Unveiling My Blue John Fluorite Collection

I love collecting minerals and the Blue John Fluorite is one of my favorites. Blue John Fluorite has unique bands of white, yellow and purple or purple-blue color. The Blue John Fluorite is actually found in two caves in Castleton in Derbyshire, England which is in the northern area called the Peak District. These caves are the Blue John Cave and Treak Cliff Cavern. These caves are very close to one another, which is why you can find the Blue John Fluorite in both locations. If you are in England, you can tour the caves. I will put a link below this video to the Blue John's Cavern's website so you can see more about it.

Visit the Blue John Cave website: https://www.bluejohn-cavern.co.uk/

I love this mineral so much that I wrote a kid's adventure series, and the first book is called Blue John's Cavern. In the book, the kids travel back in time to when the cave was very active in mining, and they have to try to get a sample of the mineral and then get back home. I had a lot of fun researching the Blue John Fluorite for the book.

Blue Johns Cavern novel: https://books2read.com/BlueJohnsCavern
Blue Johns Cavern activity book: https://books2read.com/BlueJohnCavern...

The Geology of the Blue John Cavern
Thousands of years ago, the Blue John Cavern was carved by ancient glacial melt waters that flowed through the Castleton, Derbyshire, England area forming the underground cave system. The geology of the area while simple, is very interesting.

The Blue John Cavern is located in the Peak District in England near the town of Castleton, Derbyshire. The area of the cavern is formed within limestone strata that were deposited in deep ocean waters millions of years ago. Layers of shale and some gritstone, a coarse sandstone common in this area, covered the limestone.

Over time, the layers buckled from folding and faulting. The cavern formed when glacial melt waters flowed through the area forming the valleys and seeping into a crack in the limestone strata and dissolving portions of the limestone. As the melt waters dissolved the limestone, underground rivers formed which washed out corridors and large underground rooms which became the network of the Blue John Cavern.'

Fluorite Details:
Formula: CaF2 - Calcium and Florine
Color: Purple, golden-yellow, green, colorless. Blue, pink, and brown.
Luster: Vitreous or Glassy to Dull
Streak: White
Hardness: 4 on the Mohs scale of 1 to 10 so it has moderate hardness. Moderately soft.
Cleavage: Octahedral
Fracture: Conchoidal to Splintery
Crystal Shape: Cubes, Octahedrons, Dodecahedrons. Sometime twinned.
Crystal System: Isometric - The isometric crystal system has a unit cell in the shape of a cube. It is one of the most common and simplest shapes found in crystals. The crystallographic axes used in this system are of equal length and are mutually perpendicular, occurring at right angles to one another.

Fluorite was named in 1797 from the Latin, fluere = "to flow" (for its use as a flux). The term fluorescence is derived from fluorite, which will often markedly exhibit this effect. The element fluorine also derives its name from fluorite, a major source of the element.

Where is Fluorite Found: Fluorite is found as a common mineral in hydrothermal veins, especially those containing lead and zinc minerals. It is also found in some granites, pegmatites and high-temperature veins, and as a component of some marbles and other metamorphic rocks.

Locations: Germany, Italy, Switzerland, England, Mexico, Canada, United States
Uses: Enamels, Cooking Utensils, Telescopes, Camera Lenses
Features: Often found in rock veins.

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