corundum, geology.11, Canada.12, Yukon.12, gems

The ancient Greeks believed that four elements — fire, air, water and earth — comprised the universe and that metals in ore deposits were water elements. There is some scientific evidence today that the mysterious fifth element first postulated by the Greeks may in fact exist as ‘dark energy’ or ‘dark matter’ comprising 95% of our universe. Ancient Greek philosophers/naturalists/historians were, like all humans thoughout history, fascinated by geology and gemstones, especially the beautiful coloured gems that came from the island of Serendipity, or Sri Lanka. The physico-chemical controls on gem formation were beautifully described in those days by the philosopher Theophrastus who declared gemstones to be ‘solidified lynx urine’ and in fact valuable gem crystals grew wherever this beautiful feline decided to pee. Before scoffing, we must think about how our present day ideas and models for gemstone formation may be viewed not just 100 years in the future, but 1,000 or even 10,000 years. Some of the best and most useful work on gemstone deposits is not the fluid inclusion and stable isotope laboratory work, but the careful, detailed and precise descriptions, sometimes hand drawn, of the geology, mineralogy and general nature of the deposit. So little is known about some of the best gem deposits on our planet, such as the ruby deposits of Burma or the sapphire deposits of Kashmir, India. We must rely on descriptive geology done many years ago until we can unleash our modern scientific arsenal to decode how and why these fabulous gems formed and if there is potential for finding world-class coloured gemstone deposits in Canada.