Chabazite
Chabazite could be the calcium member that is dominant of Chabazite Series and a really unusual member of this Zeolite band of minerals which includes over 40 minerals and these gem-type minerals: Analcime, Barrerite, Chabazite, Epistilbite, Gmelinite-Na, Goosecreekite, Mordenite, Natrolite, Pollucite, Scolecite, Stellerite, Stilbite, Thomsonite and Yugawaralite. Chabazite, also referred to as Acadialite, is certainly one regarding the lower known Zeolites. It is a very unusual gem although it’s a fairly common mineral.
Chabazite was named Chabasie in 1792 by Bosc d’Antic and later changed to your spelling that is current. It had been known as from the Greek chabazios, an name that is ancient a stone and its chemical composition. The stone is certainly one of twenty stones named in the poem Peri lithos, which extolled the virtues of minerals. The poem is ascribed to Orpheus, legendary creator of the Orphic cult.
Chabazite is a zeolite that is typical there are many locations for the mineral but very few for fine, treasure quality crystals. Some of these locations are Idar-Oberstein, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany; Breidhdalsheidhi, Iceland; Khandivali quarry, near Bombay, Maharashtra, India; Paterson, Passaic County, and Bergen Hill, Hudson County, New Jersey, USA.
| Chemical Formula: | CaAl2Si4O12 · 6(H2O) |
| Hydrated Calcium Aluminum Silicate | |
| Molecular Weight: | 1,039.07 gm |
| Composition: | Potassium | 0.75 % | K | 0.91 % | K2O |
| Sodium | 0.07 % | Na | 0.09 % | Na2O | |
| Strontium | 0.25 % | Sr | 0.30 % | SrO | |
| Calcium | 7.17 % | Ca | 10.04 % | CaO | |
| Magnesium | 0.05 % | Mg | 0.08 % | MgO | |
| Aluminum | 10.23 % | Al | 19.33 % | Al2O3 | |
| Silicon | 21.70 % | Si | 46.43 % | SiO2 | |
| Hydrogen | 2.55 % | H | 22.82 % | H2O | |
| Oxygen | 57.22 % | O | |||
| 100.00 % | 99.99 % | = TOTAL OXIDE |
| Crystallography: | Triclinic – Pinacoidal |
| Crystal Habit: | As pseudorhombohedral crystals, nearly cubic in aspect, to 4.5 cm; tabular, complex to rounded twinned forms; anhedral, granular, or massive. |
| Twinning: | About [0001], interpenetrant, simple and repeated, common, contact on [1011] |
| Cleavage: | Distinct/Good on [1011] |
| Fracture: | Irregular/Uneven |
| Tenacity: | Brittle |
| Moh’s Hardness: | 4.0 – 5.0 |
| Density: | 2.05 – 2.20 (g/cm3) |
| Luminescence: | None |
| Radioactivity: | Barely Detectable; GRapi = 11.07 (Gamma Ray American Petroleum Institute Units) |
| Color: | Colorless, White, Yellow, Pink, Red |
| Transparency: | Translucent to Transparent |
| Luster: | Vitreous |
| Refractive Index: | 1.478 – 1.493 Biaxial ( +/- ) (or Uniaxial; commonly shows birefringent panelling in six sections) |
| Birefringence: | 0.0020 – 0.0050 |
| Dispersion: | None |
| Pleochroism: | None |
