Input interpretation
alstonite (mineral) | bismutite (mineral)
Images
Images
General properties
| alstonite | bismutite alternate names | bicalcareocarbonate of barytes | bromlite | agnesite | bismuthite | bismuthospharite | bismutosparite | bismutosphaerite | carbonate of bismuth | normannite | bismuth spar formula | BaCa(CO_3)_2 | Bi_2(CO_3)O_2 discovery year | 1841 | 1841
Basic properties
| alstonite | bismutite density | 3.7 g/cm^3 | 7 g/cm^3 transparency | transparent | translucent | transparent | translucent birefringence | 0.146 | 0.145 luster | vitreous | vitreous | pearly | dull | earthy Mohs hardness | 4.25 | 3 streak | white | gray magnetism | nonmagnetic | nonmagnetic color | colorless | gray | white | pink | brown | brownish yellow | green | gray | yellow fracture | uneven | molar mass | 297.4 g/mol | 510 g/mol
Units
Mineral identifiers
| alstonite | bismutite Strunz ID | V/B.04-50 | V/C.09-20 Dana ID | 14.2.5.1 | 16a.3.5.1
Crystallographic properties
| alstonite | bismutite crystal system | triclinic | orthorhombic crystal class | 1 | -1 | mm2 unit cell volume | 1326 Å^3 (cubic ångströms) | 204.1 Å^3 (cubic ångströms) d-spacing | 3.55 Å (ångströms) | 2.507 Å (ångströms) | 2.05 Å (ångströms) | 1.62 Å (ångströms) | 2.14 Å (ångströms) | 2.95 Å (ångströms) intensity | 100% | 35% | 23% | 100% | 100% | 100% molecules per unit cell | 10 molecules per cell | 2 molecules per cell 2V angle | 7 π/180 radians≈7° (degrees) | refractive indices | 1.526 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.135 | 2.135 | 2.28 | 0 | 0 | 0 dispersion | r > v | weak | unit cell lengths | 17.38 Å (ångströms) | 14.4 Å (ångströms) | 6.123 Å (ångströms) | 3.865 Å (ångströms) | 3.862 Å (ångströms) | 13.68 Å (ångströms) unit cell angles | 90.35° (degrees) | 90.12° (degrees) | 120.1° (degrees) | 90° (degrees) | 90° (degrees) | 90° (degrees)
Wikipedia summary
Alstonite
Alstonite, also known as bromlite, is a low temperature hydrothermal mineral that is a rare double carbonate of calcium and barium with the formula BaCa(CO 3) 2, sometimes with some strontium. Barytocalcite and paralstonite have the same formula but different structures, so these three minerals are said to be trimorphous. Alstonite is triclinic but barytocalcite is monoclinic and paralstonite is trigonal. The species was named bromlite by Thomas Thomson in 1837 after the Bromley-Hill mine, and alstonite by August Breithaupt of the Freiberg Mining Academy in 1841, after Alston, Cumbria, the base of operations of the mineral dealer from whom the first samples were obtained by Thomson in 1834. Both of these names have been in common use.
Bismutite
Bismutite or bismuthite is a bismuth carbonate mineral with formula Bi_2(CO_3)O_2 (bismuth subcarbonate). Bismutite occurs as an oxidation product of other bismuth minerals such as bismuthinite and native bismuth in hydrothermal veins and pegmatites. It crystallizes in the orthorhombic system and typically occurs as earthy to fibrous masses.