Articles | Volume 38, issue 3
https://doi.org/10.5194/ejm-38-305-2026
https://doi.org/10.5194/ejm-38-305-2026
Research article
 | 
22 May 2026
Research article |  | 22 May 2026

Formation of black opal in the pegmatites from Volyn (Ukraine) – an example for interaction of silica with organic matter

Gerhard Franz, Vladimir Khomenko, Vsevolod Chornousenko, Armin Zeh, Ferry Schiperski, Simon Gouzy, Ulrich Gernert, and Jörg Nissen

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Cited articles

Amelin, Y. and Back, M.: Opal as a U-Pb geochronometer: Search for a standard, Chem. Geol., 232, 67–86, 2006. 
Amelin, Y. V., Heaman, L. M., Verchogliad, V. M., and Skobelev, V. M.: Geochronological constraints on the emplacement history of an anorthosite-rapakivi granite suite: U–Pb zircon and baddeleyite study of the Korosten complex, Ukraine, Contrib. Mineral. Petrol., 116, 411–419, 1994. 
Banerjee, A. and Wenzel, T.: Black opal from Honduras, Eur. J. Mineral., 11, 401–408, 1999. 
Chauviré, B., Rondeau, B., Alexandre, A., Chamard-Bois, S., La, C., and Mazzero, F.: Pedogenic origin of precious opals from Wegel Tena (Ethiopia): Evidence from trace elements and oxygen isotopes, Applied. Geochem., 101, 127–139, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeochem.2018.12.028, 2019. 
Curtis, N. J., Gascooke, J. R., Johnston, M. R., and Pring, A.: A review of the classification of opal with reference to recent new localities, Minerals, 9, 299, https://doi.org/10.3390/min9050299, 2019. 
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Short summary
Black opal, a rare amorphous SiO2 variety, results from the interaction of silica with organic matter and therefore hints at traces of life, including the early Earth and Mars. The Volyn occurrence is one of the few examples of black opal worldwide and is the unique case of a pegmatitic occurrence in a granite; its age is at least 200 Ma. The structure consists of micrometer-large sphere-like arrangements of nano-sized grains and shows shape relicts of fossils, known from Volyn as "kerite".
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