Muséum national d'histoire naturelle _ The species

FROM : Irai, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
SIZE : 8 x 6 x 5.5 cm

This sample shows white and transparent crystals of calcite with a scrachted termination, in violett amethyst crystals. The dimensions are 8 x 6 x 5.5 cm.

It comes from Irai in the Brazilian area of Rio Grande do Sul and was acquired thanks to support from Total. Two samples are brought together under the same inventory number.

It is today kept in the storage rooms of the collections of the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle (i.e., not yet displayed to the public).

Photography : Louis-Dominique Bayle, © MNHN.

SPECIE : Calcite

HISTORY : Name inspired from the Latin word "calx" meaning burned chalk

Species first described in 1836 by Johann Karl Freiesleben (1774-1846), officer of the mines of Saxony

Type-locality: undefined because species already known from the Ancients
ANCIENT NAME : Spath d'Islande, chaux carbonatée

CHEMICAL FORMULA : Ca CO 3
CRYSTAL SYSTEM : Rhomboedric
COLOR : Colorless, white, color depending on inclusions
DIAPHANIETY : Transparent to opaque
LUSTER : Vitreous, pearly
STREAK : White
MORPHOLOGY : Well-formed crystals common, forming concretions
HARDNESS : 3,0
DENSITY : 2,71

CHEMICAL CLASS : V - Carbonates, nitrates
GROUP : Calcite
STRUNZ CLASS BEFORE 2001 : 5/B.02-20
STRUNZ CLASS AFTER 2001 : 5.AB.05

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MNHN N°194.28

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