Earlandite,
a3(C6H5O7)2(H2O)2·2H
2O, is the mineral form of
calcium citrate
Calcium citrate is the calcium salt of citric acid. It is commonly used as a food additive ( E333), usually as a preservative, but sometimes for flavor. In this sense, it is similar to sodium citrate. Calcium citrate is also found in some ...
tetrahydrate. It was first reported in 1936 and named after the English microscopist and
oceanographer
Oceanography (), also known as oceanology, sea science, ocean science, and marine science, is the scientific study of the ocean, including its physics, chemistry, biology, and geology.
It is an Earth science, which covers a wide range of top ...
Arthur Earland FRSE
Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and Literature, letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". ...
. Earlandite occurs as warty fine-grained nodules ca. 1 mm in size in bottom sediments of the
Weddell Sea
The Weddell Sea is part of the Southern Ocean and contains the Weddell Gyre. Its land boundaries are defined by the bay formed from the coasts of Coats Land and the Antarctic Peninsula. The easternmost point is Cape Norvegia at Princess Martha C ...
, off
Antarctica
Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...
.
[ Its crystal symmetry was first assigned as orthorhombic, then as monoclinic, and finally as triclinic.][
]
References
{{Reflist, refs=
Bibliography
*Palache, P.; Berman H.; Frondel, C. (1960). "''Dana's System of Mineralogy, Volume II: Halides, Nitrates, Borates, Carbonates, Sulfates, Phosphates, Arsenates, Tungstates, Molybdates, Etc. (Seventh Edition)"'' John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York, pp. 1105-1106.
Calcium minerals
Organic minerals
Triclinic minerals
Minerals in space group 2
Minerals described in 1936