turquoise, hydrous phosphate of aluminum and copper, Al₂(OH)₃PO₄·H₂O+Cu, used as a gem. It occurs rarely in crystal form, but is usually cryptocrystalline. Turquoise is opaque and has a waxy luster; the color varies from greenish gray to sky-blue. The sky-blue varieties are the most valued as gems, but because of their porosity they easily absorb dirt and grease and change in color to an unattractive green. Exposure to heat or sunlight is also injurious to the color of the turquoise. The finest specimens come from Iran; other sources are the Sinai peninsula and the SW United States, especially New Mexico, Nevada, Arizona, and Colorado. Turquoise matrix is a rock including fragments of turquoise, cut as a gem stone. Variscite, the hydrated phosphate of aluminum, is sometimes used as a substitute for turquoise. It occurs in crystals of the orthorhombic system and in massive form; minable deposits are found in Utah.

Hydrated copper and aluminum phosphate mineral, CuAl₆(PO₄)₄(OH)₈centerdot4H₂O, that is used extensively as a gemstone. The colour of turquoise ranges from blue through various shades of green to greenish and yellowish gray. A delicate sky-blue, which provides an attractive contrast with precious metals, is most valued for gem purposes. Numerous deposits of turquoise in the southwestern U.S. have been worked for centuries by American Indians. The mineral also occurs in Iran, northern Africa, Australia, and Siberia.

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