Amarantite
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Amarantite is an amaranth-red to brownish mineral with the general formula of Fe3+2O(SO4)2·7H2O or Fe3+SO4(OH)·3H2O. The name comes from the Greek word αμάραντος which means amaranth, an imaginary undying red flower, in allusion to its color.Amarantite data on Webmineral
/ref> Amarantite is
triclinic 180px, Triclinic (a ≠ b ≠ c and α ≠ β ≠ γ ) In crystallography, the triclinic (or anorthic) crystal system is one of the 7 crystal systems. A crystal system is described by three basis vectors. In the triclinic system, the crystal i ...
, which means crystallographically, it has only one symmetry fold. It must be rotated 360 degrees to be exactly the same. Due to it being triclinic it falls into the biaxial optical class, the axis degrees do not equal 90 degrees and the sides of each axis are not the same length.Alpers, C.N., Jember, J.L. and, Nordstrom, D.K.(2000) ''Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry'' (volume 40) ''Sulfate Minerals: Crystallography, Geochemisrty, and Environmental Significance'' Amarantite is anisotropic,Amarantite on Mindat.org
/ref> which means, the velocity of light varies with crystallographic direction, and there is more than one refractive index.Klein, C. and C. S. Hurlbut, Jr. (1985) ''Manual of Mineralogy,'' Wiley, 20th ed., p. 236 Amarantite is a very rare mineral and can only be found in a couple of places such as Carocoles, Chile. Although it is a source of iron, there is not enough amarantite to be mined for iron. However, when found in crystal form its red orange color gives it value as a collectors item.


References

{{Reflist *Palache, C., Berman, H., & Frondel, C. (1951), ''The System of Mineralogy of James Dwight Dana and Edward Salisbury Dana,'' Yale University 1837-1892, Volume II. John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York, 7th edition, revised and enlarged, 1124 pp.: 611-613. Iron(III) minerals Sulfate minerals Triclinic minerals Minerals in space group 2