Clinochlore
Seraphinite is the trade name of the gemmy variety that is green of mineral Clinochlore. Clinochlore is the most member that is typical of Chlorite Group of minerals that includes Clinochlore and Chamosite. A chromium-rich number of Clinochlore called Kämmererite has an attractive, deep lavender to color that is crimson. Seraphinite often contains inclusions that are micaceous display a wavey chatoyancy similar to Charoite. Seraphinite is principally discovered nearby the Bratsk and Lake Baikal region of Eastern Siberia, Russia.
Some localities for well-crystallized Clinochlore material are: in the USA, in the Emery mine, Chester, Hampden Co., Massachusetts; at Texas, Lancaster County, and West Chester, Chester County, Pennsylvania; into the Tilly Foster mine, Brewster, Putnam County, New York. Into the Zillertal, Tirol, Austria. From the Patschtal, Trentino-Alto Adige; Val Malenco, Lombardy; and at Ala, Piedmont, Italy. Near Zermatt, Valais, Switzerland. From Ojen, Malaga Province, Spain. On Unst, Shetland Isles, Scotland. In the Kop Krom [chrome mine], Kop Mountains, near Askale, Turkey. In Russia, in the Ural Mountains, at Akhmatovsk, Berbliouchka, and Hardadinsk; and at Miass, Ilmen Mountains, Southern Ural Mountains.
| Chemical Formula: | (Mg,Fe2+)5Al(Si3Al)O10(OH)8 |
| Magnesium Iron Aluminum Silicate Hydroxide | |
| Molecular Weight: | 595.22 gm |
| Composition: | Magnesium | 15.31 % | Mg | 25.39 % | MgO |
| Aluminum | 9.07 % | Al | 17.13 % | Al2O3 | |
| Iron | 11.73 % | Fe | 15.09 % | FeO | |
| Silicon | 14.16 % | Si | 30.28 % | SiO2 | |
| Hydrogen | 1.35 % | H | 12.11 % | H2O | |
| Oxygen | 48.38 % | O | |||
| 100.00 % | 100.00 % | = TOTAL OXIDE |
| Crystallography: | Monoclinic – Prismatic |
| Crystal Habit: | In thin to thick pseudohexagonal crystals, with tapering pyramidal faces, to 10 cm. Commonly foliated, fibrous, granular, earthy, massive. |
| Twinning: | Twin plane {001}; twin axis [310], composition plane {001}. |
| Cleavage: | {001} Perfect |
| Fracture: | Uneven |
| Tenacity: | Laminae Flexible, Inelastic |
| Moh’s Hardness: | 2.0 – 2.5 |
| Density: | 2.60 – 3.02 (g/cm3) |
| Luminescence: | None |
| Radioactivity: | Not Radioactive |
| Color: | Blackish Green, Bluish Green, White, Yellowish Green, or Olive Green |
| Transparency: | Transparent to Translucent |
| Luster: | Greasy, Pearly, Dull |
| Refractive Index: | 1.571 – 1.599 Biaxial ( + ) |
| Birefringence: | 0.005 – 0.011 |
| Dispersion: | r < v |
| Pleochroism: | Visible; X= light yellow green to light blue-green, Y=Z= light greenish yellow to light blue-green |
