Muséum national d'histoire naturelle _ The species

FROM : Lake Georges, Colorado, USA
SIZE : 7 x 6.5 x 5 cm

This sample shows brown lamellar crystals of goethite on a whitish crystal of quartz. It measures 7 x 6.5 x 5 cm.

This specimen, acquired thanks to support from Total, comes from Lake Georges area in Colorado, USA. It is 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.
3D view: Alain Dahmane / Photo Saint-Hilaire, © MNHN.

SPECIE : Goethite

HISTORY : Species dedicated to J.W von Goethe (1749-1832), German poet, naturalist and philosopher

Species first described in 1806 by Johann Georg Lenz, German professor of mineralogy (1745-1832)

Type-locality: Hollerter Zug, Kirchen Rheinland, Germany

CHEMICAL FORMULA : Fe3+ O(OH)
CRYSTAL SYSTEM : Orthorhombic
COLOR : Brown blackish, black
DIAPHANIETY : Opaque
LUSTER : Adamantine to metallic
STREAK : Yellow, orange, brown
MORPHOLOGY : Prismatic and striated crystals. More often aggregates of acicular crystals
HARDNESS : 5,0-5,5
DENSITY : 4,18

CHEMICAL CLASS : IV - Oxides and hydroxide
GROUP : Diaspore
STRUNZ CLASS BEFORE 2001 : 4/F.06-30
STRUNZ CLASS AFTER 2001 : 4.FD.10

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Goethite

Goethite

MNHN N°193.49

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