Kernite
Kernite additionally called rasorite could be a hydrous sodium borate hydroxide mineral with formula Na2[B4O6(OH)2] · 3H2O. Kernite is really a very borate that is rare and hardly ever faceted. Kernite could be considered a mineral that is metamorphic it’s thought to form through the recrystallization regarding the mineral borax as a result of moderate heat and pressure. Borax is a mineral that is evaporated in arid regions from runoff waters rich within the element Boron. It’s comparatively soft with a Mohs hardness of 2.5 to 3 and light-weight with a specific gravity of 1.91. It exhibits excellent cleavage and a brittle fracture.
You will find just a couple sources for Kernite, however, the main supply for facetable crystals is from the Kramer Borate deposit, Boron, Kern County, California, the USA which can be the locality that is kind.
| Category: | Inoborates |
| Chemical Formula: | Na2[B4O6(OH)2] · 3H2O |
| Crystallography: | Monoclinic – Prismatic |
| Crystal Habit: | Crystals commonly nearly equant, with over 30 forms noted; typically as cleavable masses, to 3.5 m, bent or warped; massive. |
| Twinning: | On [011] |
| Cleavage: | [100] Perfect, [001] Perfect, [201] Fair |
| Fracture: | Splintery |
| Tenacity: | Brittle; flexible and elastic in cleavage fragments |
| Hardness (Mohs): | 2.5 |
| Density: | 1.906 (g/cm3) |
| Luminescence: | None |
| Radioactivity: | Not Radioactive |
| Other: | Slowly soluble in cold water, readily so in hot water. |
| Color: | Colorless, White |
| Transparency: | Transparent to Translucent |
| Luster: | Vitreous, Satiny on fibrous cleavages |
| Refractive Index: | 1.454 – 1.488 Biaxial ( – ) |
| Birefringence: | 0.0340 |
| Dispersion: | Distinct; r > v |
| Pleochroism: | X = colorless, Y = colorless, Z = colorless |
