May 20 2014
Fedorite was named after Evgraf Stepanovich Fedorov (1853-1919), an eminent crystallographer at the Mining Institute, Russia. It was first discovered in the year 1965 at the Turii alkaline Massif, Kola Peninsula, Russia.
Properties of Fedorite
The key physical properties of Fedorite are as below:
- Cell Data
- Space group: C1
- a = 9.676(2)
- b = 16.706(1)
- c = 13.233(2)
- Z = 2
- Crystal Data
- Triclinic
- Point group: 1
- Crystals – pseudohexagonal tabular crystals resembling muscovite crystals, to 5cm
- X-ray powder pattern: 2.93 (100b), 2.97 (90), 1.826 (90b), 11.7 (80), 6.0 (80), 3.13 (80b), 4.21 (70)
- Chemical Composition
| Elements |
Content 1 |
| SiO2 |
62.99 |
| Al2O3 |
3.30 |
| CaO |
15.80 |
| Na2O |
8 |
| K2O |
3.80 |
| LOI |
5.33 |
- Optical Properties
- Transparent to translucent
- Optical class: Biaxial (-)
- Lustre: Vitreous, satiny, pearly
- Color: colorless, whitish to pale raspberry-red
- Estimated Properties
| Electron density |
Bulk density (electron density) = 2.52 g/cm3
note: Specific gravity of Fedorite = 2.51 g/cm3 |
| Photoelectric |
PEFedorite = 2.83 barns/electron
U=PEFedorite x ρelectron density = 7.12 barns/cm3 |
| Fermion index |
Fermion index = 0.01
Boson index = 0.99 |
Radioactivity
|
GRapi = 37.93 (Gamma Ray American Petroleum Institute Units)
Concentration of Fedorite per GRapi unit = 2.64 (%)
Estimated radioactivity from Fedorite is barely detectable
|
How to Identify Fedorite
The color of fedorite varies from colorless to whitish to pale raspberry-red. It exhibits a vitreous, satiny and pearly lustre.
Global Distribution
Fedorite is widely distributed in the following locations:
- Germany - from Rhineland-Platinate
- Russia - from Saha Republic, East Siberian region, and Turii Cape, Northern Region
Occurrence of Fedorite and Useful Mineral Association
Fedorite occurs in the fine veinlets in fenitized sandstone.
It is often associated with minerals such as quartz, narsarsukite, and apophyllite.
References