Rhodonite
- Pajsbergit
The mineral rhodonite ( also Pajsbergit ) is a rarely occurring chain silicate mineral from the class of " silicate and germanate ". It crystallizes in the triclinic crystal system and usually develops granular to massive mineral aggregates from pink to red, brownish red or greyish-yellow color, which are often crossed by black manganese oxide veins. Tabular to columnar, at the corners often rounded crystals are more likely to be rare variants education.
Chemistry
According to the official data sheet for the chemical composition of rhodonite with ( Mn2 , Fe2 , Mg, Ca) SiO 3 is specified. However, this does not correspond to the International Mineralogical Association (IMA ) recognized composition ( Mn2 ) SiO 3 ( p 242 ), but which corresponds to the composition of the Pyroxmangit (p. 236).
Etymology and history
The name " Rhodonite " is derived from the ancient Greek language.
The word occurs there in the Attic dialect as ῥόδον [r ʰ Odon ] or the aiolischen dialect βρόδον [br Odon ʰ ] " Rose ( nduft ) " and is already in Mycenaean Greek as
The mineral was first described scientifically in 1819 by Christoph Friedrich Jasche, who named it because of its color after the Greek word for rose. As a type locality of the references point Schävenholz applies to Elbingerode ( resin).
Classification
In the old ( 8th edition ) and new classification of minerals according to Strunz ( 9th edition ) of rhodonite is part of the Department of " chain silicates and phyllosilicates ( inosilicates ) ". The new Strunz'sche Mineral classification divided here but now more precise on the design and structure of the silicate chains and the mineral is in accordance with the division of the " chains and chain silicates with 5- periodic single chains ".
The commonly used in English-speaking classification of minerals according to Dana assigns the rhodonite in the department of " chain silicates with simple, unbranched chains, W = 1 with chains P = 5", where he served as Leitmineral together with Babingtonit, Manganbabingtonit, Nambulit, Natronambulit, Marsturit, Lithiomarsturit and Scandiobabingtonit forms the sub-division of Rhodonitgruppe.
Modifications and varieties
As Fowlerit Rhodonite be called with a brownish or yellowish tinge, as they were found, among others, in Franklin / New Jersey.
Education and Locations
Rhodonite forms mainly in manganese-rich metamorphic rocks, but may also by hydrothermal processes in ore veins occur. Accompanying minerals include Alleghanyite, calcite, Franklinite, galaxite, galena, grunerite, magnetite, various manganese oxides, Spessartine, tephroite and willemite.
So far, Rhodonite was detected at around 700 localities (as of 2009), including, inter alia in Argentina; in several counties of New South Wales in Australia; Municipality of Todos Santos in Bolivia; Bahia, Paraíba and Minas Gerais in Brazil; Bulgaria; several regions of China; Costa Rica; Bavaria ( Spessart ), Hesse (Odenwald ), Lower Saxony ( resin ), Rhineland -Palatinate ( Eife ) and Saxony- Anhalt ( resin ) in Germany; Vaasa in Finland; Lorraine Midi -Pyrenees in France; Greece; England and Wales in the United Kingdom; India; Indonesia; in several regions of Italy; Hokkaido, Honshu, Kyushu, Shikoku and on the Nansei Islands in Japan; Canada; Kyrgyzstan; Toliara in Madagascar; several regions of Mexico; at Grootfontein in Namibia; Otago in New Zealand; North Korea; Norway; several regions of Peru; on the Philippine island of Luzon; in Castro Verde, Portugal; to each Fund several points of the regions Carinthia, Salzburg, Styria and Tyrol in Austria; Romania; several regions of Russia; Saudi Arabia; several regions of Sweden; Graubünden in the Swiss cantons, Uri and Wallis; Banská Bystrica and Košice in Slovakia; South Africa; Andalusia and Catalonia in Spain; Taiwan; Bohemia in the Czech Republic; Turkey; as well as in many regions of the United States.
Crystal structure
Rhodonite crystallizes in the triclinic space group C1 with the lattice parameters a = 9.8381 Å; b = 10.5361 Å; c = 12.2381 Å; α = 108.697 °; β = 103.335 ° and γ = 82.191 ° and 20 formula units per unit cell.
Use as a gemstone
Rhodonite is processed for precious stones and comes in ground form of table stones, Cabochonen and beads for necklaces or other arts and crafts items in the trade. Transparent varieties also get a bevelled edge.
Depending on the hue and quality in terms of purity and transparency may be confused with other minerals such as pink, but mostly white striped rhodochrosite; also the pink to red Thulit, a manganese-containing variety of zoisite; chemically identical Pyroxmangit; the garnet minerals such as spessartite and hessonite; the red spinel and Turmalinvarietäten.
Esoteric
In the esoteric Rhodonite is considered a healing stone with influence on the Sacral chakra and and to relieve pain and soothing. Depending on the source it is associated with the zodiac sign Taurus or Cancer. Scientific evidence for the effectiveness, however, are not available.