Muséum national d'histoire naturelle _ The species

FROM : Nasik, Maharashtra, India
SIZE : 18 x 20.2 cm; diametre 13.5 cm

This specimen is a triated-fibrous sphere of white crystals of mesolite on a matrix of white stilbite. Sphere measures 13.5 cm in diameter, it is almost complete. Mesolite crystals have flat terminations and are transparent.

This sample comes from Nasik in India. The support from Total enables its acquisition. This sample is currently exposed in the Treasure Room, within the Gallery of Mineralogy of the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle.

Photography: Louis-Dominique Bayle, © MNHN.
3D view: Alain Dahmane / Photo Saint-Hilaire, © MNHN.

SPECIE : Mesolite

HISTORY : Name inspired by the Greek word "μεσοσ" [mesos] meaning the "centre". Name given to mark the transition between natrolite et scolecite

Species first described in 1816 by Johann Nepomuk Fuchs (1774-1856) and Adolf Ferdinand Gehlen (1775-1815 ), German chemists and mineralogists

Type-locality: Faroe Islands, Denmark

CHEMICAL FORMULA : Na2 Ca2 Al6 Si9 O30 8H2O
CRYSTAL SYSTEM : Orthorhombic
COLOR : Colourless, white, gray, yellowish
DIAPHANIETY : Transparent to translucent
LUSTER : Vitreous to silky
STREAK : White
MORPHOLOGY : Prismatic crystals, elongated, fibreous aggregates
HARDNESS : 5
DENSITY : 2,27

CHEMICAL CLASS : VIII - Silicates
GROUP : Natrolite
STRUNZ CLASS BEFORE 2001 : 8/J.21-50
STRUNZ CLASS AFTER 2001 : 9.GA.05

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Mesolite

Mesolite

MNHN N°203.47

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