Oct 11 2013
Barringtonite was first discovered in Barrington Tops, NSW, Australia. The mineral was named after its place of discovery.
Properties of Barringtonite
The following are the key properties of Barringtonite:
- Cell Data
- Space Group: P1 or P1
- a = 9.155
- b = 6.202
- c = 6.092
- α = 94°00'
- β = 95°32'
- γ = 108°42'
- Z = [4]
- Crystal Data
- Triclinic
- Point Group: 1 or 1
- As needles and radiating fibers, to 0.03 mm, in nodular incrustations
- X-ray Powder Pattern: 8.682 (vs), 3.093 (vs), 2.936 (vs), 6.087 (s), 5.816 (s), 2.495 (s), 2.309 (s)
- Chemical Composition
| Elements |
Content 1 |
Content 2 |
Content 3 |
| CO2 |
34.8 |
36.5 |
36.57 |
| H2O |
33.4 |
30 |
29.94 |
| MgO |
31.8 |
33.5 |
33.49 |
| Total |
100 |
100 |
100 |
- Optical Properties
- Optical Class: Biaxial (+)
- Orientation: Length-slow
- α = 1.458
- β = 1.473
- γ = 1.501
- 2V(meas.) = 68°–80°
- 2V(calc.) = 73°44'
- Estimated Properties
| Electron density |
Bulk density (electron density)=2.62 g/cm3
note: Specific gravity of Barringtonite =2.54 g/cm3 |
| Photoelectric |
PEBarringtonite = 0.67 barns/electron
U= PEBarringtonite x ρ Electron density= 1.76 barns/cm3 |
| Fermion index |
Fermion index = 0.02
Boson index = 0.98 |
| Radioactivity |
Barringtonite is not radioactive |
How to Identify Barringtonite
Barringtonite is a colorless transparent mineral having distinct cleavage and white streak. The mineral can be observed as fibrous, nodular or radial crystals. The density of barringtonite is 2.83 g/cm3.
Global Distribution
Barringtonite is widely distributed in the Rainbow Falls, Sempill Creek, Barrington Tops, New South Wales, Australia.
Occurrence of Barringtonite and Useful Mineral Association
Barringtonite is formed by leaching of magnesium from olivine basalt under a waterfall by meteoric water. It is closely associated with nesquehonite.
References