289 - Sulphur

ID	289
Mineral	Sulphur
Location	Unknown - Unknown - Unknown - Unknown
Fluorescence	LW-UV: close SW-UV: close
Mindat.org	View Sulphur information at mindat.org

ID	3826
Long ID	1:1:3826:9
Formula	`S`
IMA Status	0 1
Other Occurrences	Usually formed from volcanic action - as a deposition product from volcanic gasses associated with realgar, cinnabar and other minerals. It is also found in some vein deposits and as an alteration product of sulphide minerals. It can also be formed biogenically - a major source being salt domes, where it has formed by the bacterial decomposition of calcium sulfate.
Industrial	Used in a great many applications, ranging from matches and fireworks to rubber.
Discovery Year	Know
Diapheny	Transparent,Translucent
Cleavage	Imperfect on {001}, {110} and {111}.
Tenacity	brittle
Colour	Yellow, sulphur-yellow, brownish or greenish yellow, orange, white
Hardness (min)	1.5
Hardness (max)	2.5
Luminescence	None
Lustre	Resinous
About the name	A name in Middle English, introduced at least as early as 1390. Also known as brimstone. Theophrastus (~300 BCE) wrote μαλώδης (an otherwise unknown word) for what may be sulfur impregnated pumice, but Caley and Richards (1956) in their analysis and translation of Περι Λιθον ("Peri Lithon") suggest that the actual word should have been μηλώδης meaning quince-yellow. Other interpretations have been given.
Streak	Colourless
Crystal System	Orthorhombic
Cleavage Type	Imperfect/Fair
Fracture type	Irregular/Uneven,Conchoidal
Morphology	Over 50 forms have been noted, blocky dipyramidal ones most common, also tabular and sphenoidal; also found as powdery coatings, massive material, and in reniform and stalactic forms.
Twinning	On {101}{011}{110} rare.
Thermal Behaviour	With a low melting point of 113°C, sulphur burns readily in air, with a low blue flame, and gives off choking fumes of sulphur-dioxide - acrid odor (forms sulphurous and eventually sulphuric acid in air).
shortcode_ima	S
Group	Sulphur Group

Sulphur

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