Calcite, Sphalerite and Marcasite
| ID | 461 | |
|---|---|---|
| Mineral |
Calcite
Sphalerite Marcasite |
|
| Location | Becke-Oese quarry - Hemer - Sauerland - Germany | |
| Fluorescence | LW-UV: close SW-UV: close |
|
| Mindat.org |
View Calcite information at mindat.org View Sphalerite information at mindat.org View Marcasite information at mindat.org |
|
Mindat data
| ID | 859 |
|---|---|
| Long ID | 1:1:859:4 |
| Formula |
Ca(CO3)
|
| IMA Status |
0 1 |
| Other Occurrences | Found in most geologic settings and as a later forming replacement mineral in most other environments in one form or another, it is most common as massive material in limestones and marbles. It forms as chemical sedimentary deposits as limestone, can be regionally or contact metamorphosed into marbles and rarely forms igneous rocks (carbonatites). Also is a common gangue mineral in hydrothermal deposits. |
| Industrial | Mined extensively for a wide variety of uses ranging from lime (cement) to limestone and marble building stones and aggregates, agricultural supplements and optical calcite. |
| Diapheny | Transparent,Translucent |
| Cleavage |
Perfect on |
| Tenacity | brittle |
| Colour | White, Yellow, Red, Orange, Blue, Green, Brown, Gray etc. |
| Hardness (min) | 3.0 |
| Hardness (max) | 3.0 |
| Luminescence | Fluorescent |
| Lustre | Vitreous |
| About the name | Ancient name. Named as a mineral by Gaius Plinius Secundus (Pliny the elder) in 79 from Calx, Latin for Lime. |
| Streak | White |
| Crystal System | Trigonal |
| Cleavage Type | Perfect |
| Fracture type | Conchoidal |
| Morphology | Over 800 different forms have been described. Most commonly as acute rhombohedrons or prismatic with scalenohedral terminations, or combinations of the two. |
| Twinning |
At least four twin laws have been described, the most common being when the twin plane and the composition plane are |
| UV | May be fluorescent under LW UV, mid-range UV or SW UV as well as under X-rays, cathode rays and even sunlight, in a number of colors and shades, commonly an intense red under SW with Mn as an activator (such as at Franklin, New Jersey, USA, and Långban in Sweden. |
| Comment Luster | Pearly on cleavage and {0001}. Can be dull or earthy in chalk variety. |
| shortcode_ima | Cal |
| Group | Calcite Group |
| ID | 3727 |
|---|---|
| Long ID | 1:1:3727:9 |
| Formula |
ZnS
|
| IMA Status |
0 1 |
| Discovery Year | 1847 |
| Diapheny | Transparent,Translucent |
| Cleavage | Perfect {011} |
| Tenacity | brittle |
| Colour | Yellow, light to dark brown, black, red-brown, colourless, light blue. green |
| Hardness (min) | 3.5 |
| Hardness (max) | 4.0 |
| Luminescence | Fluorescent and triboluminescent |
| Lustre | Resinous |
| About the name | Originally called blende in 1546 by Georgius Agricola (Georg Bauer). Known by a variety of chemical-based names subsequent to Agricola and before Glocker, including "zincum". Named Sphalerite in 1847 by Ernst Friedrich Glocker from the Greek σφαλεροζ "sphaleros" = treacherous, in allusion to the ease with which dark varieties were mistaken for galena, but yielded no lead. |
| Streak | Pale yellow to brown. |
| Crystal System | Isometric |
| Cleavage Type | Perfect |
| Fracture type | Conchoidal |
| Twinning | {111} |
| UV | Light colored sphalerite may fluoresce in blue or orange in LW. Fluoresces less strongly, sometimes not at all, in SW or MW. |
| key_elements |
0 |
| shortcode_ima | Sp |
| Group | Sphalerite Group |
| ID | 2571 |
|---|---|
| Long ID | 1:1:2571:9 |
| Formula |
FeS2
|
| IMA Status |
0 1 |
| Other Occurrences | Most frequently found in sedimentary rocks and coal beds, as a replacement mineral forming fossils, it is a mineral of low-temperature, near-surface, environments, forming from acid solutions. Pyrite, the more stable form of FeS^2, forms under conditions of higher temperatures and lower acidity or alkaline environments. |
| Discovery Year | 1845 |
| Diapheny | Opaque |
| Cleavage | Distinct on {101}. {110} in traces. |
| Tenacity | brittle |
| Colour | Pale brass-yellow, tin-white on fresh exposures. |
| Hardness (min) | 6.0 |
| Hardness (max) | 6.5 |
| Lustre | Metallic |
| About the name | Early use of the word marcasite seems to have been unspecific. The word is Arabic or Moorish and was applied to pyrite and similar metallic bronze colored minerals. Walter Pope (1665) mentioned marcasite occurring in the mercury ores of the Idria Mine, Cividale del Friuli in the Julian Alps of Slovenia: "There are also several Marcasites and stones, which seem to have specks of Gold in them, but upon trial they say, they find none in them. These round stones are some of them very ponderous, and well impregnated with Mercury; others light, having little or none in them." The mercury ore at Idria does contain metallic golden specks of what is now called marcasite, but it also has metallic golden pyrite. Johnathan Hill used the name marcasite in 1771, but his usage was also indiscriminate and was a term for any massive "pyrites" or "mundic". In 1845, Wilhelm Karl von Haidinger defined marcasite as the mineral is known today. |
| Streak | Dark-gray to black. |
| Crystal System | Orthorhombic |
| Cleavage Type | Distinct/Good |
| Fracture type | Conchoidal,Sub-Conchoidal |
| Morphology | Crystals usually tabular on {010}, also pyramidal, faces often curved, frequently twinned; also stalactic, globular, or reniform with radiating internal structure. |
| Twinning | Common on {101}, forming "swallowtail" contact twins; this may be repeated to form stellate fivelings. Less common on {011}. |
| UV | Not fluorescent in ultraviolet light |
| Comment Luster | Frequently iridescence obscures the luster and color |
| shortcode_ima | Mrc |
| Group | Marcasite Group |
Details
Price: € 40
Dimensions: Not registered
Weight: Not registered
Visibile in overview:
Notes:
None
| Symbol | Element | |
|---|---|---|
| C | Carbon | |
| Ca | Calcium | |
| Fe | Iron | |
| O | Oxygen | |
| S | Sulfur | |
| Zn | Zinc |
