Muséum national d'histoire naturelle _ The species

FROM : Mogok, Burma
SIZE : 5 x 1.6 x 0.9 cm

This isolated crystal of enstatite is greenish yellow but its colour changes to orangeish yellow following the exposure of the crystal (pleochroism).

It measures 5 x 1.6 x 0.9 cm and comes from Mogok in Burma.

Acquired thanks to support from Total, 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 : Enstatite

HISTORY : Name inspired by the Greek word "ενστατεσ" [enstates] meaning resistant, en relation to its infusibility

Species first described in 1855 by Gustav Adolf Kenngott (1818-1897), Swiss mineralogist

Type-locality: Berge Zdjar, Moravia, Czech Republic

CHEMICAL FORMULA : Mg2Si2O6
CRYSTAL SYSTEM : Orthorhombic
COLOR : White, grayish, greenish, green-olive, brown
DIAPHANIETY : Transparent to opaque
LUSTER : Vitreux to pearly
STREAK : White to grayish
MORPHOLOGY : Prismatic crystals, lamellars, fibrous or massive
HARDNESS : 5,0-6,0
DENSITY : 3,189

CHEMICAL CLASS : VIII - Silicates
GROUP : Enstatite
STRUNZ CLASS BEFORE 2001 : 8/F.02-10
STRUNZ CLASS AFTER 2001 : 9.DA.05

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Enstatite

MNHN N°206.145

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