Nature's Magnificent Crystals

Hidden Gem

The Richard Berger Collection

Crystals:

What is a crystal?

Unit cells

Anisotropy

Ionic crystals

Dendrite crystals

Crystal chemistry

Mineral chemistry

Crystals, elements & symmetry

Cubic lattices and close packing

Chemical composition of minerals

A bizarre form of crystalline matter

Lattice structures in crystalline solids

Textures & structures of igneous rock

An inside look at carbon in Earth's interior

Researchers just proved crstals can bend 

Formation & growth:

Holy eclogite!

Crystallization

Crystallization of magma

Supersaturated solutions

How are gemstones created?

How do crystals form and grow?

What variable affect crystal growth?

Formation of a crystal nucleus from liquid

Theory of crystal formation complete again

Episodes of fast crystal growth in pegmatites

Atomic resolution video of salt crystals forming in real time

Crystals like you have never seen them before: they're flexible!

Crystal habits:

Geodes

Forms of minerals and gems

Crystal caves:

9 best crystal caves around the world

Crystal caves buried deep in the Earth

Crystal caves: when Nature grows crystals

The role of crystals in paleogeology:

Ancient crystals suggest earlier ocean

Crystal is 'oldest scrap of Earth's crust' 

Scientists reveal origin of Earth's oldest crystal

4-billion-year-old crystals offer clues to the origins of life

Specific crystals:

Ten crystals with wierd properties that look like magic

Salt:

Rock salt

Synthesis, crystal structure analysis, and electrochemical properties of rock salt

Quartz:

What is quartz?

The silicate minerals

Macrocrystalline quartz

Properties of quartz and glass

Recent trends in the crystal chemistry of rock forming silicates

Ruby & Sapphires:

Corundum

Beryl crystals & chemistry:

The chemistry of emeralds

Diamonds:

Earth recycles ocean floor into diamonds

Herkimer diamonds science and formation

What do blue diamonds reveal about our planet?

Bizarre 'nesting doll' diamond found inside another diamond

Scientists befuddled by rock containing 30,000 tiny diamonds

Diamond impurities bonanza for geologists studying Earth's history

Imperfect diamonds paved way to historic new deep Earth discoveries

Fingerprints of Earth's original building blocks discovered in diamond-bearing rocks

Regional:

USA:

Digging for crystals and gemstones in the USA