Chemistry:Sonolite

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Sonolite
Zincite-Manganosite-Sonolite-21568.jpg
Sonolite (in bottom left corner) with zincite and manganosite
General
CategorySilicate minerals
Formula
(repeating unit)
Mn9(SiO4)4(OH,F)2
Strunz classification9.AF.55
Dana classification52.3.2d.3
Crystal systemMonoclinic
Crystal classPrismatic (2/m)
(same H-M symbol)
Space groupP21/b[1]
Unit cella = 4.87 Å, b = 10.66 Å
c = 14.28 Å
β = 100.3°, Z = 2[1]
Identification
ColorRed-orange, pinkish brown to dark brown
Colorless in thin section[1]
TwinningCommon, singular or lamellar on {101}[1]
Mohs scale hardness5.5
|re|er}}Vitreous, dull
DiaphaneityTransparent to translucent[2]
Density3.82–4.00 (measured)[1]
Optical propertiesBiaxial (−)
Refractive indexnα = 1.765
nβ = 1.778
nγ = 1.787
Birefringenceδ = 0.022
2V angle75° to 82° (measured)
Dispersionr > v[1]
References[3]

Sonolite is a mineral with formula Mn9(SiO4)4(OH,F)2. The mineral was discovered in 1960 in the Sono mine in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. In 1963, it was identified as a new mineral and named after the Sono mine.

Description

Sonolite is transparent to translucent[2] and is red-orange, pinkish brown to dark brown in color and colorless in thin sections. The mineral has a granular habit or occurs as prismatic to anhedral crystals up to 2.5 cm (0.98 in).[1] Sonolite is the manganese analogue of clinohumite,[5] a dimorph of jerrygibbsite,[1] and a member of the humite group.[3]

The mineral occurs in metamorphosed manganese-rich deposits. Sonolite has been found in association with calcite, chlorite, franklinite, galaxite, manganosite, pyrochroite, rhodochrosite, tephroite, willemite, and zincite.[1]

History

In 1960, Mayumi Yoshinaga was investigating alleghanyite and other manganese orthosilicates in Japan. He discovered a dull, red-brown mineral on the first level ore body of the Sono Mine, and later from a number of other sites.[5] Using samples from ten locations in Japan and one in Taiwan, the mineral was described in 1963 and identified as a new mineral species.[6] It was named sonolite after the mine in which it was first found and the name was approved by the International Mineralogical Association.[3][5]

Distribution

(As of 2012), sonolite has been found in Austria, France, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Romania, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, and the United States.[3] The type material is held at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, US.[1]

References

Bibliography

Further reading

External links