Zorit

Zorit
	White zorite tufts with some golden-brown, needle-like rait crystals from the "Jubileinaja" pegmatite dike on the Karnassurt , Lowosero tundra , Kola, Russia (field of view 4 mm)
General and classification
other names	IMA 1972-011
chemical formula	Na 6 Ti 5 [(O, OH) 5 \| (Si 6 O 17 ) 2 ] • 11H 2 O
Mineral class; (and possibly department)	Silicates and Germanates - chain silicates and band silicates (inosilicates)
System no. to Strunz ; and to Dana	9.DG.45 ( 8th edition : VIII / F.22) ; 66.03.01.02
Crystallographic Data
Crystal system	orthorhombic
Crystal class ; symbol	orthorhombic-dipyramidal; 2 / m 2 / m 2 / m
Room group (no.)	Cmmm (No. 65)
Lattice parameters	a = 23.24 Å ; b = 7.24 Å; c = 6.96 Å
Formula units	Z = 1
Physical Properties
Mohs hardness	3 to 4
Density (g / cm 3 )	measured: 2.27 to 2.40; calculated: 2.23
Cleavage	perfect according to {010} and {001}, good according to {110}
colour	white, pink
Line color	White
transparency	translucent
shine	Glass gloss

Zorite is a very rare mineral from the mineral class of "silicates and germanates". It crystallizes in the orthorhombic crystal system with the chemical composition Na ₆ Ti ₅ [(O, OH) ₅ | (Si ₆ O ₁₇ ) ₂ ] · 11H ₂ O, so it is a water-containing sodium - titanium - silicate with additional oxygen or hydroxide ions .

Zorite is translucent and only develops small, prismatic-needle-like crystals up to about two millimeters in length with a glass-like sheen on the surfaces, which are usually fused together to form polycrystalline tablets or radial-rayed aggregates . Due to the multiple refraction of light, the mineral appears white in its pure form, although it often takes on a pale pink to rose-red color due to foreign admixtures. However, Zorit's line color is always white.

Special properties

Zorite is insoluble in water, but slowly decomposes in dilute hydrochloric acid (HCl) and nitric acid (HNO ₃ ) to form silica gel .

Etymology and history

Zorit was discovered for the first time together with Rait in the "Jubileinaja" pegmatite walk on the Karnassurt in the mountain range Lowosero-Tundra on the Russian Kola peninsula and described in 1973 by AN Mer'kov, IV Bussen, EA Goiko, EA Kul'chitskaya, YP Men'shikov and AP Nedorezova, the mineral based on its mostly pink crystals after the Russian word заря (German transcribed sarja ) or the colloquial diminutive зорька ( sorka ) for dawn .

Type material of the mineral is found in the Geological Museum of the Academy of Sciences in Apatity (Catalog No. 3144, 3207) on the Russian Kola Peninsula, in the Mineralogical Museum of the University of Saint Petersburg (Catalog No. 15286, 18102, 18155) and in the Mining Institute of St. Petersburg (catalog no. 1059 / 1–5) and in the Fersman Museum in Moscow (catalog no. 74486–74488).

classification

Already in the outdated, but partly still in use 8th edition of the mineral systematics according to Strunz , the zorite belonged to the mineral class of "silicates and germanates" and there to the department of "chain silicates and band silicates (inosilicates)", where it together with Chivruaiit , Haineaultit , Senkevichit , Tinaksit and Tokkoit formed the unnamed group VIII / F.22 .

The 9th edition of Strunz's mineral systematics , which has been in effect since 2001 and is used by the International Mineralogical Association (IMA), also classifies zorite in the category of "chain and band silicates (inosilicates)". This is, however, further subdivided according to the structure of the chains or bands, so that the mineral can be found according to its composition in the sub-section "Chain and band silicates with 3-periodic single and multiple chains", where it is only found together with Chivruaiit die unnamed group 9.DG.45 forms.

The systematics of minerals according to Dana , which is mainly used in the English-speaking world , assigns the Zorite to the class of "silicates and Germanates", but there in the more finely divided division of "chain silicates: double unbranched chains, W = 2". Here it is together with Chivruaiit, Epididymit , Eudidymit , Haineaultit, Xonotlit and Yuksporit in the group "P = 3" with the system no. 66.03.01 to be found in the subsection “ Chain silicates: Double unbranched chains, W = 2 with chains P> 2 ”.

Education and Locations

Rait (golden brown) and Zorit (white) from the type locality "Jubileinaja" -Pegmatitgang, Karnassurt, Kola, Russia (field of view 4 mm)

Zorite forms in alkaline pegmatites , where it is deposited in the post-phase of hydrothermal processes as crack filling and in cavities. In addition to rait, aegirine , mountainite , natrolite and nepheline can occur as accompanying mineral.

In addition to its type locality in the "Jubileinaja" pegmatite dike on the Karnassurt (Lowosero, Kola) in Russia, no other sites for Zorite are known to date (status 2014).

Crystal structure

Zorite crystallizes orthorhombically in the space group Cmmm (space group no. 65) with the lattice parameters a = 23.24 Å ; b = 7.24 Å and c = 6.96 Å as well as one formula unit per unit cell .

literature

AN Mer'kov, IV Bussen, EA Goiko, EA Kul'chitskaya, YP Men'shikov, AP Nedorezova: Raite and zorite - new minerals from the Lovozero Tundra. In: Zapiski Vsesoyuznogo Mineralogicheskogo Obshchestva. Volume 102, 1973, Chapter 1, pp. 54-62 ( PDF 657 kB ; Russian)
Michael Fleischer : New mineral names. In: American Mineralogist. Volume 58, 1973, pp. 1111–1115 ( PDF 558.3 kB ; Raite / Zorite from p. 3)
Sandomirskii PA, Belov NV: The OD structure of zorite. In: Soviet Physics - Crystallography. Volume 24, 1979, pp. 686-693 ( PDF 684.4 kB )

Web links

Commons : Zorite - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

↑ ^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. 639 .
↑ ^a ^b ^c Zorite , In: John W. Anthony, Richard A. Bideaux, Kenneth W. Bladh, Monte C. Nichols (Eds.): Handbook of Mineralogy, Mineralogical Society of America , 2001 ( PDF 71 kB )
↑ Michael Fleischer (1973): New mineral names. In: American Mineralogist. Volume 58, pp. 1111–1115 ( PDF 558.3 kB ; Raite / Zorite from p. 3)
↑ AN Mer'kov, IV Bussen, EA Goiko, EA Kul'chitskaya, YP Men'shikov, AP Nedorezova: Raite and zorite - new minerals from the Lovozero Tundra. In: Zapiski Vsesoyuznogo Mineralogicheskogo Obshchestva. Volume 102, 1973, Chapter 1, pp. 54-62 ( PDF 657 kB ; Russian)
↑ Find location list for Zorite in the Mineralienatlas and in Mindat

[StrunzNickel-1] 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. 639 .

[Datenblatt-2] Zorite , In: John W. Anthony, Richard A. Bideaux, Kenneth W. Bladh, Monte C. Nichols (Eds.): Handbook of Mineralogy, Mineralogical Society of America , 2001 ( PDF 71 kB )

[Merkov-Fleischer-3] Michael Fleischer (1973): New mineral names. In: American Mineralogist. Volume 58, pp. 1111–1115 ( PDF 558.3 kB ; Raite / Zorite from p. 3)

[Merkov-et-al-4] AN Mer'kov, IV Bussen, EA Goiko, EA Kul'chitskaya, YP Men'shikov, AP Nedorezova: Raite and zorite - new minerals from the Lovozero Tundra. In: Zapiski Vsesoyuznogo Mineralogicheskogo Obshchestva. Volume 102, 1973, Chapter 1, pp. 54-62 ( PDF 657 kB ; Russian)

[Fundorte-5] Find location list for Zorite in the Mineralienatlas and in Mindat