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Sylvite



Sylvite

Sylvite
General
CategoryHalide Mineral
Chemical formulaKCl
Identification
Molecular Weight74.55 gm
ColorColorless, Grey, White...
Crystal habitMassive to crystaline
Crystal systemIsometric - Hexoctahedral
CleavagePerfect on the [100], [010], [001]
Fractureuneven
TenacityBrittle
Mohs Scale hardness2.5
LusterVitreous
Refractive indexn = 1.4903
Optical PropertiesIsotropic
PleochroismVisible in colored crystals
Ultraviolet fluorescenceNone
Streakwhite
Density1.993 g/cm3
DiaphaneityTransparent to Translucent
References[1][2]

    Sylvite is potassium chloride (KCl) in natural mineral form. It forms crystals in the isometric system very similar to normal rock salt, halite (NaCl). (The two are, in fact, isomorphous. [3] Sylvite is colorless to white with shades of yellow and red due to inclusions. It has a Mohs hardness of 2.5 and a specific gravity of 1.99. It has a refractive index of n=1.490) [4]. Sylvite has a salty taste with a distinct bitterness.

Sylvite is one of the last evaporite minerals to precipitate out of solution. As such, it is only found in very dry saline areas. Its principal use is as a potassium fertilizer.

Sylvite is found in many evaporite deposits worldwide. Massive bedded deposits occur in New Mexico and western Texas, and in Utah in the US, but the largest world source is in Saskatchewan, Canada. The vast deposits in Saskatchewan, Canada were formed by the evaporation of a Devonian seaway. Sylvite is the official mineral of Saskatchewan.

Sylvite was first described in 1832 at Mt. Vesuvius near Napoli in Italy and named for the Dutch chemist, François Sylvius de le Boe (1614-1672).

See also

References

  1. ^ http://www.mindat.org/show.php?id=3850&ld=1&pho=
  2. ^ http://webmineral.com/data/Sylvite.shtml
  3. ^ Klein, Cornelis and Cornelius S. Hurlbut, Jr. 1993. Manual of Mineralogy after J.D. Dana, 21st edition. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
  4. ^ Deer, W.A., R.A. Howie, and J. Zussman. 1992. An Introduction to the Rock-Forming Minerals 2nd ed. New York: Prentice Hall.
 
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Sylvite". A list of authors is available in Wikipedia.
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