Muséum national d'histoire naturelle _ The species

FROM : Aurangabad, India
SIZE : 5.5 x 3.8 x 2.5 cm

This sample has pink salmon lamellar crystals of epistilbite. They are associated with stellerite and microcrystallized calcite.

The sample comes from Aurangabad in India. Acquired thanks to support from Total, it 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: A. Dahmane / Photo Saint-Hilaire, © MNHN.

SPECIE : Epistilbite

HISTORY : Name inspired by the Greek word "επι" [epi] meaning "almost" and from "σiτλβεν" [stilbein] meaning "sparkling"

Species described in 1826 by Gustav Rose (1798-1873), German mineralogist

Type-locality: Teigarhorn, Berufjördur, Iceland

CHEMICAL FORMULA : Ca Al2 Si6O16 5H2O
CRYSTAL SYSTEM : Monoclinic
COLOR : Colorless, white, pinkish yellowish
DIAPHANIETY : Transparent to translucent
LUSTER : Vitreous
STREAK : White
MORPHOLOGY : Tabular crystals, prismatic. Radial aggreagates
HARDNESS : 4
DENSITY : 2,266

CHEMICAL CLASS : VIII - Silicates
GROUP : Mordenite-bikitaite
STRUNZ CLASS BEFORE 2001 : 8/J.22-40
STRUNZ CLASS AFTER 2001 : 9.GD.05

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Epistilbite

Epistilbite

MNHN N°198.11

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