Banalsite

Last updated
Banalsite
General
Category Tectosilicate
Formula
(repeating unit)
BaNa2Al4Si4O16
IMA symbol Bns [1]
Strunz classification 9.FA.60
Crystal system Orthorhombic
Crystal class Pyramidal (mm2)
H-M symbol: (mm2)
Space group Iba2
Unit cell a = 8.496(2)  Å,
b = 9.983(2) Å,
c = 16.755(3) Å; Z = 4
Identification
ColorWhite
Crystal habit Rarely showing traces of crystal faces; coarsely crystalline to compact, massive
Cleavage Good on {110} and {001}
Mohs scale hardness6.5
Luster Vitreous, pearly on cleavage
Streak White
Diaphaneity Translucent to transparent
Specific gravity 3.065
Optical propertiesBiaxial (+)
Refractive index nα = 1.570 nβ = 1.571 nγ = 1.578
2V angle Measured: 41°, Calculated: 52°
References [2] [3] [4] [5]

Banalsite is a rare barium, sodium aluminium silicate mineral with formula: BaNa2Al4Si4O16. Banalsite is a tectosilicate of the feldspar group.

Banalsite and its strontium analogue, stronalsite (SrNa2Al4Si4O16), constitute a complete solid solution series. [6] In addition limited solid solution with calcium exists between these and lisetite: CaNa2Al4Si4O16. [7]

It was first described in 1944 for an occurrence in the Benallt Mine, Rhiw, Llanfaelrhys, Lleyn Peninsula, Gwynedd (Caernarvonshire), Wales. [4] The name is derived from the chemical symbols of its composition. It has also been reported from Långban, Värmland, Sweden and from the Kalahari manganese field, Cape Province, South Africa. [3] It has recently been reported from the nepheline syenites of the Zhidoy massif, Eastern Sayan, Siberia, Russia; the Prairie Lake complex of alkaline rocks and carbonatites, Superior Alkaline Province, northwestern Ontario, Canada; the Pilansberg peralkaline complex, South Africa; the Sakharjok alkaline complex in the Kola Alkaline Province, Kola Peninsula of northwestern Russia (the Gremyakha–Vyrmes peralkaline complex, and the Turiy Mys complex of ultramafic–alkaline rocks and carbonatites). [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Syenite</span> Intrusive igneous rock

Syenite is a coarse-grained intrusive igneous rock with a general composition similar to that of granite, but deficient in quartz, which, if present at all, occurs in relatively small concentrations. Some syenites contain larger proportions of mafic components and smaller amounts of felsic material than most granites; those are classed as being of intermediate composition. The extrusive equivalent of syenite is trachyte.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nepheline syenite</span> Holocrystalline plutonic rock

Nepheline syenite is a holocrystalline plutonic rock that consists largely of nepheline and alkali feldspar. The rocks are mostly pale colored, grey or pink, and in general appearance they are not unlike granites, but dark green varieties are also known. Phonolite is the fine-grained extrusive equivalent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fayalite</span> Iron end-member of olivine, a nesosilicate mineral

Fayalite is the iron-rich end-member of the olivine solid-solution series. In common with all minerals in the olivine group, fayalite crystallizes in the orthorhombic system with cell parameters a 4.82 Å, b 10.48 Å and c 6.09 Å.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eudialyte</span> Cyclosilicate mineral

Eudialyte, whose name derives from the Greek phrase Εὖ διάλυτος, eu dialytos, meaning "well decomposable", is a somewhat rare, nine member ring cyclosilicate mineral, which forms in alkaline igneous rocks, such as nepheline syenites. Its name alludes to its ready solubility in acid.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arfvedsonite</span> Sodium amphibole mineral

Arfvedsonite is a sodium amphibole mineral with composition: [Na][Na2][(Fe2+)4Fe3+][(OH)2|Si8O22]. It crystallizes in the monoclinic prismatic crystal system and typically occurs as greenish black to bluish grey fibrous to radiating or stellate prisms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aegirine</span> Member of the clinopyroxene group of inosilicate mineral

Aegirine is a member of the clinopyroxene group of inosilicate minerals. Aegirine is the sodium endmember of the aegirine-augite series. Aegirine has the chemical formula NaFeSi2O6 in which the iron is present as Fe3+. In the aegirine-augite series the sodium is variably replaced by calcium with iron(II) and magnesium replacing the iron(III) to balance the charge. Aluminium also substitutes for the iron(III). Acmite is a fibrous, green-colored variety.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aenigmatite</span> Sapphirine supergroup, single chain inosilicate mineral

Aenigmatite, also known as Cossyrite after Cossyra, the ancient name of Pantelleria, is a sodium, iron, titanium inosilicate mineral. The chemical formula is Na2Fe2+5TiSi6O20 and its structure consists of single tetrahedral chains with a repeat unit of four and complex side branches. It forms brown to black triclinic lamellar crystals. It has Mohs hardness of 5.5 to 6 and specific gravity of 3.74 to 3.85. Aenigmatite forms a solid-solution series with wilkinsonite, Na2Fe2+4Fe3+2Si6O20.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hauyne</span>

Hauyne or haüyne, also called hauynite or haüynite, is a tectosilicate sulfate mineral with endmember formula Na3Ca(Si3Al3)O12(SO4). As much as 5 wt % K2O may be present, and also H2O and Cl. It is a feldspathoid and a member of the sodalite group. Hauyne was first described in 1807 from samples discovered in Vesuvian lavas in Monte Somma, Italy, and was named in 1807 by Brunn-Neergard for the French crystallographer René Just Haüy (1743–1822). It is sometimes used as a gemstone.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lorenzenite</span> Sodium titanium silicate mineral

Lorenzenite is a rare sodium titanium silicate mineral with the formula Na2Ti2Si2O9 It is an orthorhombic mineral, variously found as colorless, grey, pinkish, or brown crystals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zektzerite</span>

The mineral zektzerite is a member of the tuhualite group and was first found in 1966 by Seattle mineralogist Benjamin Bartlett "Bart" Cannon. It was discovered in the Willow creek basin below Silver Star mountain in miarolitic cavities within the alkaline arfvedsonite granite phase of the Golden Horn batholith, Okanogan County, Washington. It is named for Jack Zektzer, mathematician and mineral collector of Seattle, Washington.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Loparite-(Ce)</span> Oxide mineral

Loparite-(Ce) is a granular, brittle oxide mineral of the perovskite class. It is black to dark grey and may appear grey to white in reflected light on polished thin section with reddish brown internal reflections. It has the chemical formula of (Ce,Na,Ca)(Ti,Nb)O3. Nioboloparite is a variation of Loparite-(Ce) containing niobium.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edingtonite</span> Zeolite mineral

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kaersutite</span> Calcic titanium bearing amphibole mineral

Kaersutite is a dark brown to black double chain calcic titanium bearing amphibole mineral with formula: NaCa2(Mg3Ti4+Al)(Si6Al2)O22(O)2.

Kochite is a rare silicate mineral with chemical formula of (Na,Ca)3Ca2(Mn,Ca)ZrTi[(F,O)4(Si2O7)2] or double that. Kochite is a member of the rosenbuschite group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vlasovite</span>

Vlasovite is a rare inosilicate (chain silicate) mineral with sodium and zirconium, with the chemical formula Na2ZrSi4O11. It was discovered in 1961 at Vavnbed Mountain in the Lovozero Massif, in the Northern Region of Russia. The researchers who first identified it, R P Tikhonenkova and M E Kazakova, named it for Kuzma Aleksevich Vlasov (1905–1964), a Russian mineralogist and geochemist who studied the Lovozero massif, and who was the founder of the Institute of Mineralogy, Geochemistry, and Crystal Chemistry of Rare Elements, Moscow, Russia.

Dualite is a very rare and complex mineral of the eudialyte group, its complexity being expressed in its formula Na
30
(Ca,Na,Ce,Sr)
12
(Na,Mn,Fe,Ti)
6
Zr
3
Ti
3
MnSi
51
O
144
(OH,H
2
O,Cl)
9
. The formula is simplified as it does not show the presence of cyclic silicate groups. The name of the mineral comes from its dual nature: zircono- and titanosilicate at once. Dualite has two modules in its structure: alluaivite one and eudialyte one. After alluaivite and labyrinthite it stands for third representative of the eudialyte group with essential titanium.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cerianite-(Ce)</span> Oxide mineral

Cerianite-(Ce) is a relatively rare oxide mineral, belonging to uraninite group with the formula (Ce,Th)O
2
. It is one of a few currently known minerals containing essential tetravalent cerium, the other examples being stetindite and dyrnaesite-(La).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kola Alkaline Province</span> Alkaline-ultramafic rock complexes in the Kola Peninsula

The Kola Alkaline Province or Kola Alkaline Carbonatite Province is a discontiguous group of unusual igneous rocks centered in the Kola Peninsula of Russia and with ouliers in nearby areas of Finland and in Arkhangelsk Oblast across the White Sea. The province is made up of alkaline-ultramafic rock complexes often associated to carbonatites and stand-alone dykes and pipes made up of carbonatites, kimberlites and similar rocks. To this it adds the large nepheline syenite bodies of the Lovozero Massif and the Khibiny Mountains. An estimate puts the total volume of the rocks of the Kola Alkaline Province at 15,000 ±2,700 km3.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Freudenbergite</span> Oxide mineral

Freudenbergite is a mineral that is named in honor of Wilhelm Freudenberg, palaeontologist at the University of Tübingen and the University of Göttingen, and curator for mineralogy and geology at the National Collections of Natural History in Karlsruhe. He studied Katzenbuckel rocks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wöhlerite</span> Silicate mineral

Wöhlerite, also known as wöehlerite is a member of the amphibole supergroup, and the wöhlerite subgroup within it. It was named after German chemist Friedrich Wöhler. It was first described by Scheerer in 1843, but the crystal structure was later solved by Mellino & Merlino in 1979. Once approved, it was grandfathered by the IMA.

References

  1. Warr, L.N. (2021). "IMA–CNMNC approved mineral symbols". Mineralogical Magazine. 85 (3): 291–320. Bibcode:2021MinM...85..291W. doi: 10.1180/mgm.2021.43 . S2CID   235729616.
  2. Mineralienatlas
  3. 1 2 http://rruff.geo.arizona.edu/doclib/hom/banalsite.pdf Handbook of Mineralogy
  4. 1 2 http://www.mindat.org/min-504.html Mindat.org
  5. http://www.webmineral.com/data/Banalsite.shtml Webmineral data
  6. Liferovich, Ruslan P., et al., The Crystal Structure of Stronalsite and a Redetermination of the Structure of Banalsite, The Canadian Mineralogist, Vol. 44, pp. 533-546 (2006)
  7. 1 2 Liferovich, Ruslan P., et al., Paragenesis and Composition of Banalsite, Stronalsite, and Their Solid Solution in Nepheline Syenite and Ultramafic Alkaline Rocks, The Canadian Mineralogist, Vol. 44, pp. 929-942 (2006)