Fluckite
| Fluckite | |
|---|---|
| General | |
| Category | Arsenate mineral |
| Formula (repeating unit) | CaMnH2(AsO4) 2·2H2O [1] |
| Space group | Triclinic |
| Identification | |
| Color | Colorless, Light to Dark Pink |
| Crystal habit | Crystals prismatic, typically radiating to spherulitic |
| Cleavage | (010) Perfect, (100) Good, (101) Indistinct |
| Mohs scale hardness | 3.5-4 |
| Luster | glassy |
| Streak | white |
| Density | 3.05 |
| Optical properties | Biaxial (+), probable. α = 1.618 β = 1.627 γ= 1.642 2V(meas.) = Very large. |
| Refractive index | translucent |
| Birefringence | 0.024 |
| References | [1][2][3],[4] |
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Fluckite is a mineral with the chemical formula CaMnH2(AsO4) 2·2H2O [5]
Fluckite is named after the minerologist Pierre Fluck of Louis Pasteur University in Strasbourg, France.[6] Fluckite's mineral crystallography is triclinic meaning that it has three vectors of unequal length and three different interior angles that do not equal 90°. [7] Because Fluckite possesses three axes with different angles and lengths it is an anisotropic mineral which allows light to pass through when exposed to lane polarized light. This mineral is a member of the P space group. Optically, this mineral forms biaxial positively birefringent crystals(Birefringence). Positive biaxial birefringence describes behavior of light entering the mineral such that the light splits into two velocities based upon the index of refraction and the slow ray of the two bisects the acute angle formed by the optical axes. [8] Fluckite possesses moderate optical relief which is the degree to which the mineral stands out from the mounting medium. [9] The mineral was found in the Gabe-Gottes Mine in france at 100m. [10] The mineral contains Arsenic in the form of Arsenate HAsO4 As(V). Arsenic has a myriad of uses "metallurgy, wood preservation, painting, medicine, pest control, and as an additive to chicken feed, where it increases growth," as well as a strong and common poison. [11] This form of arsenate is often found in groundwater from deep wells and is a toxic substance.
References
- ^ a b http://www.mindat.org/min-1564.html
- ^ http://www.webmineral.com/data/Fluckite.shtml
- ^ http://www.mineralatlas.com/mineral%20general%20descriptions/F/fluckitepcd.htm
- ^ http://www.handbookofmineralogy.com/pdfs/fluckite.pdf
- ^ Mindat website. Accessed September 16, 2010.
- ^ webmineral website. Accessed September 16, 2010.
- ^ *M. Fleischer, L.J. Cabri, G.Y. Chao, A. Pabst (1980) New Mineral Names*, American Mineralogist, 65,1065-1070.
- ^ http://www.handbookofmineralogy.com/pdfs/fluckite.pdf
- ^ http://www.mindat.org/min-1564.html
- ^ *M. Fleischer, L.J. Cabri, G.Y. Chao, A. Pabst (1980) New Mineral Names*, American Mineralogist, 65,1065-1070.
- ^ *L. R. Croal, J.A. Gralnick, D. Malasarn, D.K. Newman. (2004) The Genetics of Geochemistry*, Annual Review of Genetics, 38, 175-202.
- M. Fleischer, L.J. Cabri, G.Y. Chao, A. Pabst (1980) New Mineral Names*, American Mineralogist, 65,1065-1070.
- L. R. Croal, J.A. Gralnick, D. Malasarn, D.K. Newman. (2004) The Genetics of Geochemistry*, Annual Review of Genetics, 38, 175-202.
- Y. T. He, A. G. Fitzmaurice, A. Bilgin, S. Choi, P. O’Day, J. Horst, J. Harrington, H. J. Reisinger, D. R. Burris J. G. Hering (2010) Geochemical processes controlling arsenic mobility in groundwater; a case study of arsenic mobilization and natural attenuation*, Applied geochemistry 25(1), 69.