Wavellite
| ID | 614 | |
|---|---|---|
| Mineral | Wavellite | |
| Location | Garland County - Arkansas - United States of America | |
| Fluorescence | LW-UV: close SW-UV: close |
|
| Mindat.org |
View Wavellite information at mindat.org |
|
Mindat data
| ID | 4250 |
|---|---|
| Long ID | 1:1:4250:1 |
| Formula |
Al3(PO4)2(OH)3 · 5H2O
|
| IMA Status |
0 1 |
| Description | A secondary mineral found most often in aluminous, low-grade metamorphic rocks. Usually found as radiating "starburst" clusters of green to yellow-green fibrous crystals on fracture surfaces in the matrix, these may grade into globular aggregates; more... |
| Other Occurrences | A secondary mineral of aluminous low-grade metamorphic rocks, in phosphate and limonitic deposits; more rarely as a late-forming hydrothermal vein mineral. |
| Discovery Year | 1805 |
| Diapheny | Transparent,Translucent |
| Cleavage | Perfect on {110}, good on {101}, distinct on {010}. |
| Tenacity | brittle |
| Colour | Green to yellowish-green and yellow, greenish white, yellowish-brown, brown, brownish-black, blue, white and colourless; colourless in transmitted light. |
| Hardness (min) | 3.5 |
| Hardness (max) | 4.0 |
| About the name | Named by William Babington in 1805 in honour of Dr. William Wavell (20 December 1750, Newchurch, Isle of Wight, England, UK - 15 May 1829, Barnstaple, England, UK), a physician, botanist, historian, and naturalist in Harwood Parish, Devonshire, England, who discovered the mineral. Non-contemporary accounts suggest that Dr. Wavell discovered phosphate in the mineral, a constituent that was previously missed in analyses of hydrargilite. Dr. Wavell was educated in Edinburgh and was in medical partnership with Dr. William Curtis (1746, Alton, Hampshire, England, UK - 1825, Barnstaple, Devonshire, England, UK) on Gracechurch Street, Barnstaple. Dr. Curtis was also an energetic botanist and also a correspondent with many naturalists (Curtis and Hooker, 1827). |
| Streak | White. |
| Crystal System | Orthorhombic |
| Cleavage Type | Perfect |
| Fracture type | Irregular/Uneven,Sub-Conchoidal |
| Morphology | Crystals rare, stout to long prismatic parallel to [001], with {110} striated parallel to [001]. Found as hemispherical or globular aggregates with an internal radial or stellate structure of fibrous crystals; as crusts and stalactic; more rarely in chalcedony-like opaline masses. |
| Twinning | None reported |
| shortcode_ima | Wav |
| Group | Wavellite Group |
Details
Price: € 4
Dimensions: Not registered
Weight: Not registered
Visibile in overview:
Notes:
| Symbol | Element | |
|---|---|---|
| Al | Aluminium | |
| H | Hydrogen | |
| O | Oxygen | |
| P | Phosphorus |
|
