Garnet
The garnet group encompasses a wide range of structurally uniform but chemically extraordinarily diverse island silicates (so-called nesosilicates) crystallizing in the cubic crystal system. It is represented by a vast number of numerous garnet varieties, the two main subgroups of which are formed by the so-called pyralspit series (i.e., aluminum-rich garnets such as pyrope, almandine, or spessartine) and the ugrandite series, the latter represented by garnets with a high calcium content, which includes uvarovite, grossular, and andradite. In addition to those mentioned, there is a whole range of other garnet varieties, such as hessonite or rhodolite. Because garnets form chemically continuous solid solution series, they cannot always be precisely assigned to individual garnet varieties. This is also the reason why we classify this category under the collective name of garnet.
