Kalicinite

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Kalicinite
General and classification
other names
  • Kalicine
  • Kalicit
chemical formula KH [CO 3 ]
Mineral class
(and possibly department) 		Carbonates and nitrates
System no. to Strunz
and to Dana 		5.AA.20 ( 8th edition : V / B.01)
01/13/02/01
Crystallographic Data
Crystal system monoclinic
Crystal class ; symbol monoclinic prismatic; 2 / m
Room group (no.) P 2 1 / a (No. 14)
Lattice parameters a  = 15.17  Å ; b  = 5.63 Å; c  = 3.71 Å
β  = 104.6 °
Formula units Z  = 4
Physical Properties
Mohs hardness 1 to 2
Density (g / cm 3 ) measured: 2.168 (synthetic); calculated: 2.15
Cleavage according to {100}, {001} and {101}
colour colorless, white, light yellow
Line color White
transparency transparent
shine frosted
Crystal optics
Refractive indices n α  = 1.380
n β  = 1.482
n γ  = 1.578
Birefringence δ = 0.198
Optical character biaxial negative
Axis angle 2V = 81 ° (measured); 82 ° (calculated)
Other properties
Chemical behavior water soluble

Kalicinite is a very rare mineral from the mineral class of " carbonates and nitrates " (formerly carbonates, nitrates and borates). It crystallizes in the monoclinic crystal system with the composition KH [CO 3 ], so it is chemically a potassium - hydrogen carbonate.

So far, Kalicinite could only be found in the form of fine crystalline to coarse mineral aggregates . In its pure form it is colorless and transparent or white due to multiple refraction due to its polycrystalline formation. However , the mineral can also take on a light yellow color through foreign admixtures.

Special properties

Kalicinit is easily soluble in water and should therefore be stored away from moisture.

Etymology and history

Kalicinite was first discovered near Chippis in the Swiss canton of Valais and was described in 1865 by the French chemist and mineralogist Félix Pisani , who named the mineral Kalicine after its chemical component potassium ( kali ). In German the name was changed to Kalicinit.

classification

In the meanwhile outdated, but still in use 8th edition of the mineral classification according to Strunz , the Kalicinite belonged to the mineral class of "carbonates, nitrates and borates" and there to the division of "anhydrous carbonates [CO 3 ] 2− without foreign anions ", where it belongs together with Nahcolith the "Nahcolith Kalicinit Group" with the system no. V / B.01 and the other members Natrit , Teschemacherit , Wegscheiderit and Zabuyelit .

The 9th edition of Strunz's mineral systematics , which has been in effect since 2001 and is used by the International Mineralogical Association (IMA), assigns Kalicinite to the reduced class of “carbonates and nitrates”, but there also to the “carbonates without additional anions” section; without H 2 O “. However, this is further subdivided according to the affiliation of the cations involved to certain element groups , so that the mineral can be found according to its composition in the sub-section " Alkali carbonates", where it is the only member of the unnamed group 5.AA.20 .

The systematics of minerals according to Dana , which is mainly used in the English-speaking world , assigns Kalicinite to the common class of "carbonates, nitrates and borates" and there in the department of "carbonates", like the outdated Strunzian system. Here he is the only member of the unnamed group 01/13/02 within the sub-section “ Acid carbonates with various formulas ”.

Education and Locations

Kalicinite forms as the decomposition product of dead trees. Paragenesis are not yet known.

Due to its extreme rarity, so far (as of 2013) only a few samples of Kalicinite have been found at a total of five locations and its type locality Chippis is the only known location in Switzerland to date.

Other well-known sites are the “Niobec Mine” in the carbonatite complex near Saint-Honoré in the Canadian province of Québec , the Chibines on the Russian Kola Peninsula, Alnön in the Swedish province of Medelpad and Long Shop in Montgomery County (Virginia) in the USA.

Crystal structure

Kalicinite crystallizes monoclinically in the space group P 2 1 / a (space group no. 14) with the lattice parameters a  = 15.17  Å ; b  = 5.63 Å; c  = 3.71 Å and β = 104.6 ° and 4 formula units per unit cell .

See also

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Hugo Strunz , Ernest H. Nickel: Strunz Mineralogical Tables . 9th edition. E. Schweizerbart'sche Verlagbuchhandlung (Nägele and Obermiller), Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-510-65188-X , p.  285 .
  2. ↑ Webmineral - Kalicinite
  3. ↑ Stefan Weiß: The large Lapis mineral directory. All minerals from A - Z and their properties . 5th completely revised and supplemented edition. Weise, Munich 2008, ISBN 978-3-921656-70-9 .
  4. ↑ Kalicinite , In: John W. Anthony, Richard A. Bideaux, Kenneth W. Bladh, Monte C. Nichols (Eds.): Handbook of Mineralogy, Mineralogical Society of America , 2001 ( PDF 63.4 kB )
  5. ↑ a b c Mindat - Kalicinite
  6. ↑ Mindat - Locality list for Kalicinit