of little use when studying a small crystal embedded in a matrix of other silicate minerals. In these cases, mineral association with other mafic and ultramafic minerals may be the best indication that the garnet you are studying is pyrope. In petrographic thin section, the most distinguishing features of pyrope are those shared with the other common garnets: high relief and isotropy. Garnets tend to be less strongly coloured than other silicate minerals in thin section, although pyrope may show a pale pinkish-purple hue in plane-polarized light. The lack of cleavage, commonly euhedral crystal morphology, and mineral associations should also be used in identification of pyrope under the microscope. References Magnesium minerals Aluminium minerals Garnet gemstones Garnet group Cubic minerals Minerals in space group 230