar GAR•net (accent on capitalized syllable)
Color: white to green, yellow or cinnamon brown
Luster: vitreous
Diaphaneity: translucent; may appear opaque in hand specimen
Hardness: 6.5-7.5
Specific gravity: 3.5-4.3
Cleavage/fracture: none (glassy fracture)
Other distinguishing properties: Forms in 12x-sided equant balls. Commonly found in metamorphic rocks, such as garnet shists. Garnets are commonly used as abrasives and in sand paper, because of their hardness.
Klein, C., and Hurlbut, C.S., Jr., 1999, Manual of Mineralogy (after James D. Dana) [21st edition, revised]: New York, John Wiley & Sons, 682 p.
Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History, The Photo Atlas of Minerals: nhm.org/pam/
Return to the Minerals page.
