GEOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Wood’s lamp examination is a tool healthcare providers use to examine your skin, scalp and hair. The lamp emits ultraviolet (UV) light, or blacklight, which makes certain types of cells glow or turn colors.

Detailed explanation-2: -Some minerals glow or fluoresce under ultraviolet (UV) light, such as some shown here. Apatite, quartz, orthoclase feldspar, and muscovite under normal white light and UV light. Photos by Géry Parent.

Detailed explanation-3: -Fluorescence is a phenomenon that causes a mineral to “glow” in the within the visible spectrum when exposed to ultraviolet light. Minerals that exhibit fluorescence are known as “fluorescent minerals".

Detailed explanation-4: -The first person to observe fluorescence in minerals was George Stokes in 1852. He noted the ability of fluorite to produce a blue glow when illuminated with ultraviolet light and called this phenomenon “fluorescence” after the mineral fluorite.

Detailed explanation-5: -Typical fluorescent minerals include: aragonite, calcite, fluorite, powellite, scheelite, sodalite, willemite, and zircon. But almost any mineral can “glow” under UV light with the right conditions. Most minerals do not fluoresce when pure (minerals like scheelite are an exception).