Witherite

Witherite is a barium carbonate mineral, BaCO₃, in the aragonite group.^[1] Witherite crystallizes in the orthorhombic system and virtually always is twinned.^[1] The mineral is colorless, milky white, grey, pale yellow, green, to pale brown. The specific gravity is 4.3, which is high for a non-metallic mineral. It fluoresces light blue under both long and short-wave UV and is phosphorescent under short-wave UV light.^[2]

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Witherite forms in low temperature hydrothermal environments. It is commonly associated with fluorite, celestine, galena, barite, calcite and aragonite. Witherite occurrences include: Cave-in-Rock, Illinois, USA; Alston Moor, Anglezarke, Cumberland and Durham, England; Thunder Bay area, Ontario, Canada and Germany.

Witherite was named for William Withering (1741-1799) an English physician and naturalist.^[3]

See also

• List of minerals
• List of minerals named after people

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Witherite mindat.org
2. ^ The Mineral Witherite Mineral Galleries
3. ^ General Witherite Information Webmineral.com