Kainite Mineral Data

[Newest Minerals] [Equipment] [Analytical Services] [About Us] [Mineral Gallery] [eBay Store]
See Also: [Diamond Crystals] [Mineral News] [Hudson Institute] [Minerals on CDROM]
Rare Minerals, Meteorites, Equipment and Analytical Services
Excalibur Mineral Company, World leaders in the supply of rare species
Serving the scientific and collector communities since 1974

General Kainite Information

Chemical Formula:

MgSO4•KCl•3(H2O)

Composition:

Molecular Weight = 248.97 gm

Potassium 15.70 % K 18.92 % K₂O

Magnesium 9.76 % Mg 16.19 % MgO

Hydrogen 2.43 % H 21.71 % H₂O

Sulfur 12.88 % S 32.16 % SO₃

Chlorine 14.24 % Cl 14.24 % Cl

- % Cl -3.21 % -O=Cl₂

Oxygen 44.98 % O

______ ______

100.00 % 100.00 % = TOTAL OXIDE

Empirical Formula:

Mg(SO₄)KCl•3(H₂O)

IMA Status:

Valid Species (Pre-IMA) 1865

Locality:

Link to MinDat.org Location Data.

Name Origin:

From the Greek kainos, meaning "contemporary."

Name Pronunciation:

Kainite

Synonym:

ICSD 26003

PDF 25-660

Kainite Image

Images:

Kainite Szaibelyite

Comments: pale violet granular kainite intermixed with white ascharite (szaibelyite).
Location: Havesa, Empelde, Hannover, Niedersachsen, Germany. Scale: See Photo.
© Jeff Weissman / Photographic Guide to Mineral Species

Kainite Crystallography

Axial Ratios:

a:b:c =1.215:1:0.5871

Cell Dimensions:

a = 19.72, b = 16.23, c = 9.53, Z = 16; beta = 94.92° V = 3,038.89 Den(Calc)= 2.18

Crystal System:

Monoclinic - PrismaticH-M Symbol (2/m) Space Group: C 2/m

$Help on X Ray Diffraction:$ X Ray Diffraction:

By Intensity(I/I_o): 7.372(1), 3.08(0.86), 7.771(0.83),

Forms:

Mouse
Dbl Clk - Start-Stop Rotation
RMB - Cycle Display Modes
Drag1 - Manipulate Crystal
Drag2 - Resize
Keyboard
S - Stereo
I - Indicies
<space> - Start-Stop Rotation
F - Fit to Screen
M - Menu
Help on Above

Forms: ( 0 1 0) ( 4 2 1) ( 4 2 1) ( 1 0 0) ( 0 0 1)

Warning: this large pop-up is very compute intensive and may not work well with some computers.

Crystal Structure:

Mouse
drag1 - LMB Manipulate Structure
drag2 - RMB Resize/Rotate
Keyboard
S - Stereo Pair on/off
H - Help Screen
I - Data Info
A - Atoms On/Off
P - Polyhedra On/Off
B - Bonds On/Off
Help on Above

Robinson P D , Fang J H , Ohya Y , American Mineralogist , 57 (1972) p.1325-1332, The crystal structure of kainite

Physical Properties of Kainite

Cleavage:

{001} Good

Color:

Blue, Colorless, Violet, Gray, Gray blue.

Density:

2.1

Diaphaneity:

Transparent to Translucent

Fracture:

Conchoidal - Fractures developed in brittle materials characterized by smoothly curving surfaces, (e.g. quartz).

Habit:

Encrustations - Forms crust-like aggregates on matrix.

Habit:

Massive - Granular - Common texture observed in granite and other igneous rock.

Hardness:

3 - Calcite

Luster:

Vitreous - Greasy

Streak:

white

Optical Properties of Kainite

Gladstone-Dale:

CI meas= 0.019 (Excellent) - where the CI = (1-KPDmeas/KC)
CI calc= 0.055 (Good) - where the CI = (1-KPDcalc/KC)
KPDcalc= 0.2317,KPDmeas= 0.2405,KC= 0.2452
Ncalc = 1.51 - 1.53

Optical Data:

Biaxial (-), a=1.494, b=1.505, g=1.516, bire=0.0220, 2V(Calc)=88, 2V(Meas)=90.

Calculated Properties of Kainite

Electron Density:

Bulk Density (Electron Density)=2.13 gm/cc
note: Specific Gravity of Kainite =2.10 gm/cc.

Fermion Index:

Fermion Index = 0.01
Boson Index = 0.99

Photoelectric:

PE_Kainite= 3.49 barns/electron
U=PE_Kainite x r_electron= 7.41 barns/cc.

Radioactivity:

GRapi = 229.33 (Gamma Ray American Petroleum Institute Units)
Concentration of Kainite per GRapi unit = 0.44 (%)

Estimated Radioactivity from Kainite - barely detectable

Kainite Classification

Dana Class:

31.07.01.01 (31)Hydrated Sulfates Containing Hydroxyl or Halogen

(31.07)where (A+ B++)2 (XO4) Zq·x(H2O)

(31.07.01)Dana Group

31.07.01.01 Kainite MgSO4•KCl•3(H2O) C 2/m 2/m

Strunz Class:

07.DF.10 07 - SULFATES (SELENATES, TELLURATES)

07.D - Sulfates (selenates, etc.) with additional anions, with H2O

07.DF -With large and medium-sized cations

07.DF.10 Kainite MgSO4•KCl•3(H2O) C 2/m 2/m

Other Kainite Information

References:

NAME( Duda&Rejl90) PHYS. PROP.(Enc. of Minerals,2nd ed.,1990) OPTIC PROP.(Ford32)

See Also:

Links to other databases for Kainite :
1 - Am. Min. Crystal Structure Database
2 - Athena
3 - EUROmin Project
4 - Ecole des Mines de Paris
5 - GeoScienceWorld
6 - Google Images
7 - Google Scholar
8 - Handbook of Mineralogy (MinSocAm)
9 - Handbook of Mineralogy (UofA)
10 - MinDAT
11 - Mineralienatlas (Deutsch)
12 - Online Mineral Museum
13 - QUT Mineral Atlas
14 - Ruff.Info
15 - WWW-MINCRYST

Search for Kainite using:

[AOL] [Bing] [Dog Pile] [GeoScienceWorld] [HotBot] [Ixquick] [Lycos] [MAMMA] [Scirus] [Teoma] [WebCrawler] [Wikipedia] [YAHOO]

Visit our Advertisers for Kainite :

B and L Fine Minerals
Dakota Matrix Minerals
Dan & Diana Weinrich Mineral Auctions
Excalibur Mineral Corp.
Exceptional Minerals
John Betts Fine Minerals
Mineral News
Mineral of the Month Club
NY/NJ Gem & Mineral Show
TIMA Mineral Analyzer
Weinrich Minerals, Inc.
Wright's Rock Shop

Ask about Kainite here :
Ask-A-Mineralogist from the Mineralogical Society of America
Mindat.org's Discussion Groups
Original Rockhounds Discussion Group
Rockhounds Discussion Group on Yahoo Groups
Mineral Discussion Forum from Fabre Minerals - also available in Español

Print or Cut-and-Paste your Kainite Specimen Label here :

Kainite

MgSO4•KCl•3(H2O)
Dana No: 31.07.01.01 Strunz No: 07.DF.10
Locality:

Notes: