Middlebackite

Last updated
Middlebackite
General
Category Organic mineral
Formula
(repeating unit)
Cu2C2O4(OH)2
IMA symbol Mbk [1]
Crystal system Monoclinic
Crystal class 2/m - Prismatic
Identification
Color Turquoise

Middlebackite is an organic mineral with the formula Cu2C2O4(OH)2. It was first discovered within a boulder from the Iron Monarch quarry in South Australia in June 1990. [2] Peter Elliott from the University of Adelaide, Australia, identified the structure of the mineral 25 years later. He determined its crystal structure through single-crystal X-ray diffraction using synchrotron radiation. Elliot named the mineral for the Middleback Range where it originated. [3] In 2018 middlebackite was found in Val di Fiemme, Italy, during researches that brought to the discovery of a new mineral named fiemmeite. [4]

Localities

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mineral</span> Crystalline chemical element or compound formed by geologic processes

In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid substance with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Talc</span> Hydrated magnesium phyllosilicate mineral

Talc, or talcum, is a clay mineral composed of hydrated magnesium silicate, with the chemical formula Mg3Si4O10(OH)2. Talc in powdered form, often combined with corn starch, is used as baby powder. This mineral is used as a thickening agent and lubricant. It is an ingredient in ceramics, paints, and roofing material. It is a main ingredient in many cosmetics. It occurs as foliated to fibrous masses, and in an exceptionally rare crystal form. It has a perfect basal cleavage and an uneven flat fracture, and it is foliated with a two-dimensional platy form.

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

Tourmaline is a crystalline silicate mineral group in which boron is compounded with elements such as aluminium, iron, magnesium, sodium, lithium, or potassium. This gemstone comes in a wide variety of colors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Garnet</span> Mineral, semi-precious stone

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pyrite</span> Iron (II) disulfide mineral

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Malachite</span> Mineral variety of copper carbonate

Malachite is a copper carbonate hydroxide mineral, with the formula Cu2CO3(OH)2. This opaque, green-banded mineral crystallizes in the monoclinic crystal system, and most often forms botryoidal, fibrous, or stalagmitic masses, in fractures and deep, underground spaces, where the water table and hydrothermal fluids provide the means for chemical precipitation. Individual crystals are rare, but occur as slender to acicular prisms. Pseudomorphs after more tabular or blocky azurite crystals also occur.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Azurite</span> Copper carbonate mineral

Azurite is a soft, deep-blue copper mineral produced by weathering of copper ore deposits. During the early 19th century, it was also known as chessylite, after the type locality at Chessy-les-Mines near Lyon, France. The mineral, a basic carbonate with the chemical formula Cu3(CO3)2(OH)2, has been known since ancient times, and was mentioned in Pliny the Elder's Natural History under the Greek name kuanos (κυανός: "deep blue," root of English cyan) and the Latin name caeruleum. Copper (Cu2+) gives it its blue color.

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

Cummingtonite is a metamorphic amphibole with the chemical composition (Mg,Fe2+
)
2
(Mg,Fe2+
)
5
Si
8
O
22
(OH)
2
, magnesium iron silicate hydroxide.

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

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

Seamanite, named for discoverer Arthur E. Seaman, is a rare manganese boron phosphate mineral with formula Mn3[B(OH)4](PO4)(OH)2. The yellow to pink mineral occurs as small, needle-shaped crystals. It was first discovered in 1917 from a mine in Iron County, Michigan, United States and identified in 1930. As of 2012, seamanite is known from four sites in Michigan and South Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roscoelite</span> True mica, phyllosilicate mineral

Roscoelite is a green mineral from the mica group that contains vanadium.

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

Matlockite is a rare lead halide mineral, named after the town of Matlock in Derbyshire, England, where it was first discovered in a nearby mine. Matlockite gives its name to the matlockite group which consists of rare minerals of a similar structure.

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

Shigaite is a mineral with formula NaAl3(Mn2+)6(SO4)2(OH)18·12H2O that typically occurs as small, hexagonal crystals or thin coatings. It is named for Shiga Prefecture, Japan, where it was discovered in 1985. The formula was significantly revised in 1996, identifying sodium as a previously unknown constituent.

Gatehouseite is a manganese hydroxy phosphate mineral with formula Mn5(PO4)2(OH)4. First discovered in 1987, it was identified as a new mineral species in 1992 and named for Bryan M. K. C. Gatehouse (born 1932). As of 2012, it is known from only one mine in South Australia.

Arsenoclasite (originally arsenoklasite) is a red or dark orange brown mineral with formula Mn5(AsO4)2(OH)4. The name comes from the Greek words αρσενικόν (for arsenic) and κλάσις (for cleavage), as arsenoclasite contains arsenic and has perfect cleavage. The mineral was discovered in 1931 in Långban, Sweden.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Waterhouseite</span> Hydroxy manganese phosphate mineral

Waterhouseite, Mn7(PO4)2(OH)8, is a hydroxy manganese phosphate mineral. It is a medium-soft, brittle mineral occurring in pseudo-orthorhombic monoclinic bladed crystals and orange-brown to dark brown in color. Waterhouseite is on the softer side with a Mohs hardness of 4, has a specific gravity of 3.5 and a yellowish-brown streak. It is named after Frederick George Waterhouse, first director of the South Australian Museum, as well as recognizes the work Waterhouse Club has done in support of the South Australian Museum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abellaite</span> Hydrous carbonate mineral

Abellaite is a hydrous carbonate mineral discovered in the abandoned Eureka uranium mine in the village of Torre de Capdella (Lleida province), Catalonia, Spain. The ideal chemical formula of abellaite is NaPb2(CO3)2(OH). It is named in honor of Joan Abella i Creus, a Catalan gemmologist who has long studied minerals from the Eureka mine and first found abellaite in the mine. A team composed, among others, by Jordi Ibáñez-Insa from the Institute of Earth Sciences Jaume Almera (CSIC) and by Joan Viñals and Xavier Llovet from the University of Barcelona, identified and characterized the mineral’s structure and chemical composition.

Marklite is a hydrated copper carbonate mineral named after Gregor Markl, a German mineralogist at the University of Tübingen. Markl found the type specimen of marklite in the dumps of the Friedrich-Christian mine in the Black Forest Mountains in southwestern Germany. Markl specializes in crustal petrology and geochemistry and has studied the hydrothermal ore deposits of the Black Forest area. Jakub Plášil of the Institute of Physics at the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic and colleagues identified its structure.

The phosphate sulfates are mixed anion compounds containing both phosphate and sulfate ions. Related compounds include the arsenate sulfates, phosphate selenates, and arsenate selenates.

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. "Middlebackite: Middlebackite mineral information and data". www.mindat.org. Retrieved 2017-09-01.
  3. "Carbon Mineral Challenge Update Spring 2016: Four New Minerals Found". Carbon Mineral Challenge. Retrieved 2017-09-01.
  4. Demartin, Francesco; Campostrini, Italo; Ferretti, Paolo; Rocchetti, Ivano (2018). "Fiemmeite Cu2(C2O4)(OH)2∙2H2O, a New Mineral from Val di Fiemme, Trentino, Italy". Minerals. 8 (6): 248. doi: 10.3390/min8060248 . hdl: 2434/583094 .