Turmalin / Tourmaline

Preface 6
Introduction 10
The Structure of Tourmalines 26
The Colour Palette of the Tourmalines 32
The Growth of Tourmaline Crystals 48
The Structures of Crystal Forms 58
Rim Structures 68
Delta Structures 82
Trigonal Dislocations 132
Division into Parallel Aggregates 140
The Healing of Broken Tourmalines 158
Naturally Corroded Tourmalin Crystals 194
Healing of Corroded Tourmalines 210
Healed Corrosion of Cavities 240
References 271

Surprisingly, in thin sections of dark tourmaline crystals, beautiful and detailed picture worlds can sometimes be discovered. These pictures of the natural artist tourmaline are presented in this book as TourmalineArt and put into an natural scientific framework, but which is generally understandable. Thus insights into the vivid nature of crystals, their forming and fading are facilitated.

Tourmaline crystals are highly interesting study subjects, because on them the formative forces in the mineral kingdom create an impressive richness of shapes and colors.

The much sought after colored gemstone tourmalines have always been very attractive. In addition to this, now in the interior of the tourmaline mineral "schorl" there are unexpected fine structures of impressive precsision and surprising brilliance.  Using thin section techniques and micro photograpy, these picture worlds have been discovered and then, on the one hand mineralogically interpreted and on the other hand designed as magic pictures according to aesthetical aspects.

Among the most beautiful motives of TourmalineArt are fantastic landscapes, which seem to be three-dimensional, abstract color patterns, and mystic graphic symbols. The observer might become meditatively immersed in the tourmaline paintings and may go on imaginative trips into the new landscapes. In order to support the intuitive comprehension of three-dimensional structures in a crystal, perspective views on piles of slices and other graphics ave been developed - and the text has been kept as short as possible.

The author wishes you a lot of pleasure in discsovering the tourmalie worlds.

Paul RUSTEMEYER, born in 1952, is a chemist. He has enjoyed very much collecting and photographing minerals since his youth. For 40 years he has been passing on mineralogical knowledge in presentations and publications to interested people. He has been working intensively on a multitude of growth phenomena of common minerals. In 2003, his book “Faszination Turmalin” was published and since then his exhibition “The Enchanting Magic of Dark Tourmaline Crystals” has been shown in many European natural history museums.

Contact: rustemeyer-gundelfingen@t-online.de