| Urusovite | |
|---|---|
 Numerous small brown crystals of thermaerogenite on colourless to white langbeinite with light blue urusovite, iron-black tenorite and minor green ericlaxmanite | |
| General | |
| Category | Arsenate mineral |
| Formula | CuAlAsO5 |
| IMA symbol | Uusv [1] |
| Strunz classification | 8.BB.60 |
| Dana classification | 38.05.09.02 |
| Crystal system | Monoclinic |
| Crystal class | Prismatic (2/m) (same H-M symbol) |
| Space group | P21/c |
| Unit cell | a = 7.314 Å, b = 10.223 Å c = 5.576 Å; β = 99.79°; Z = 4 |
| Identification | |
| Color | Light green |
| Cleavage | Perfect |
| Fracture | Brittle |
| Mohs scale hardness | 4 |
| Luster | Vitreous (glassy) |
| Streak | White |
| Diaphaneity | Translucent |
| Optical properties | Biaxial (−) |
| Refractive index | nα = 1.672 nβ = 1.718 nγ = 1.722 |
| Birefringence | δ = 0.050 |
| Dispersion | r > v strong |
| References | [2] [3] |
Urusovite is a rare copper aluminium arsenate mineral with formula: CuAlAsO5. It is a monoclinic-prismatic light green mineral.
Its type locality and only reported occurrence is in the Novaya fumarole, Second scoria cone, North Breach, Great Fissure eruption, Tolbachik volcano, Kamchatka Oblast', Far-Eastern Region, Russia. [2] [3] It was named after Vadim Sergeevich Urusov, crystal chemist of Moscow State University. [4] It was approved by the International Mineralogical Association in 1998. [2]
