Studenitsite is a rare

borate mineral The Borate Minerals are minerals which contain a borate anion group. The borate (BO3) units may be polymerised similar to the SiO4 unit of the silicate mineral class. This results in B2O5, B3O6, B2O4 anions as well as more complex structures whic ...

with chemical formula of . Studenitsite has a vitreous luster, a

Mohs hardness The Mohs scale ( ) of mineral hardness is a qualitative ordinal scale, from 1 to 10, characterizing scratch resistance of mineral In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid substance with a fair ...

of 6 and color of light-dirty yellow. It is a

monoclinic In crystallography, the monoclinic crystal system is one of the seven crystal systems. A crystal system is described by three Vector (geometric), vectors. In the monoclinic system, the crystal is described by vectors of unequal lengths, as in t ...

mineral and belongs to the space group P2/c. The basic unit of the crystal structure layers has a

Miller index Miller indices form a notation system in crystallography for lattice planes in crystal (Bravais) lattices. In particular, a family of lattice planes of a given (direct) Bravais lattice is determined by three integers ''h'', ''k'', and ''� ...

of (001). Studenitsite has a low surface relief, which means the measure of the relative difference between the

index of refraction In optics, the refractive index (or refraction index) of an optical medium is the ratio of the apparent speed of light in the air or vacuum to the speed in the medium. The refractive index determines how much the path of light is bent, or refrac ...

of the mineral and surrounding medium is small.

Birefringence Birefringence, also called double refraction, is the optical property of a material having a refractive index that depends on the polarization and propagation direction of light. These optically anisotropic materials are described as birefrin ...

is the difference between two principal indices of refraction of a uniaxial crystal. Studenitsite has a maximum birefringent value of . Studenitsite has three indices of refraction. Their values are , , . Indices of refraction are the ratio of the light's speed in the mineral and the medium. Studenitsite is an extremely rare mineral that has only been found in the Piskaya deposit, Yarondolskii Basin, on the

Ibar River The Ibar ( sr-cyrl, Ибар, ), also known as the Ibër and Ibri (), is a river that flows through eastern Montenegro, northern Kosovo and central Serbia, with a total length of . The river begins in the Hajla mountain, in Rožaje, eastern Mo ...

, south of

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

, Serbia. The deposit is classified as a volcanogenic-sedimentary borate deposit with

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolinite, ). Most pure clay minerals are white or light-coloured, but natural clays show a variety of colours from impuriti ...

and

carbonate mineral Carbonate minerals are those minerals containing the carbonate ion, . Carbonate divisions Anhydrous carbonates *Calcite group: trigonal **Calcite CaCO3 **Gaspéite (Ni,Mg,Fe2+)CO3 **Magnesite MgCO3 **Otavite CdCO3 **Rhodochrosite MnCO3 **Sider ...

s. It occurs associated with

colemanite Colemanite (Ca2B6O11·5H2O) or (CaB3O4(OH)3·H2O) is a borate mineral found in evaporite deposits of alkaline lacustrine environments. Colemanite is a secondary mineral that forms by alteration of borax and ulexite. It was first described ...

howlite Howlite, a calcium borosilicate hydroxide ( Ca2 B5 Si O9(O H)5), is a borate mineral found in evaporite deposits.

ulexite Ulexite (), sometimes called TV rock or TV stone due to its unusual optical properties, is a hydrous borate hydroxide of sodium and calcium with the chemical formula . The mineral occurs as silky white rounded crystalline masses or in parall ...

and pentahydroborite. It is a rare but important mineral for understanding the volcanic settings in Western Serbia. It was named after the Studenica

cloister A cloister (from Latin , "enclosure") is a covered walk, open gallery, or open Arcade (architecture), arcade running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle (architecture), quadrangle or garth. The attachment of a cloister to a cat ...

near the discovery location.

References

{{reflist Calcium minerals Sodium minerals Phylloborates Monoclinic minerals Minerals in space group 14

See also

References