Edingtonite

Edingtonite
Edingtonite from Ice River Alkaline Complex, Golden Mining Division, British Columbia, Canada
General
Category Tectosilicate
Formula
(repeating unit)		 BaAl2Si3O10·4H2O
Strunz classification 9.GA.15
Crystal system Orthorhombic, some are tetragonal
Identification
Mohs scale hardness 4 - 5
Optical properties Biaxial (-)
Refractive index nα = 1.538 nβ = 1.549 nγ = 1.554
Birefringence δ = 0.016
2V angle Calculated: 66°
References [1][2]

Edingtonite is a white, gray, brown, colorless, pink or yellow zeolite mineral. Its chemical formula is BaAl2Si3O10·4H2O. It has varieties with tetragonal, orthorhombic or triclinic crystals.[3]

Whilst some claim it was named after Scottish mineral collector James Edington (1787–1844),[2] most sources (including the knowledgeable mineralogist Haidinger) credit Thomas Edington FRSE (1814-1859), a Scottish geologist and mineralogist of greater fame.[4] But since the mineral was named in 1825, the former accreditation must be the true one.[5]

References

  1. ↑ Edingtonite mineral data from Webmineral
  2. 1 2 Edingtonite mineral data from Mindat.org
  3. ↑ Richard V. Gaines, H. Catherine W. Skinner, Eugene E. Foord, Brian Mason, and Abraham Rosenzweig: "Dana's new mineralogy", pp. 1683-1684. John Wiley & Sons, 1997
  4. ↑ Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783–2002 (PDF). The Royal Society of Edinburgh. July 2006. ISBN 0 902 198 84 X.
  5. ↑ Wilhelm Karl von Haidinger, "Description of Edingtonite, a New Mineral Species", in The Edinburgh Journal of Science, vol. iii, octobre 1825, pp. 316–320

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