{"id":47912,"date":"2026-04-30T11:05:58","date_gmt":"2026-04-30T09:05:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ssef.ch\/?p=47912"},"modified":"2026-04-30T11:05:58","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T09:05:58","slug":"bachelor-thesis-on-heated-blue-zircon-from-different-origins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ssef.ch\/jp\/bachelor-thesis-on-heated-blue-zircon-from-different-origins\/","title":{"rendered":"Bachelor thesis on heated blue zircon from different origins"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBy Dr. Michael S. Krzemnicki, first published in Facette 30<\/a> (March 2026)<\/strong>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Zircon (ZrSiO4<\/sub>) is a common accessory mineral found in rocks, as well as an inclusion in gemstones, primarily corundum. Zircon is also known as a gemstone in its own right, either colourless or in many attractive colours, the most popular of which is blue. It is important to note that the blue colour of these zircons is the result of heat treatment, which transforms rather unattractive rough material (e.g. brownish) from certain geographical origins into stones exhibiting an attractive range of blue and greenish blue colours. Greenish blue zircon is well-known in the trade from alkali basalts in the Ratanakiri Province in north-eastern Cambodia, and is also found in the Mogok area of Burma (Myanmar), where it often exhibits a \u2018reverse\u2019 colour change from violetish blue to greenish blue (Bosshart & Balmer, 2006; see also SSEF Facette No. 20, 2013, p. 19). Most recently, it has been found in Maripa in southern Malawi.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Figure 1: These blue zircons from Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia, and Malawi were part of a recent research study at SSEF in collaboration with the University of Basel. Photo: SSEF<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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In 2025, we began a Bachelor\u2019s research project in collaboration with Yan F. Foraita, a student at the University of Basel. The project aimed to characterise and compare a selection of blue zircons (including some unheated, original brown material) from three different deposits. The study revealed that the trace element composition of the blue zircons from these three geographic origins can be clearly separated. We would like to congratulate Yan F. Foraita on his excellent Bachelor\u2019s thesis. The results of this study will be published in a gemmological journal in the near future and are very useful for our laboratory.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Figure 2: Chondrite-normalized REE-plot shows distinct differences of the rare earth elements concentrations in the blue zircons from Myanmar (blue traces), Cambodia (green traces) and Malawi (red traces). Figure: Y.F. Foraita, slightly adapted from his Bachelor thesis.<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Zircon (ZrSiO4<\/sub>) is a common accessory mineral found in rocks, as well as an inclusion in gemstones, primarily corundum. Zircon is also known as a gemstone in its own right, either colourless or in many attractive colours, the most popular of which is blue. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":47914,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[626],"tags":[741],"library_category":[],"library_author":[],"class_list":["post-47912","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research-blog","tag-geochemistry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nBachelor thesis on heated blue zircon from different origins - SSEF<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ssef.ch\/bachelor-thesis-on-heated-blue-zircon-from-different-origins\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bachelor thesis on heated blue zircon from different origins - SSEF\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Zircon (ZrSiO4) is a common accessory mineral found in rocks, as well as an inclusion in gemstones, primarily corundum. 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