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Thaumasite



  Thaumasite is a silicate mineral with an unusual composition, Ca3Si(CO3)(SO4)(OH)6·12(H2O). It occurs as colorless to white prismatic hexagonal crystals, typically as acicular radiating groups. It also occurs as fibrous masses. Its Mohs hardness is 3.5 and it has a specific gravity of 1.88 to 1.90. Optically it is uniaxial negative with indices of refraction of nω = 1.507 and nε = 1.468.

It occurs as a hydrothermal alteration mineral in sulfide ore deposits and geothermal alteration of basalt and tuff. It occurs with zeolites, apophyllite, analcime, calcite, gypsum and pyrite.

It was first described in 1878 in Sweden and named from the Greek, "thaumazein", to be surprised, in reference to its unusual composition with carbonate, sulfate and hydroxysilicate anions.

References

  • Mineral Handbook
  • Webmineral data
  • Mindat with location data
 
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Thaumasite". A list of authors is available in Wikipedia.
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