Berlinite is a rare phosphate mineral. It has the same crystal structure as quartz

Quartz

Quartz is the second-most-abundant mineral in the Earth's continental crust, after feldspar. It is made up of a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall formula SiO2. There are many different varieties of quartz,...

 with a low temperature polytype

Polymorphism (materials science)

Polymorphism in materials science is the ability of a solid material to exist in more than one form or crystal structure. Polymorphism can potentially be found in any crystalline material including polymers, minerals, and metals, and is related to allotropy, which refers to chemical elements...

 isostructural with α–quartz and a high temperature polytype isostructural with β–quartz. Berlinite can vary from colourless to greyish or pale pink and has translucent crystals.

It was first described in 1868 for an occurrence in the Västanå

Västanå

Västanå is a village situated in Bromölla Municipality, Skåne County, Sweden with 130 inhabitants in 2005.-Västanå iron mine:In 1800 an iron ore deposit was discovered and mining began in 1804. Till the closure in 1917, 1500 tonnes of iron ore were mined. Several new minerals were discovered in...

 iron mine, Scania

Scania

Scania is the southernmost of the 25 traditional non-administrative provinces of Sweden, constituting a peninsula on the southern tip of the Scandinavian peninsula, and some adjacent islands. The modern administrative subdivision Skåne County is almost, but not totally, congruent with the...

, Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

 and named for Nils Johan Berlin

Nils Johan Berlin

Nils Johan Berlin was a Swedish chemist and physician. He became a professor of chemistry at the University of Lund in 1845. In 1862 the university offered him the position in the medical department which he accepted. Berlin was a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences from 1844...

 (1812–1891) of Lund University

Lund University

Lund University , located in the city of Lund in the province of Scania, Sweden, is one of northern Europe's most prestigious universities and one of Scandinavia's largest institutions for education and research, frequently ranked among the world's top 100 universities...

.

It occurs as a rare mineral in high-temperature hydrothermal or metasomatic

Metasomatism

Metasomatism is the chemical alteration of a rock by hydrothermal and other fluids.Metasomatism can occur via the action of hydrothermal fluids from an igneous or metamorphic source. In the igneous environment, metasomatism creates skarns, greisen, and may affect hornfels in the contact...

 deposits. Associated minerals include augelite

Augelite

Augelite is an aluminium phosphate mineral with formula: Al23. The shade varies from colorless to white, yellow or rose. Its crystal system is monoclinic....

, attakolite, kyanite

Kyanite

Kyanite, whose name derives from the Greek word kuanos sometimes referred to as "kyanos", meaning deep blue, is a typically blue silicate mineral, commonly found in aluminium-rich metamorphic pegmatites and/or sedimentary rock. Kyanite in metamorphic rocks generally indicates pressures higher than...

, pyrophyllite

Pyrophyllite

Pyrophyllite is a phyllosilicate mineral composed of aluminium silicate hydroxide: Al2Si4O102. It occurs in two more or less distinct varieties, namely, as crystalline folia and as compact masses; distinct crystals are not known....

, scorzalite

Scorzalite

Scorzalite is a dark blue phosphate mineral containing iron, magnesium, and aluminium phosphate. Scorzalite forms one endmember of a solid solution series with the lighter, more magnesium-rich lazulite....

, lazulite

Lazulite

Lazulite is a blue, phosphate-based mineral containing magnesium, iron, and aluminium phosphate. Lazulite forms one endmember of a solid solution series with the darker iron rich scorzalite....

, gatumbaite, burangaite, amblygonite

Amblygonite

Amblygonite is a fluorophosphate mineral, AlPO4, composed of lithium, sodium, aluminium, phosphate, fluoride and hydroxide. The mineral occurs in pegmatite deposits and is easily mistaken for albite and other feldspars. Its density, cleavage and flame test for lithium are diagnostic. Amblygonite...

, phosphosiderite, purpurite

Purpurite

Purpurite is a mineral, basically manganese phosphate, MnPO4 although with varying amounts of iron depending upon the source of the mineral. It is a striking pink purple color as might be expected of a manganese containing mineral....

, apatite

Apatite

Apatite is a group of phosphate minerals, usually referring to hydroxylapatite, fluorapatite, chlorapatite and bromapatite, named for high concentrations of OH−, F−, Cl− or Br− ions, respectively, in the crystal...

, muscovite

Muscovite

Muscovite is a phyllosilicate mineral of aluminium and potassium with formula KAl22, or 236. It has a highly-perfect basal cleavage yielding remarkably-thin laminæ which are often highly elastic...

, quartz

Quartz

Quartz is the second-most-abundant mineral in the Earth's continental crust, after feldspar. It is made up of a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall formula SiO2. There are many different varieties of quartz,...

, hematite

Hematite

Hematite, also spelled as haematite, is the mineral form of iron oxide , one of several iron oxides. Hematite crystallizes in the rhombohedral system, and it has the same crystal structure as ilmenite and corundum...

 in granite

Granite

Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...

 pegmatite

Pegmatite

A pegmatite is a very crystalline, intrusive igneous rock composed of interlocking crystals usually larger than 2.5 cm in size; such rocks are referred to as pegmatitic....

s. It also occurs with alunite

Alunite

Alunite is a sulfate mineral that was first observed in the 15th century in Monti della Tolfa, north of Rome, where it was mined for the manufacture of alum. First called aluminilite by J.C. Delamétherie in 1797, this name was contracted by François Beudant in 1824 to alunite.Distinct crystals of...

, aragonite

Aragonite

Aragonite is a carbonate mineral, one of the two common, naturally occurring, crystal forms of calcium carbonate, CaCO3...

, collophane, crandallite, francoanellite, gypsum

Gypsum

Gypsum is a very soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate dihydrate, with the chemical formula CaSO4·2H2O. It is found in alabaster, a decorative stone used in Ancient Egypt. It is the second softest mineral on the Mohs Hardness Scale...

, huntite

Huntite

Huntite is a carbonate mineral with the chemical formula Mg3Ca4.It often occurs in combination with hydromagnesite.It thermally decomposes over a temperature range of about 450–800 °C, releasing carbon dioxide and leaving a residue of magnesium oxide and calcium oxide.-Uses:Its most common...

, hydromagnesite

Hydromagnesite

Hydromagnesite is a hydrated magnesium carbonate mineral with the formula: Mg542.4H2O.It generally occurs associated with the weathering products of magnesium containing minerals such as serpentine or brucite. It occurs as incrustations and vein or fracture fillings in ultramafic rocks and...

, leucophosphite, nesquehonite, niter

Niter

Niter or nitre is the mineral form of potassium nitrate, KNO3, also known as saltpeter or saltpetre . Historically, the term "niter" – cognate with "natrium", a Latin word for sodium – has been very vaguely defined, and it has been applied to a variety of other minerals and chemical compounds,...

, and nitrocalcite in the Paddy’s River copper mine in the Brindabella Mountains of Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

.