Wardsmithite Mineral Data

Wardsmithite Mineral Data +

General Wardsmithite Information

Chemical Formula:

Ca5MgB24O42·30(H2O)

Composition:

Molecular Weight = 1,696.57 gm

Calcium 11.81 % Ca 16.53 % CaO

Magnesium 1.43 % Mg 2.38 % MgO

Boron 15.29 % B 49.24 % B₂O₃

Hydrogen 3.56 % H 31.86 % H₂O

Oxygen 67.90 % O

______ ______

100.00 % 100.00 % = TOTAL OXIDE

Empirical Formula:

Ca₅MgB₂₄O₄₂·30(H₂O)

Environment:

Continental borate-bearing evaporite deposits.

IMA Status:

Approved IMA 1970

Locality:

Furnace Creek district, Inyo County, and Boron, Kern County, California, USA Link to MinDat.org Location Data.

Name Origin:

Named for Ward C. Smith (1906-), U. S. Geologist.

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Wardsmithite Crystallography

Crystal System:

HexagonalSpace Group: Unk

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

By Intensity(I/I_o): 13.5(1), 12.3(0.62), 6.12(0.55),3.36(0.5), 4.72(0.4), 2.74(0.3), 6.73(0.2), 7.43(0.2),

Physical Properties of Wardsmithite

Cleavage:

[0001] Good

Color:

Colorless, White.

Density:

1.88

Diaphaniety:

Transparent

Habit:

Microscopic Crystals - Crystals visible only with microscopes.

Habit:

Nodular - Tuberose forms having irregular protuberances over the surface.

Hardness:

2.5 - Finger Nail

Luster:

Vitreous (Glassy)

Streak:

white

Optical Properties of Wardsmithite

Gladstone-Dale:

CI meas= -0.013 (Superior) - where the CI = (1-KPDmeas/KC)
KPDmeas= 0.2569,KC= 0.2536

Optical Data:

Uniaxial (-), e=1.476, w=1.49, bire=0.0140.

Calculated Properties of Wardsmithite

Electron Density:

r_electron=1.92 gm/cc
note: r_Wardsmithite=1.88 gm/cc.

Fermion Index

Fermion Index = 0.03235
Boson Index = 0.96765

Photoelectric:

PE_Wardsmithite= 1.72 barns/electron
U=PE_Wardsmithite x r_electron= 3.32 barns/cc.

Radioactivity:

GRapi = 0 (Gamma Ray American Petroleum Institute Units)

Wardsmithite is Not Radioactive

Wardsmithite Classification

Dana Class:

26.7.7.1 (26)Hydrated Borates Containing Hydroxyl or Halogen

(26.7)Dana Type

(26.7.7)Dana Group

26.7.7.1 Wardsmithite Ca5MgB24O42·30(H2O) Unk Hex

Strunz Class:

V/H.12-30 V - Nitrates, Carbonates and Borates

V/H - Group borates. Planary and tetrahedral groups [B3O5]1- to [B6O10]2-

V/H.12 - Halurgite - Eketerinite series

V/H.12-10 Halurgite Mg2[B4O5(OH)4]2·(H2O) P 2/c 2/m

V/H.12-20 Hungchaoite MgB4O5(OH)4·7(H2O) P1 1

V/H.12-30 Wardsmithite Ca5MgB24O42·30(H2O) Unk Hex

V/H.12-40 Ekaterinite Ca2B4O7(Cl,OH)2·2(H2O) C6 6

Other Wardsmithite Information

References:

PHYS. PROP.(Enc. of Minerals,2nd ed.,1990) OPTIC PROP.(Enc. of Minerals,2nd ed.,1990)

See Also:

Links to other databases for Wardsmithite :
1 -Am. Min. Crystal Structure Database 2 -Athena 3 - EUROmin Project 4 -Google Images 5 -Google Scholar 6 -Handbook of Mineralogy (UofA) 7 -MinDAT 8 -MinMax(Deutsch) 9 -MinMax(English) 10 -Mineralienatlas (Deutsch) 11 -QUT Mineral Atlas 12 -École des Mines de Paris

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Wardsmithite

Ca5MgB24O42·30(H2O)
Dana No: 26.7.7.1 Strunz No: V/H.12-30
Locality:

Notes: