Osumilite
Osumilite is a very rare potassium-sodium-iron-magnesium-aluminium silicate mineral. Osumilite is part of the milarite group (also known as the milarite-osumilite group) of cyclosilicates.
Osumilite | |
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![]() Osumilite tablets with mullite from Ochtendung, Eifel, Germany. | |
General | |
Category | Cyclosilicate |
Formula (repeating unit) | (K,Na)(Fe,Mg)2(Al,Fe)3(Si,Al)12O30 |
Strunz classification | 9.CM.05 |
Dana classification | 63.02.01a.06 |
Crystal system | Hexagonal |
Crystal class | Dihexagonal dipyramidal (6mmm) H-M symbol: (6/m 2/m 2/m) |
Space group | P6/mcc |
Unit cell | a = 10.15, c = 14.25 [Ã…]; Z = 2 |
Identification | |
Color | Black, dark blue, dark brown, pink, gray |
Crystal habit | Crystals tabular to prismatic also anhedral and massive |
Twinning | Rarely |
Cleavage | None |
Fracture | Subconchoidal |
Mohs scale hardness | 5 - 6 |
Luster | Vitreous |
Streak | Blue-gray |
Diaphaneity | Translucent |
Specific gravity | 2.62 - 2.64 |
Optical properties | Uniaxial (+) anomalously biaxial |
Refractive index | w=1.545-1.547, e=1.549-1.551 |
Birefringence | 0.004 |
Pleochroism | Strong |
References | [1][2][3] |
Characteristics
Osumilite chemical formula is (K,Na)(Fe,Mg)2(Al,Fe)3(Si,Al)12O30.[4][5] It is translucent and the typical coloring is either blue, black, brown, or gray. It displays no cleavage and has a vitreous luster. Osumilite has a hardness between 5-6 on the Mohs hardness scale.[3]
The hexagonal crystal structure of osumilite is an unusual molecular make-up. The primary unit is a double ring, with a formula of Si12O30. Normal cyclosilicate have rings composed of six silicate tetrahedrons; Si6O18. In a double ring structure, two normal rings are linked by sharing six oxygens, one from each tetrahedron in each six membered ring.[6]
Occurrence
Osumilite, was first discovered as grains in volcanic rocks near Osumi, Japan. It was confused with a similar mineral cordierite because of their similar coloring. It can be found in high-grade metamorphic rocks, xenoliths and in the groundmass of rhyolite and dacite.[2]
Osumilite is found in the Obsidian Cliffs, Oregon; Sardinia, Italy; Kagoshima and Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan; and the Eifel district in Germany.[2] Osumulite pseudomorphs are known from a number of ultrahigh-temperature rocks, including those of southern Madagascar
References
- "Osumilite: Mineral information, data and localities". www.mindat.org.
- http://www.handbookofmineralogy.org/pdfs/osumilite.pdf Handbook of Mineralogy
- "Osumilite-(Mg) Mineral Data". webmineral.com.
- Don S. Goldman, George R. Rossman (1978): The site distribution of iron and anomalous biaxiality in osumilite, In: American Mineralogist, 63, S. 490-498 ((PDF, 961 kB))
- E. Olsen, T. E. Bunch (1970): Compositions Of Natural Osumilites, In: The American Mineralogiste, 55, S. 875 - 879 ((PDF, 328 kB))
- http://www.galleries.com/minerals/silicate/osumilit/osumilit.htm Mineral Galleries