From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

Stellerite

Zeolite mineral

Field	Value
name	Stellerite
category	Tectosilicate minerals
group	Zeolite group, stilbite subgroup
image	Stellerite - Takat, Imilchil, Midelt Province, Drâa-Tafilalet Region, Morocco.jpg
imagesize	270px
formula	Ca(Al2Si7O18)·7H2O
IMAsymbol	Ste
strunz	9.GE.15
system	Orthorhombic
class	Dipyramidal (mmm)
H-M symbol: (2/m 2/m 2/m)
symmetry	Fmmm
color	Colorless to white, pink, orange
habit	Spherical, Stellate, Tabular
cleavage	Perfect on {010}
fracture	Uneven
mohs	4.5
luster	Pearly
opticalprop	Biaxial (-), a=1.4848, b=1.4864-1.4964, g=1.4979
birefringence	δ = 0.013
streak	white
gravity	approximately 2.2
density	2.13 g/cm3
diaphaneity	Transparent to translucent
references

H-M symbol: (2/m 2/m 2/m)

Stellerite is a rare mineral discovered by and named after Georg Wilhelm Steller, a German explorer and zoologist. The mineral has a general formula of Ca[Al2Si7O18]·7H2O. Like most rare minerals, there are few commercial uses for stellerite. Mineral collectors are lucky to find it in good enough crystal form. Zeolites, including stellerite, have been studied using a dehydration process to gauge the potential use of their phases as molecular sieves, sorbents, and catalysts. Its occurrences are in cavities of andesite as sheaf-like clusters of small crystals.

Crystal habit

Stellerite is part of the orthorhombic crystal system which means it has three axes of unequal length that intersect at 90° angles. Its crystal class is rhombic-dipyramidal which means it has three perpendicular two-fold rotational axes with perpendicular mirror planes. Stilbite, another zeolite, is very similar to stellerite in both chemical composition and physical appearance. Stellerite is more commonly found in rounded radiating clusters or as single crystals and appears more transparent than stilbite does.

Optical properties

Stellerite is an anisotropic mineral, meaning that it has different properties in different directions-such as indices of refraction-when light passes through it. A refractive index (n) measures the speed of light in a substance—or in the case of mineralogy—in a mineral. It is expressed as a ratio of the speed of light in vacuum to that in a mineral. Stellerite has three indices of refraction because it is a biaxial mineral.

References

Warr, L.N.. (2021). "IMA–CNMNC approved mineral symbols". Mineralogical Magazine.
(March 1939). "The relation of stellerite and epidesmine to stilbite". Mineralogical Magazine and Journal of the Mineralogical Society.
"Stellerite". National Library of Medicine.
(1 April 2006). "Influence of dehydration kinetics on T-O-T bridge breaking in zeolites with framework type STI: The case of stellerite". American Mineralogist.
(1 January 1985). "Neutron single crystal diffraction study of an Australian Stellerite". Zeolites.
"Index of Refraction." Encyclopedia Americana. Grolier Online http://ea.grolier.com/article?id=0213810-00 (accessed May 2, 2010)

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.

aluminium-minerals calcium-minerals stilbite-subgroup orthorhombic-minerals minerals-in-space-group-69

Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about Stellerite — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report