Muséum national d'histoire naturelle _ The species

FROM : Khran Balushistan, Pakistan
SIZE : 8.5 x 5 x 4 cm

This sample shows a singlecrystal of brookite on matrix. The crystal of brookite is of tabular form, it is red-brown and striated. With the light going through, one can see a dark ghost inside the crystal, with a shape of a water clock (clepsydre) inside this brookite.

This specimen, acquired thanks to support from Total was found near Khran Balushistan in Pakistan. This sample is kept today in the storage rooms of the collections of the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (i.e., not yet displayed to the public).

Photography and 3D view: A. Dahmane / Photo Saint-Hilaire ,
© MNHN.

SPECIE : Brookite

HISTORY : Species dedicated to Henry James Brooke (1771-1857), English mineralogist and cristallographer

Species first described in 1825 by Serve-Dieu Abailard (also called Armand) Lévy (1795-1841), French mineralogist

Type-locality: Twll Maen Grisial, Wales, UK

CHEMICAL FORMULA : TiO2
CRYSTAL SYSTEM : Orthorhombic
COLOR : Yellowish brown to dark brown, black
DIAPHANIETY : Opaque to transparent
LUSTER : Metallic to adamantine
STREAK : White to white-gray
MORPHOLOGY : Tabular crystals
HARDNESS : 5,5-6,0
DENSITY : 4,133

CHEMICAL CLASS : IV - Oxides and hydroxide
GROUP : Brookite
STRUNZ CLASS BEFORE 2001 : 4/D.15-10
STRUNZ CLASS AFTER 2001 : 4.DD.10

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