Harmotome

Harmotome, also known by the names Andreasbergolith mining or Kreuzzeolith, is a rarely occurring mineral from the mineral class of silicates and Germanates. It crystallizes in the monoclinic crystal system with the chemical composition Ba2 ( Si12Al4 ) O32 • 12H2O and most developed prismatic, complex intergrown crystal twins, but also granular to massive mineral aggregates, either white colorless to or by admixtures of formal foreign ions yellowish, reddish or brownish can be colored.

Harmotome belongs to the large family of zeolites, more precisely the Blätterzeolithen.

Etymology and history

The name Harmotome is composed of the Greek words

• ἁρμός / ʰ ARMOS / " merge ", whose root ἀρ - reduplicated in ἀραρίσκω / ararískɔ ː / " ( zusammen-/an ) add " - is as Mycenaean. fem part. perf. / ararui̯a / " the joined ", related to the Latin artus " member " ars "art" and ai. / ɽtá / ɽtú / - is to be found

And

• " cut ( ab-/zer ) break " τομή / tomɛ ː / "cut" of τέμνω / TEmn ɔ ː / ( is in Mycenaean. / Temenos / " divided off ( holy ) land " and < du- ru -to -mo > / drutómos / " wood precipitating " ), whose roots τεμ-/τεμε-/τμη- in Latin templum "temple" and vlt. TEMNO " despise " occur.

Translation assembled sections refers to the nature of the typical twinning. Harmotome usually occurs in columnar twins, which coincide the principal axes of the two individuals, but the corresponding out perpendicular directions intersect, so the macro diagonal of the one with the Brachydiagonale of the other coincident so that the crystals in the ground plan in the form of a cross. This characteristic also led to the synonym Kreuzzeolith.

The second synonym Andreasbergolith refers to the type locality Sankt Andreas mountain in the Upper Harz, where Harmotome was first discovered in 1801. Was first described by René -Just Haiiy.

Classification

In the old ( 8th edition ) and new classification of minerals according to Strunz ( 9th edition ) of the Harmotome belongs to the department of " framework silicates ( tectosilicates ) ". The old Strunz'sche Mineral classification assigns the mineral there also the " zeolite group - Blätterzeolithe ". The new framework silicates, however, the maps, however, more specific to the type of framework structure, so that the Harmotome is to be found there in the subdivision of the framework silicates with " double chains of four connected rings ".

The classification of minerals according to Dana assigns the mineral also the Gerüstsilicaten to, or more precisely the "framework silicates of the zeolite group." There it is found in the Gismondingruppe and related species of the sub-division of "real zeolites ".

Education and Locations

Apart from its type locality Sankt Andreas Berg Harmotome was in Germany nor in Immendingen in Baden- Württemberg, ground corn and Waldeck in Bavaria, at Obereisenhausen, Hausen near Giessen, clean home ( Roßdorf ) and Oberwiddersheim in Hesse, in the Eifel in North Rhine -Westphalia, in the Hunsrück Rhineland -Palatinate, on the Great Horst found in Saarland, in the Ore Mountains of Saxony and the Thuringian Forest.

Worldwide, the mineral has been (as of 2009) discovered more than 220 localities, so among other things, Tasmania (Australia ); in several places of England, Scotland and Wales in Great Britain; in several regions of Italy; on Honshu in Japan; British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec in Canada; on the north and south islands of New Zealand; Kongsberg ( Buskerud ), Nittedal ( Akershus ), in Oslo, in Sør -Trøndelag and at Sjoa in Norway; Mandl on the stone, the Hohe Tauern and Styria in Austria; in Russian Siberia; Bohemia and Moravia in the Czech Republic; in the small area Bátonyterenye in Hungary; as well as in many regions of the United States.

Crystal structure

Harmotome crystallizes in the monoclinic crystal system, space group P 21 / m with lattice parameters a = 9.8688 Å; b = 14.1295 Å, c = 8.7092 Å and β = 124.74 °, and four formula units per unit cell.