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Cavansite

Calcium vanadium phyllosilicate mineral

Field	Value
name	Cavansite
category	Phyllosilicate minerals
boxbgcolor	#506dc9
boxtextcolor	#fff
image	Cavansite-121680.jpg
imagesize	260px
caption	Cavansite on heulandite
formula	Ca(VO)Si4O10·4(H2O)
IMAsymbol	Cav
system	Orthorhombic
class	Dipyramidal (mmm)
H–M Symbol: (2/m 2/m 2/m)
symmetry	Pcmn
unit cell	a = 9.792(2) Å,
b = 13.644(3) Å,
c = 9.629(2) Å; Z = 4
color	Brilliant sky-blue to greenish blue
habit	Radiating acicular prismatic crystals commonly as spherulitic rosettes
cleavage	Good on {010}
tenacity	Brittle
mohs	3 - 4
luster	Vitreous, pearly
refractive	nα = 1.542(2) nβ = 1.544(2) nγ = 1.551(2)
opticalprop	Biaxial (+)
2V	Measured: 52°
birefringence	δ = 0.009
pleochroism	Visible: X=Z= colorless Y= blue
streak	Bluish-white
gravity	2.25 - 2.33
diaphaneity	Transparent
references

H–M Symbol: (2/m 2/m 2/m) b = 13.644(3) Å, c = 9.629(2) Å; Z = 4

Cavansite, named for its chemical composition of calcium vanadium silicate**, is a deep blue hydrous calcium vanadium phyllosilicate mineral, occurring as a secondary mineral in basaltic and andesitic rocks along with a variety of zeolite minerals. Its blue coloring comes from vanadium, a metal ion. Discovered in 1967 in Malheur County, Oregon, cavansite is a relatively rare mineral. It is polymorphic with the even rarer mineral, pentagonite. It is most frequently found in Pune, India, and in the Deccan Traps, a large igneous province.

Uses of cavansite

Although cavansite contains vanadium, and could thus be a possible ore source for the element, it is not generally considered an ore mineral. However, because of its rich color and relative rarity, cavansite is a sought-after collector's mineral.

Associated minerals

Members of the apophyllite group
Members of the zeolite group, particularly stilbite
babingtonite, Ca2Fe2Si5O14OH
quartz, SiO2
calcite, CaCO3
pentagonite, Ca(VO)Si4O10 · 4(H2O)

Notes for identification

Cavansite is a distinctive mineral. It tends to form crystal aggregates, generally in the form of balls, up to a couple centimeters in size. Sometimes, the balls are coarse enough to resolve individual crystals. Rarely, cavansite forms bowtie-shaped aggregates. The color of cavansite is distinctive, almost always a rich, bright blue. The color is the same as its dimorph, pentagonite, but the latter is generally much more spikey with bladed crystals. Finally, the associated minerals aid identification, as cavansite is frequently found atop a matrix of zeolites or apophyllites.

References

Warr, L.N.. (2021). "IMA–CNMNC approved mineral symbols". Mineralogical Magazine.
[https://www.mineralienatlas.de/lexikon/index.php/MineralData?lang=en&language=english&mineral=Cavansite Mineralienatlas]
[https://rruff.info/doclib/hom/cavansite.pdf Handbook of Mineralogy]
[http://www.mindat.org/min-921.html Mindat]
[http://webmineral.com/data/Cavansite.shtml Cavansite Mineral Data], Mineralogy Database webmineral.com
"Minerals Colored by Metal Ions".

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

calcium-minerals minerals-in-space-group-62 orthorhombic-minerals phyllosilicates vanadium-minerals vanadyl-compounds

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