List of minerals named after people
Encyclopedia
This is a list of mineral
s named after people. The chemical composition follows name when available.
Sorted by name:
Mineral
A mineral is a naturally occurring solid chemical substance formed through biogeochemical processes, having characteristic chemical composition, highly ordered atomic structure, and specific physical properties. By comparison, a rock is an aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids and does not...
s named after people. The chemical composition follows name when available.
- For other lists of eponymEponymAn eponym is the name of a person or thing, whether real or fictitious, after which a particular place, tribe, era, discovery, or other item is named or thought to be named...
s (names derived from people) see Lists of etymologies. - For a list of eponyms sorted by name see List of eponyms.
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A
- AbswurmbachiteAbswurmbachiteAbswurmbachite is a copper manganese silicate mineral . It was first described in 1991 and named after Irmgard Abs-Wurmbach, a German mineralogist. It crystallizes in the tetragonal system. Its Mohs scale rating is 6.5 and a specific gravity of 4.96. It has a metallic luster and its color is jet...
((Cu,Mn2+)Mn3+6O8SiO4) – German mineralogist Irmgard Abs-Wurmbach - AdamiteAdamiteAdamite is a zinc arsenate hydroxide mineral, Zn2AsO4OH. It is a mineral that typically occurs in the oxidized or weathered zone above zinc ore occurrences. Pure adamite is colorless, but usually it possess yellow color due to Fe compounds admixture. Tints of green also occur and are connected with...
Zn2AsO4OH – French mineralogist Gilbert Joseph Adam (1795-1881) - AheyliteAheyliteAheylite is a rare phosphate mineral with formula Al6[4|2]2·4. It occurs as pale blue to pale green triclinic crystal masses.-Name and discovery:...
((FeIronIron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...
2+, ZnZincZinc , or spelter , is a metallic chemical element; it has the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is the first element in group 12 of the periodic table. Zinc is, in some respects, chemically similar to magnesium, because its ion is of similar size and its only common oxidation state is +2...
)Al6[(OOxygenOxygen is the element with atomic number 8 and represented by the symbol O. Its name derives from the Greek roots ὀξύς and -γενής , because at the time of naming, it was mistakenly thought that all acids required oxygen in their composition...
HHydrogenHydrogen is the chemical element with atomic number 1. It is represented by the symbol H. With an average atomic weight of , hydrogen is the lightest and most abundant chemical element, constituting roughly 75% of the Universe's chemical elemental mass. Stars in the main sequence are mainly...
)4|(PPhosphorusPhosphorus is the chemical element that has the symbol P and atomic number 15. A multivalent nonmetal of the nitrogen group, phosphorus as a mineral is almost always present in its maximally oxidized state, as inorganic phosphate rocks...
O4)2]2·4H2O) – American geologist Allen V. Heyl - Alexandrite (variety of ChrysoberylChrysoberylThe mineral or gemstone chrysoberyl is an aluminate of beryllium with the formula BeAl2O4. The name chrysoberyl is derived from the Greek words χρυσός chrysos and βήρυλλος beryllos, meaning "a gold-white spar". Despite the similarity of their names, chrysoberyl and beryl are two completely...
) – Tsar Alexander II of RussiaAlexander II of RussiaAlexander II , also known as Alexander the Liberator was the Emperor of the Russian Empire from 3 March 1855 until his assassination in 1881...
(1818-1881) - AlforsiteAlforsiteAlforsite is a barium phosphate chloride mineral with formula: Ba53Cl. It was discovered in 1981, and named to honor geologist John T. Alfors of the California Geological Survey for his work in the area where it was discovered....
Ba5Cl(PO4)3 – American geologist John T. Alfors (1930 - 2005) - AllabogdaniteAllabogdaniteAllabogdanite is a very rare phosphide mineral with formula 2P, found in 1997 in a meteorite. It was described for an occurrence in the Onello meteorite in the Onello River basin, Sakha Republic; Yakutia, Russia; associated with...
(Fe,Ni)2P – Alla Bogdanova, Geological Institute, Kola Science Centre of Russian Academy of Sciences - AnkeriteAnkeriteAnkerite is a calcium, iron, magnesium, manganese carbonate mineral of the group of rhombohedral carbonates with formula: Ca2. In composition it is closely related to dolomite, but differs from this in having magnesium replaced by varying amounts of iron and manganese.The crystallographic and...
Ca(Fe,Mg,Mn)(CO3)2 – an Austrian mineralogist Matthias Joseph AnkerMatthias Joseph AnkerMatthias Joseph Anker was an Austrian geologist who was a native of Graz. Some sources place his birth date as May 1, 1772...
(1771-1843) - ArfvedsoniteArfvedsoniteArfvedsonite is a sodium amphibole mineral with composition: [Na][Na2][4Fe3+][2|Si8O22]. It crystallizes in the monoclinic prismatic crystal system and typically occurs as greenish black to bluish grey fibrous to radiating or stellate prisms....
Na3(Fe,Mg)4FeSi8O22(OH)2 – Swedish chemist Johan August ArfwedsonJohan August ArfwedsonJohan August Arfwedson was a Swedish chemist who discovered the chemical element lithium in 1817 by isolating it as a salt.- Life and work :...
(1792-1841) - ArmalcoliteArmalcoliteArmalcolite is a titanium-rich mineral with the chemical formula Ti2O5. It was first found at Tranquility Base on the Moon in 1969 and named for Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins, the three Apollo 11 astronauts. Together with tranquillityite and pyroxferroite, it is one of the three minerals which...
(Mg,Fe2+)Ti2O5 – American astronauts ARM Neil ArmstrongNeil ArmstrongNeil Alden Armstrong is an American former astronaut, test pilot, aerospace engineer, university professor, United States Naval Aviator, and the first person to set foot upon the Moon....
, AL Buzz AldrinBuzz AldrinBuzz Aldrin is an American mechanical engineer, retired United States Air Force pilot and astronaut who was the Lunar Module pilot on Apollo 11, the first manned lunar landing in history...
and COL Michael CollinsMichael Collins (astronaut)Michael Collins is a former American astronaut and test pilot. Selected as part of the third group of fourteen astronauts in 1963, he flew in space twice. His first spaceflight was Gemini 10, in which he and command pilot John Young performed two rendezvous with different spacecraft and Collins... - Armbrusterite – Swiss crystallographer Thomas Armbruster (b. 1950)
- ArthuriteArthuriteArthurite is a mixture of divalent copper and iron ions in combination with trivalent arsenate, phosphate and sulfate ions with hydrogen and oxygen...
CuCopperCopper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
FeIronIron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...
23+[(OOxygenOxygen is the element with atomic number 8 and represented by the symbol O. Its name derives from the Greek roots ὀξύς and -γενής , because at the time of naming, it was mistakenly thought that all acids required oxygen in their composition...
HHydrogenHydrogen is the chemical element with atomic number 1. It is represented by the symbol H. With an average atomic weight of , hydrogen is the lightest and most abundant chemical element, constituting roughly 75% of the Universe's chemical elemental mass. Stars in the main sequence are mainly...
,O)|(AsArsenicArsenic is a chemical element with the symbol As, atomic number 33 and relative atomic mass 74.92. Arsenic occurs in many minerals, usually in conjunction with sulfur and metals, and also as a pure elemental crystal. It was first documented by Albertus Magnus in 1250.Arsenic is a metalloid...
O4,PPhosphorusPhosphorus is the chemical element that has the symbol P and atomic number 15. A multivalent nonmetal of the nitrogen group, phosphorus as a mineral is almost always present in its maximally oxidized state, as inorganic phosphate rocks...
O4,SSulfurSulfur or sulphur is the chemical element with atomic number 16. In the periodic table it is represented by the symbol S. It is an abundant, multivalent non-metal. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with chemical formula S8. Elemental sulfur is a bright yellow...
O4)]2·4H2OWaterWater is a chemical substance with the chemical formula H2O. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient conditions, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice, and gaseous state . Water also exists in a...
– British mineralogists Sir Sir Arthur Edward Ian Montagu Russell, 6th Baronet and Arthur W. G. Kingsbury
B
- BaddeleyiteBaddeleyiteBaddeleyite is a rare zirconium oxide mineral , occurring in a variety of monoclinic prismatic crystal forms. It is transparent to translucent, has high indices of refraction, and ranges from colorless to yellow, green, and dark brown. Baddeleyite is a refractory mineral, with a melting point of...
ZrZirconiumZirconium is a chemical element with the symbol Zr and atomic number 40. The name of zirconium is taken from the mineral zircon. Its atomic mass is 91.224. It is a lustrous, grey-white, strong transition metal that resembles titanium...
OOxygenOxygen is the element with atomic number 8 and represented by the symbol O. Its name derives from the Greek roots ὀξύς and -γενής , because at the time of naming, it was mistakenly thought that all acids required oxygen in their composition...
2 – Joseph Baddeley - BazziteBazziteBazzite is a beryllium scandium cyclosilicate mineral with chemical formula: Be32Si6O18. It crystallizes in the hexagonal crystal system typically as small blue hexagonal crystals up to 2 cm length...
Be3(Sc,Fe)2Si6O18 – Italian engineer Alessandro E. Bazzi - BerthieriteBerthieriteBerthierite is a mineral, a sulfide of iron and antimony with formula FeSb2S4. It is steel grey in colour with a metallic lustre which can be covered by an iridescent tarnish. Because of its appearance it is often mistaken for stibnite....
((Fe,Sb)2=S4); French geologist and mining engineer Pierre Berthier (1782-1861) - BertranditeBertranditeBertrandite is a beryllium sorosilicate hydroxide mineral with composition: Be4Si2O72. Bertrandite is a colorless to pale yellow orthorhombic mineral with a hardness of 6-7. It is commonly found in beryllium rich pegmatites and is in part an alteration of beryl. Bertrandite often occurs as a...
Be4Si2O7(OH)2 – French mineralogist Emile BertrandEmile BertrandEmile Bertrand was a French mineralogist, in honour of whom Bertrandite was named by Alexis Damour. He also gave his name to the Bertrand lens or phase telescope.-References:...
(1844-1909) - Bilibinskite Au2Cu2PbTe2+ – Soviet geologist Yuri A. Bilibin (1901-1952)
- Bixbite BeBerylliumBeryllium is the chemical element with the symbol Be and atomic number 4. It is a divalent element which occurs naturally only in combination with other elements in minerals. Notable gemstones which contain beryllium include beryl and chrysoberyl...
3(AlAluminiumAluminium or aluminum is a silvery white member of the boron group of chemical elements. It has the symbol Al, and its atomic number is 13. It is not soluble in water under normal circumstances....
MnManganeseManganese is a chemical element, designated by the symbol Mn. It has the atomic number 25. It is found as a free element in nature , and in many minerals...
)2SiSiliconSilicon is a chemical element with the symbol Si and atomic number 14. A tetravalent metalloid, it is less reactive than its chemical analog carbon, the nonmetal directly above it in the periodic table, but more reactive than germanium, the metalloid directly below it in the table...
6OOxygenOxygen is the element with atomic number 8 and represented by the symbol O. Its name derives from the Greek roots ὀξύς and -γενής , because at the time of naming, it was mistakenly thought that all acids required oxygen in their composition...
18 – American mineralogist Maynard BixbyMaynard BixbyMaynard Bixby was an American mineralogist and mineral collector. Bixby was born in Wyalusing, Pennsylvania and graduated from Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania in 1876. Bixby worked for a time in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania as a bookkeeper and studied law...
; deprecated to red beryl to avoid confusion with bixbyite - BixbyiteBixbyiteBixbyite is a manganese iron oxide mineral with formula: 2O3. The iron:manganese ratio is quite variable and many specimens have almost no iron. It is a metallic dark black with a Mohs hardness of 6.0 - 6.5...
(Fe,Mn)2O3 – American mineralogist Maynard BixbyMaynard BixbyMaynard Bixby was an American mineralogist and mineral collector. Bixby was born in Wyalusing, Pennsylvania and graduated from Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania in 1876. Bixby worked for a time in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania as a bookkeeper and studied law... - BlöditeBlöditeBlödite is a hydrated sodium magnesium sulfate mineral with formula: Na2Mg2·4H2O.The mineral is clear to yellow in color and forms monoclinic crystals. A synonym for the mineral is bloedite ....
Na2Mg(SO4)2•4(H2O – German chemist Carl August Blöde (1773-1820) - Blossite αCu2V2O7 – mineralogist F. Donald Bloss
- BorniteBorniteBornite is a sulfide mineral with chemical composition Cu5FeS4 that crystallizes in the orthorhombic system .-Appearance:Bornite has a brown to copper-red color on fresh surfaces that tarnishes to various iridescent shades of blue to purple in places...
Cu5FeS4 – Austrian Mineralogist Ignaz von Born (1742-1791) - BournoniteBournoniteBournonite is a sulfosalt mineral species, a sulfantimonite of lead and copper with the formula PbCuSbS3.It was first mentioned by Philip Rashleigh in 1797 as an ore of antimony and was more completely described in 1804 by French crystallographer and mineralogist Jacques Louis de Bournon , after...
PbCuSbS3 – French crystallographerCrystallographyCrystallography is the experimental science of the arrangement of atoms in solids. The word "crystallography" derives from the Greek words crystallon = cold drop / frozen drop, with its meaning extending to all solids with some degree of transparency, and grapho = write.Before the development of...
and mineralogist Jacques Louis de Bournon (1751–1825) - BraggiteBraggiteBraggite is a sulfide mineral of platinum, palladium and nickel with chemical formula: S. It is a dense , steel grey, opaque mineral which crystallizes in the tetragonal crystal system...
(Pt,Pd,Ni)S – the first mineral characterized by X-ray analysis. William Henry BraggWilliam Henry BraggSir William Henry Bragg OM, KBE, PRS was a British physicist, chemist, mathematician and active sportsman who uniquely shared a Nobel Prize with his son William Lawrence Bragg - the 1915 Nobel Prize in Physics...
(1862–1942) and his son, William Lawrence BraggWilliam Lawrence BraggSir William Lawrence Bragg CH OBE MC FRS was an Australian-born British physicist and X-ray crystallographer, discoverer of the Bragg law of X-ray diffraction, which is basic for the determination of crystal structure. He was joint winner of the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1915. He was knighted...
(1890–1971) - BriartiteBriartiteBriartite is an opaque iron-grey metallic sulfide mineral, Cu2GeS4 with traces of Ga and Sn, found as inclusions in other germanium-gallium-bearing sulfides....
Cu2(Zn,Fe)GeS4 – Belgian geologist Gaston BriartGaston BriartGaston Briart was a Belgian geologist and mining engineer who worked and studied rock formations at Prince Léopold mine, Kipushi, Katanga, Democratic Republic of the Congo.The mineral Briartite, discovered in Kipushi in 1965, is named in his honour.... - BrookiteBrookiteBrookite is orthorhombic, and one of the four naturally occurring polymorphs of titanium dioxide, TiO2, approved by the International Mineralogical Association . The others are akaogiite , anatase and rutile...
TiO2 – English mineralogist Henry James BrookeHenry James BrookeHenry James Brooke , was an English crystallographer.Brooke was the son of a broadcloth manufacturer, born in Exeter on 25 May 1771, studied for the bar, but went into business in the Spanish wool trade, South American mining companies, and the London Life Assurance Association successively. He...
(1771–1857) - BruciteBruciteBrucite is the mineral form of magnesium hydroxide, with the chemical formula Mg2. It is a common alteration product of periclase in marble; a low-temperature hydrothermal vein mineral in metamorphosed limestones and chlorite schists; and formed during serpentinization of dunites...
Mg(OH)2 – American mineralogist Archibald BruceArchibald BruceArchibald Bruce , was a Scottish theological writer.-Life:Bruce was born at Broomhall, Stirlingshire, and, after studying at the University of Glasgow, was ordained, in 1768, minister of the Associate congregation of Whitburn. In 1786 he was appointed professor of divinity by the General Associate...
(1777-1818). - Burtite CaSn(OH)6 – American mining geologist Donald McLain Burt (1943– )
C
- CanfielditeCanfielditeCanfieldite is a rare silver tin sulfide mineral with formula: Ag8SnS6. The mineral typically contains variable amounts of germanium substitution in the tin site and tellurium in the sulfur site. There is a complete series between canfieldite and its germanium analogue, argyrodite. It forms black...
Ag8SnS6 – American mining engineer Frederick Alexander Canfield (1849-1926) - Cannonite Bi2(OH)2SO4 – American mineralogist and electron microprobe analyst Benjamin Bartlett (Bart) Cannon
- Carlosruizite K6(Na,K)10Mg10(Se6+O4,SO4,CrO4)12(IO3)12 •12H2O – Chilean geologist founder of the Chilean Geological Survey Carlos Ruiz Fuller (1916-)
- CarnalliteCarnalliteCarnallite is an evaporite mineral, a hydrated potassium magnesium chloride with formula: KMgCl3·6. It is variably colored yellow to white, reddish, and sometimes colorless or blue. It is usually massive to fibrous with rare pseudohexagonal orthorhombic crystals...
KMgCl3•6(H2O) – Prussian mining engineer, Rudolf von Carnall (1804-1874) - CarnotiteCarnotiteCarnotite is a potassium uranium vanadate radioactive mineral with chemical formula: K222·3H2O. The water content can vary and small amounts of calcium, barium, magnesium, iron, and sodium are often present.-Occurrence:...
K2(UO2)2(VO4)2 – French mining engineer and chemist Marie Adolphe Carnot (1839-1920) - Cernyite Cu2CdSnS4 – Canadian mineralogist Petr CernyPetr CernyPetr Černý FRSC is a mineralogy professor at the University of Manitoba.Černý studies focus on pegmatite. He is best known for his geological mapping of Bernic Lake, Manitoba in the 1970s...
- CesbroniteCesbroniteCesbronite is a copper tellurite mineral with the chemical formula Cu526·2. It is colored green. Its crystals are orthorhombic dipyramidal. It has brittle fracture. Cesbronite is rated 3 on the Mohs Scale....
Cu6(TeO3)2(OH) 62H20 – French mineralogist Fabian Cesbron - ChrisstanleyiteChrisstanleyiteChrisstanleyite, Ag2Pd3Se4, is a selenide mineral that crystallizes in high saline, acidic hydrothermal solution at low temperatures as part of selenide vein inclusions in and alongside calcite veins...
Ag2Pd3Se4 – British mineralogist Christopher John Stanley - CleveiteCleveiteCleveite is a radioactive mineral containing uranium and found in Norway. It is an impure variety of uraninite, and has the composition UO2 with about 10% of the uranium substituted by rare earth elements...
UO2•UO3•PO•ThO2 – Swedish chemist Per Teodor ClevePer Teodor ClevePer Teodor Cleve was a Swedish chemist and geologist.After graduating from the Stockholm Gymnasium in 1858, Cleve matriculated at Uppsala University in May 1858, where he received his PhD in 1863...
(1840–1905) - ClintoniteClintoniteClintonite is a calcium magnesium aluminium phyllosilicate mineral. It is a member of the margarite group of micas and the subgroup often referred to as the "brittle" micas. Clintonite has the chemical formula: Ca3O102...
Ca(Mg,Al)3(Al3Si)O10(OH)2 – De Witt Clinton (1769-1828) - CoesiteCoesiteCoesite[p] is a form of silicon dioxide SiO2 that is formed when very high pressure , and moderately high temperature , are applied to quartz. Coesite was first synthesized by Loring Coes, Jr., a chemist at the Norton Company, in 1953. In 1960, coesite was found by Edward C. T...
(form of SiO2)– Loring Coes, Jr. - CoffiniteCoffiniteCoffinite is a uranium-bearing silicate mineral with formula: U1-x4x.It occurs as black incrustations, dark to pale-brown in thin section. It has a grayish black streak. It has a brittle to conchoidal fracture. The hardness of coffinite is between 5 and 6.It was first described in 1954 for an...
U(SiO4)1-x(OH)4x – American geologist Reuben Clare Coffin - ColemaniteColemaniteColemanite is a borate mineral found in evaporite deposits of alkaline lacustrine environments. Colemanite is a secondary mineral that forms by alteration of borax and ulexite....
(Ca2B6O11•5H2O) – mine owner William T. ColemanWilliam Tell ColemanWilliam Tell Coleman was an American pioneer. He was born in Cynthiana, Harrison County, Kentucky, and was educated at St. Louis University.-Committees of Vigilance:...
(1824-1893) - CooperiteCooperiteCooperite is a grey mineral consisting of platinum sulfide , generally in combinations with sulfides of other elements such as palladium and nickel . Its general formula is S. It is a dimorph of braggite....
(Pt,Pd,Ni)S – South African metallurgist Richard A. Cooper (1890–1972) - CordieriteCordieriteCordierite or iolite is a magnesium iron aluminium cyclosilicate. Iron is almost always present and a solid solution exists between Mg-rich cordierite and Fe-rich sekaninaite with a series formula: 2 to 2...
(Mg,Fe)2Al4Si5O18 to (Fe,Mg)2Al4Si5O18 – French geologist P. L. A. Cordier (1777-1861) - CovelliteCovelliteCovellite is a rare copper sulfide mineral with the formula CuS. This indigo blue mineral is ubiquitous in copper ores, it is found in limited abundance and is not an important ore of copper itself, although it is well known to mineral collectors.The mineral is associated with chalcocite in zones...
CuS – Niccola Covelli (1790-1829) - CrookesiteCrookesiteCrookesite is a selenide mineral composed of copper and selenium with variable thallium and silver.-Characteristics:Its chemical formula is reported either as Cu7Se4 or 2Se...
Cu7(Tl,Ag)Se4 – English chemist and physicist Sir William CrookesWilliam CrookesSir William Crookes, OM, FRS was a British chemist and physicist who attended the Royal College of Chemistry, London, and worked on spectroscopy...
(1832-1919)
D
- DanaliteDanaliteDanalite is an iron beryllium silicate sulfide mineral with formula: Fe2+4Be33S.It is a rare mineral which occurs in granites, tin bearing pegmatites, contact metamorphic skarns, gneisses and in hydrothermal deposits...
– American geologist, mineralogist and zoologist James Dwight DanaJames Dwight DanaJames Dwight Dana was an American geologist, mineralogist and zoologist. He made pioneering studies of mountain-building, volcanic activity, and the origin and structure of continents and oceans around the world.-Early life and career:...
(1813-1895) - DawsoniteDawsoniteDawsonite is a mineral composed of sodium aluminium carbonate hydroxide, chemical formula NaAlCO32. It crystallizes in the orthorhombic crystal system. It is not mined for ore. It was discovered in 1874 during the construction of the Redpath Museum in a feldspathic dike on the campus of McGill...
NaAlCO3(OH)2 – Canadian geologist Sir John William DawsonJohn William DawsonSir John William Dawson, CMG, FRS, FRSC , was a Canadian geologist and university administrator.- Life and work :...
(1820–1899) - Deanesmithite Hg+2Hg2+3Cr6+O5S2 – Deane K. Smith (1930-2001) Professor of Geosciences, Penn State University
- Delafossite CuFeO2 – French mineralogist Gabriel Delafosse (1796-1878)
- DickiteDickiteDickite has molecular weight of 258.16 grams. It is a phyllosilicate clay mineral chemically composed of aluminium, silicon, hydrogen and oxygen contributing 20.90%, 21.76%, 1.56%, and 55.78% each respectively. It has the same composition as kaolinite, nacrite, and halloysite, but with a...
Al2Si2O5(OH)4 – Scottish metallurgical chemist Allan Brugh Dick (1833-1926) - Dollaseite-(Ce)Dollaseite-(Ce)Dollaseite- is a sorosilicate end-member epidote mineral, with the formula CaREE+3Mg2AlSi3O11F, where cerium is the dominant rare earth element . It also includes lanthanum, neodymium, praseodymium, samarium, and gadolinium, and since cerium is the dominant REE, it is placed in the name and...
CaCeMg2AlSi3O11F(OH) – AmericanUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
geologist Wayne A. Dollase (1938-), geology professor at UCLA - DolomiteDolomiteDolomite is a carbonate mineral composed of calcium magnesium carbonate CaMg2. The term is also used to describe the sedimentary carbonate rock dolostone....
CaMg(CO3)2 – French naturalist and geologist Déodat Gratet de DolomieuDéodat Gratet de DolomieuDieudonné Sylvain Guy Tancrède de Dolomieu usually known as Déodat de Dolomieu was a French geologist; the rock dolomite and the largest summital crater on the Piton de la Fournaise volcano were named after him.Déodat de Dolomieu was born in Dauphiné, France, one of 11 children of the Marquis de...
(1750-1801) - DomeykiteDomeykiteDomeykite is a copper arsenide mineral, Cu3As. It crystallizes in the isometric system, although crystals are very rare. It typically forms as irregular masses or botryoidal forms. It is an opaque, white to gray metallic mineral with a Mohs hardness of 3 to 3.5 and a specific gravity of 7.2 to...
Cu3As – Polish geologist and mineralogist Ignacy DomeykoIgnacy DomeykoIgnacy Domeyko or Domejko was a 19th-century geologist, mineralogist and educator who was born in Nesvizh, Imperial Russia , into a Polish-Lithuanian family...
(1802-1889) - Donnayite NaCaSr3Y(CO3)6•3H20 – Canadian professors J. D. H. Donnay and G. Donnay
- DumortieriteDumortieriteDumortierite is a fibrous variably colored aluminium boro-silicate mineral, Al7BO33O3. Dumortierite crystallizes in the orthorhombic system typically forming fibrous aggregates of slender prismatic crystals. The crystals are vitreous and vary in color from brown, blue, and green to more rare violet...
Al6.5-7BO3(SiO4)3(O,OH)3 – French paleontologist Eugene Dumortier (1803-1873)
E
- Ernienickelite – Canadian-Australian mineralogist Ernest (Ernie) H. Nickel (1925-2009)
F
- FerberiteFerberiteFerberite is the iron endmember of the manganese - iron wolframite solid solution series. The manganese endmember is hübnerite. Ferberite is a black monoclinic mineral composed of iron and tungstate, FeWO4....
FeWO4 – German amateur mineralogist Moritz Rudolph Ferber (1805-1875) - FerrieriteFerrieriteThe ferrierite group of zeolite minerals consists of three very similar species: ferrierite-Mg, ferrierite-Na, and ferrierite-K, based on the dominant cation in the A location. Ferrierites are orthorhombic minerals with highly variable cationic composition, 2Mg18O36·9H2O. Calcium and other ions...
(Na,K)2Mg(Si,Al)18O36(OH)•9H2O – Canadian geologist and mining engineer Walter Frederick FerrierWalter Frederick FerrierWalter Frederick Ferrier was a Canadian geologist and mining engineer.He graduated from McGill University’s school of mining engineering. He was a tireless mineral collector and was known for walking straight into mining offices to request specimens. Consequently, he created large collections of...
(1865-1950) - FergusoniteFergusoniteFergusonite is a mineral comprising a complex oxide of various rare earth elements. The chemical formula of fergusonite species is NbO4, where RE = rare-earth elements in solid solution with Y. Yttrium is usually dominant , but sometimes Ce or Nd may predominate in molar proportion...
(Ce,La,Nd)NbO4 – British Politician and mineral collector Robert Ferguson of RaithRobert Ferguson of RaithRobert Ferguson of Raith, was at various times a Whig Member of Parliament for Fifeshire, Haddingtonshire and Kirkcaldy Burghs, and at the time of his death he was Lord Lieutenant of the county of Fife.-Biography:...
(1767–1840) - ForsteriteForsteriteForsterite is the magnesium rich end-member of the olivine solid solution series. Forsterite crystallizes in the orthorhombic system with cell parameters a 4.75 Å , b 10.20 Å and c 5.98 Å .Forsterite is associated with igneous and metamorphic rocks and has also been found in meteorites...
(MgMagnesiumMagnesium is a chemical element with the symbol Mg, atomic number 12, and common oxidation number +2. It is an alkaline earth metal and the eighth most abundant element in the Earth's crust and ninth in the known universe as a whole...
2SiSiliconSilicon is a chemical element with the symbol Si and atomic number 14. A tetravalent metalloid, it is less reactive than its chemical analog carbon, the nonmetal directly above it in the periodic table, but more reactive than germanium, the metalloid directly below it in the table...
OOxygenOxygen is the element with atomic number 8 and represented by the symbol O. Its name derives from the Greek roots ὀξύς and -γενής , because at the time of naming, it was mistakenly thought that all acids required oxygen in their composition...
4) – German naturalist Johann Reinhold ForsterJohann Reinhold ForsterJohann Reinhold Forster was a German Lutheran pastor and naturalist of partial Scottish descent who made contributions to the early ornithology of Europe and North America...
(1729-1798) - FranckeiteFranckeiteFranckeite, chemical formula Pb5Sn3Sb2S14, belongs to a family of complex sulfide minerals. Franckeite is a sulfosalt. It is closely related to cylindrite....
Pb5Sn3Sb2S14 – mining engineers Carl Francke and Ernest Francke - FreieslebeniteFreieslebeniteFreieslebenite is a rare sulfosalt mineral of antimony, lead and silver with formula AgPbSbS3 and molecular weight of 533.02 g/mol. It is an opaque non-fluorescent mineral which has a hydrothermal origin. It is metallic, with a specific gravity of 6.3 and a Mohs hardness of 2.5 - about that of a...
AgPbSbS3 – Johann Karl Freiesleben (1774-1846) - Friedrichite Cu5Pb5Bi7S18 – Austrian geologist O. M. Friedrich
G
- GadoliniteGadoliniteGadolinite, sometimes also known as Ytterbite, is a silicate mineral which consists principally of the silicates of cerium, lanthanum, neodymium, yttrium, beryllium, and iron with the formula 2FeBe2Si2O10...
(Ce,La,Nd,Y)2FeBe2Si2O10 – Finnish mineralogist- chemist Johan GadolinJohan GadolinJohan Gadolin was a Finnish chemist, physicist and mineralogist. Gadolin discovered the chemical element yttrium...
(1760-1852) - GahniteGahniteGahnite, ZnAl2O4, is a rare mineral belonging to the spinel group. It forms octahedral crystals which may be green, blue, yellow, brown or grey. It occurs in Falun, Sweden where it is found in pegmatites and skarns, contact metamorphic rocks...
ZnAl2O4 – Swedish chemist Johan Gottlieb GahnJohan Gottlieb GahnJohan Gottlieb Gahn was a Swedish chemist and metallurgist who discovered manganese in 1774.Gahn studied in Uppsala 1762-1770 and became acquainted with chemists Torbern Bergman och Carl Wilhelm Scheele...
(1745-1818) - GarnieriteGarnieriteGarnierite is a general name for a green nickel ore which is found in pockets and veins within weathered and serpentinized ultramafic rocks. It forms by lateritic weathering of ultramafic rocks and occurs in many nickel laterite deposits in the world. It is an important nickel ore, having a large...
– Jules Garnier - GeigeriteGeigeriteGeigerite is a mineral, a complex hydrous manganese arsenate with formula: Mn522·10H2O. It forms triclinic pinacoidal vitreous colorless, red to brown crystals. It has a Mohs hardness of 3 and a specific gravity of 3.05....
Mn5(AsO3OH)2(AsO4)2•10H2O – Swiss mineralogist Thomas P. Geiger - Genkinite (Pt,Pd)4Sb3 – Soviet mineralogist A. D. Genkin
- GibbsiteGibbsiteGibbsite, Al3, is one of the mineral forms of aluminium hydroxide. It is often designated as γ-Al3 . It is also sometimes called hydrargillite ....
Al(OH)3 – American mineralogist George GibbsGeorge Gibbs (mineralogist)George Gibbs was an American mineralogist and mineral collector. The mineral gibbsite is named after him....
(1776-1833) - GilsoniteGilsoniteGilsonite is the registered trademark for a form of natural asphalt found only in the Uintah Basin of Utah; the non-trademarked mineral name is uintaite or uintahite. It is mined in underground shafts and resembles shiny black obsidian...
(Hydrocarbon resin) – American Samuel H Gilson - GoethiteGoethiteGoethite , named after the German polymath Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, is an iron bearing oxide mineral found in soil and other low-temperature environments. Goethite has been well known since prehistoric times for its use as a pigment. Evidence has been found of its use in paint pigment samples...
FeOOH – German polymath Johann Wolfgang von GoetheJohann Wolfgang von GoetheJohann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German writer, pictorial artist, biologist, theoretical physicist, and polymath. He is considered the supreme genius of modern German literature. His works span the fields of poetry, drama, prose, philosophy, and science. His Faust has been called the greatest long...
(1749-1832) - GruneriteGruneriteGrunerite is a mineral of the amphibole group of minerals with formula Fe7Si8O222. It is the iron endmember of the grunerite-cummingtonite series. It forms as fibrous, columnar or massive aggregates of crystals. The crystals are monoclinic prismatic. The luster is glassy to pearly with colors...
Fe7Si8O22(OH)2 – Swiss-French chemist Louis Gruner - GunningiteGunningiteGunningite is one of the minerals in the Kieserite group. Its chemical formula is SO4·H2O. Its name honours Henry Cecil Gunning of the Geological Survey of Canada and a Professor at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada....
(Zn,Mn2+)SO4•H2O – Canadian geologist and academic Henry C. GunningHenry C. GunningHenry Cecil Gunning, FRSC was a Canadian geologist and academic. A mineral was named in his honour.-Early life:Gunning was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland. At the age of six his family moved to Vancouver, British Columbia. His father established a hardware business there.Gunning earned a B.A.Sc....
(1901–1991)
H
- HaggertyiteHaggertyiteHaggertyite is a rare barium, iron, magnesium, titanate mineral: BaO19 first described in 1996 from the Crater of Diamonds State Park near Murfreesboro in Pike County, Arkansas...
Ba(Fe2+6Ti5Mg)O19 – Stephen E. Haggerty (born 1938) - HapkeiteHapkeiteHapkeite is a mineral discovered in the Dhofar 280 meteorite found in 2000 in Oman on the Arabian peninsula. The meteorite is believed to originate from the Moon; specifically, it appears to be a fragment of lunar highland breccia. Hapkeite's composition is of silicon and iron, and it is similar to...
Fe2Si – American planetary scientistPlanetary sciencePlanetary science is the scientific study of planets , moons, and planetary systems, in particular those of the Solar System and the processes that form them. It studies objects ranging in size from micrometeoroids to gas giants, aiming to determine their composition, dynamics, formation,...
Bruce Hapke - HawleyiteHawleyiteHawleyite is a rare sulfide mineral in the sphalerite group, dimorphous and easily confused with greenockite. Chemically, it is a cadmium sulfide, and occurs as a bright yellow coating on sphalerite or siderite in vugs, deposited by meteoric waters....
CdS – Canadian mineralogist James Edwin HawleyJames Edwin HawleyJames Edwin Hawley was an award winning Canadian geologist and distinguished Professor of Mineralogy at Queen's University....
(1897–1965) - HeulanditeHeulanditeHeulandite is the name of a series of tecto-silicate minerals of the zeolite group. Prior to 1997, heulandite was recognized as a mineral species, but a reclassification in 1997 by the International Mineralogical Association changed it to a series name, with the mineral species being named:*...
(Ca,Na)2-3Al3(Al,Si)2Si13O36·12H2O – English mineral collector Henry Heuland (1778–1856) - HiddeniteHiddeniteHiddenite is a pale-to-emerald green variety of spodumene that is sometimes used as a gemstone.The first specimens of the hiddenite variety of spodumene were recovered about 1879 near the tiny settlement of White Plains, west of Stony Point, Alexander County, North Carolina. According to...
– American geologist William Earl Hidden (1853–1918). - HowarditeHowarditeHowardites are achondritic stony meteorites that originate from the surface of the asteroid 4 Vesta, and as such are part of the HED meteorite group. There are about 200 distinct members known.-Characteristics:...
– British chemist Edward Charles HowardEdward Charles HowardEdward Charles Howard FRS the youngest son of Charles Howard, 11th Duke of Norfolk, was a British chemist who has been described as the first chemical engineer of any eminence....
(1774–1816) - HowliteHowliteHowlite, a calcium borosilicate hydroxide , is a borate mineral found in evaporite deposits. Howlite was discovered near Windsor, Nova Scotia in 1868 by Henry How , a Canadian chemist, geologist, and mineralogist. How was alerted to the unknown mineral by miners in a gypsum quarry, who found it...
Ca2B5SiO9(OH)5 – Canadian chemist, mineralogist Henry How (1828–1879) - HübneriteHübneriteHübnerite or hubnerite is a mineral consisting of manganese tungstate . It is the manganese endmember of the manganese - iron wolframite solid solution series....
MnWO4 – German mineralologist Adolf Huebner - HutchinsoniteHutchinsoniteHutchinsonite is a sulfosalt mineral of thallium, arsenic and lead with formula 2As5S9. Hutchinsonite is a rare hydrothermal mineral.It was first discovered in Binnental, Switzerland in 1904 and named after Cambridge mineralogist Arthur Hutchinson, F.R.S. ....
(Tl,Pb)2As5S9 – Cambridge mineralogist Arthur Hutchinson (1866–1937) - HuttoniteHuttoniteHuttonite is a thorium nesosilicate mineral with the chemical formula 4 and which crystallizes in the monoclinic system. It is dimorphous with tetragonal thorite, and isostructual with monazite. An uncommon mineral, huttonite forms transparent or translucent cream–colored crystals...
ThSiO4 – New Zealand American mineralogist Colin Osborne Hutton (1910–1971)
J
- JarosewichiteJarosewichiteJarosewichite is a rare manganese arsenate mineral with formula: Mn2+3Mn3+6. It was first described in Franklin, New Jersey which is its only reported occurrence. Its chemical composition and structure are similar to chlorophoenicite. This mineral is orthorhombic with 2/m2/m2/m point group. Its...
Mn2+3Mn3+(AsO4)(OH)6 – American chemist Eugene JarosewichEugene JarosewichEugene Jarosewich was a chemist in the Department of Mineral Sciences at the Smithsonian Institution. Gene was known worldwide for his wet chemical analyses of meteorites... - Jimthompsonite (Mg,Fe)5Si6O16(OH)2 – American mineralogist James B. Thompson Jr.
- Johnbaumite (Ca)5(AsO4)3(OH) http://www.mindat.org/min-2105.html http://www.webmineral.com/data/Johnbaumite.shtml – American geologist and mineralogist John L. Baum
K
- KassiteKassiteKassite is a rare mineral with formula CaTi2O42. It crystallizes in the orthorhombic crystal system and forms radiating rosettes and pseudo-hexagonal tabular crystals which are commonly twinned. Crystals are brownish pink to pale yellow and are translucent with an adamantine luster...
CaTi2O4(OH)2 – Russian geologist Nikolai Grigor’evich Kassin (1885-1949) - KieseriteKieseriteKieserite is a highly unstable magnesium sulfate mineral . It has a vitreous luster and it is colorless, grayish-white or yellowish. Its hardness is 3.5 and it has a monoclinic crystal system...
(MgSO4•H2O) – Dietrich Georg von KieserDietrich Georg von KieserDietrich Georg von Kieser was a German physician born in Harburg. He studied medicine at the Universities of Würzburg and Göttingen, receiving his doctorate from the latter institution in 1804. For most of his career he was a professor at the University of Jena, where from 1824 to 1862 he served...
(1779-1862) - Kleberite FeTi6O13•4H2O – German professor Will Kleber (1906-1970)
- KobelliteKobelliteKobellite is a gray, fibrous, metallic mineral, a sulfide of antimony, bismuth, and lead. It is a member of the izoklakeite - berryite series with silver and iron substituting in the copper site and a vaying ratio of bismuth, antimony, and lead. It crystallizes with orthorhombic dipyramidal crystals...
(Pb22Cu4(Bi,Sb)30S69) – German mineralogist Wolfgang Franz von KobellWolfgang Franz von KobellWolfgang Xavier Franz Baron von Kobell was a German mineralogist and writer of short stories and poems in Bavarian dialect.-Biography:He was born in Munich, Bavaria and died there...
(1803-1882) - KogarkoiteKogarkoiteKogarkoite [Na3F] is a mineral with a usually pale blue color. The specific gravity is about 2.67 and the hardness is 3.5. The crystall system is monoclinic. Kogarkoite is named after the Russian scientist Lia Nikolaevna Kogarko who discovered this mineral....
Na3(SO4)F – Russian scientist Lia Nikolaevna Kogarko - Kolbeckite ScPO4·2H2O – German mineralogist Friedrich LW Kolbeck
- KrenneriteKrenneriteKrennerite is an orthorhombic gold telluride mineral which can contain a relatively small amount of silver in the structure. The formula is AuTe2 varying to Te2. Both of the chemically similar gold-silver tellurides, calaverite and sylvanite are in the monoclinic crystal system, whereas krennerite...
AuTe2 varying to (Au0.8,Ag0.2)Te2 – Hungarian mineralogist Joseph Krenner (1839-1920) - Kukharenkoite-(Ce)Kukharenkoite-(Ce)Kukharenkoite- is a radioactive mineral, formula Ba3CeF3. It was identified from samples found in the Mont-Saint-Hilaire alkaline intrusive complex, Quebec, and the Khibiny Massif, Kola peninsula, Russia. It was named for Russian mineralogist Alexander A...
Ba3CeF(CO3)3 – Russian mineralogist Alexander A. Kukharenko (1914-1993) - Kunzite – American mineralogist George Frederick KunzGeorge Frederick KunzGeorge Frederick Kunz was an American mineralogist and mineral collector.- Overview :Kunz was born in New York City, USA, and began an interest in minerals at a very young age. By his teens, he had amassed a collection of over four thousand items, which he sold for four hundred dollars to the...
(1856-1932).
L
- LivingstoniteLivingstoniteLivingstonite is a mercury antimony sulfosalt mineral. It occurs in low-temperature hydrothermal veins associated with cinnabar, stibnite, sulfur and gypsum....
HgSb4S8 – Scottish explorer in Africa David LivingstoneDavid LivingstoneDavid Livingstone was a Scottish Congregationalist pioneer medical missionary with the London Missionary Society and an explorer in Africa. His meeting with H. M. Stanley gave rise to the popular quotation, "Dr...
(1813 – 1873) - LonsdaleiteLonsdaleiteLonsdaleite , also called hexagonal diamond in reference to the crystal structure, is an allotrope of carbon with a hexagonal lattice. In nature, it forms when meteorites containing graphite strike the Earth. The great heat and stress of the impact transforms the graphite into diamond, but retains...
– British crystallographer Kathleen LonsdaleKathleen LonsdaleDame Kathleen Lonsdale, DBE FRS was a crystallographer, who established the structure of benzene by X-ray diffraction methods in 1929, and hexachlorobenzene by Fourier spectral methods in 1931...
(1903-1971) - LoranditeLoranditeLorandite is a thallium arsenic sulfosalt with the chemical formula: TlAsS2. Though rare, it is the most common thallium-bearing mineral. Lorandite occurs in low-temperature hydrothermal associations and in gold and mercury ore deposits...
TlAsS2 – Hungarian physicist Loránd EötvösLoránd EötvösBaron Loránd Eötvös de Vásárosnamény , more commonly called Baron Roland von Eötvös in English literature, was a Hungarian physicist. He is remembered today largely for his work on gravitation and surface tension.-Life:...
(1848-1919)
M
- MariciteMariciteMaricite is a sodium iron phosphate mineral , that has two metal cations connected to a phosphate tetrahedron. It is very structurally similar to the much more common mineral olivine, LiFePO4, because they both have a phosphate anion. The differences are that LiFePO4 has lithium instead of sodium...
NaFePO4 – Yugoslavian mineralogist Luba Maric - McKelveyiteMcKelveyiteMckelveyite is a hydrated sodium, barium, yttrium, and uranium–containing carbonate, with the chemical formula 36. It was first described in 1965 from deposits in the Green River Formation, Sweetwater County, Wyoming, and is named after Vincent Ellis McKelvey , a former director of the United...
Ba3NaCa0.75U0.25Y(CO3)6•3(H2O) – American geologist Vincent E. McKelvey (1916-1985) - MilleriteMilleriteMillerite is a nickel sulfide mineral, NiS. It is brassy in colour and has an acicular habit, often forming radiating masses and furry aggregates...
NiS – British mineralogist William Hallowes MillerWilliam Hallowes MillerWilliam Hallowes Miller FRS , British mineralogist and crystallographer.- Life and work :Miller was born in 1801 at Velindre near Llandovery, Carmarthenshire. He was educated at St John's College, Cambridge, where he graduated in 1826 as fifth wrangler. He became a Fellow there in 1829...
(1801-1880) - MoissaniteMoissaniteMoissanite originally referred to a rare mineral discovered by Henri Moissan having a chemical formula SiC and various crystalline polymorphs. Earlier, this material had been synthesized in the laboratory and named silicon carbide .- Background :...
SiC (naturally occurring) – discoverer Henri MoissanHenri MoissanFerdinand Frederick Henri Moissan was a French chemist who won the 1906 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work in isolating fluorine from its compounds.-Biography:...
(1852-1907) - Morganite – American financier J. P. MorganJ. P. MorganJohn Pierpont Morgan was an American financier, banker and art collector who dominated corporate finance and industrial consolidation during his time. In 1892 Morgan arranged the merger of Edison General Electric and Thomson-Houston Electric Company to form General Electric...
(1837-1913) - MurdochiteMurdochiteMurdochite is a mineral combining lead and copper oxides with formula PbCu6O8-x2x.It was first discovered in 1953 in the Mammoth-Saint Anthony Mine in Pinal County, Arizona. It was named for Joseph Murdoch , American mineralogist....
PbCu6O8-x(Cl,Br)2x – American mineralogist Joseph Murdock (1890-1973)
P
- PallasitePallasiteA pallasite is a type of stony–iron meteorite.-Structure and composition:It consists of cm-sized olivine crystals of peridot quality in an iron-nickel matrix. Coarser metal areas develop Widmanstätten patterns upon etching...
– German naturalist Peter Pallas (1741-1811). - PartheitePartheitePartheite or parthéite is a calcium aluminium silicate found in rodingites, metasomatically altered rocks associated with the formation of serpentinite. Partheite and lawsonite are polymorphs. It has been described from rodingite dikes within an ophiolite sequence in Turkey and in veins within a...
Ca2Al4Si4O15(OH)2·4(H2O) – Swiss crystallographer Erwin Parthé (1928-2006) - PaulscherreritePaulscherreritePaulscherrerite, UO22, is a newly named mineral of the schoepite subgroup of hexavalent uranium hydrate/hydroxides. It is monoclinic, but no space group has been determined because no single-crystal study has been done. Paulscherrerite occurs as a canary yellow microcrystalline powdery product with...
– Swiss physicist Paul ScherrerPaul ScherrerPaul Scherrer was a Swiss physicist. Born in Herisau, Switzerland, he studied at Göttingen, Germany, before becoming a lecturer there. Later, Scherrer became head of the Department of Physics at ETH Zürich....
(1890-1969) - Penikisite BaMg2Al2(PO4)3(OH)3 – Canadian explorer Gunar Penikis (1936-1979)
- PerhamitePerhamitePerhamite is a phosphate mineral with the formula Ca3Al7343·16.5.It occurs in rare isolated masses in amblygonite-rich pegmatite deposits throughout the world. It was discovered in in platy sheed form of 1mm hexagonal crystals. It was first described in 1977 by P.J...
Ca3Al7(SiO4)3(PO4)4(OH)3·16.5(H2O) – American geologist and pegmatite miner Frank C. Perham (1934-) - PerovskitePerovskiteA perovskite structure is any material with the same type of crystal structure as calcium titanium oxide , known as the perovskite structure, or XIIA2+VIB4+X2−3 with the oxygen in the face centers. Perovskites take their name from this compound, which was first discovered in the Ural mountains of...
CaTiO3 – Russian mineralogist, L. A. Perovski (1792-1856) - PetzitePetziteThe mineral petzite, Ag3AuTe2, is a soft, steel-gray telluride mineral generally deposited by hydrothermal activity. It forms isometric crystals, and is usually associated with rare tellurium and gold minerals, often with silver, mercury, and copper....
AgSilverSilver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
3AuGoldGold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
Te2 W. Petz - PezzottaitePezzottaitePezzottaite, marketed under the name raspberyl or raspberry beryl, is a newly identified mineral species, first recognized by the International Mineralogical Association in September 2003. Pezzottaite is a caesium analogue of beryl, a silicate of caesium, beryllium, lithium and aluminium, with the...
Cs(Be2Li)Al2Si6O18 – Italian geologist and mineralogist Federico Pezzotta - PhillipsitePhillipsitePhillipsite is a mineral of the zeolite group; a hydrated potassium, calcium and aluminium silicate, approximating to 3Al6Si10O32·12H2O. . The crystals are monoclinic, but only complex cruciform twins are known, these being exactly like twins of harmotome...
(Ca,Na2,K2)3Al6Si10O32·12H2O. or KCaAl3Si5O16·6H2O – English mineralogist and geologist William PhillipsWilliam Phillips (geologist)William Phillips FRS was an English mineralogist and geologist.Phillips was the son of James Phillips, printer and bookseller in London. He became interested in mineralogy and geology, and was one of the founders of the Geological Society of London...
(1775-1828) - PrehnitePrehnitePrehnite is a phyllosilicate of calcium and aluminium with the formula: Ca2Al2. Limited Fe3+ substitutes for aluminium in the structure. Prehnite crystallizes in the orthorhombic crystal system, and most oftens forms as stalactitic or botryoidal aggregates, with only just the crests of small...
Ca2Al(AlSi3O10)(OH)2 – Dutch governor Colonel Hendrik Von Prehn - ProustiteProustiteProustite is a sulfosalt mineral consisting of silver sulfarsenide, Ag3AsS3, known also as light red silver or ruby silver ore, and an important source of the metal. It is closely allied to the corresponding sulfantimonide, pyrargyrite, from which it was distinguished by the chemical analyses of...
Ag3AsArsenicArsenic is a chemical element with the symbol As, atomic number 33 and relative atomic mass 74.92. Arsenic occurs in many minerals, usually in conjunction with sulfur and metals, and also as a pure elemental crystal. It was first documented by Albertus Magnus in 1250.Arsenic is a metalloid...
SSulfurSulfur or sulphur is the chemical element with atomic number 16. In the periodic table it is represented by the symbol S. It is an abundant, multivalent non-metal. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with chemical formula S8. Elemental sulfur is a bright yellow...
3 – French chemist Joseph Louis ProustJoseph ProustJoseph Louis Proust was a French chemist.-Life:Joseph L. Proust was born on September 26, 1754 in Angers, France. His father served as an apothecary in Angers. Joseph studied chemistry in his father’s shop and later came to Paris where he gained the appointment of apothecary in chief to the...
(1754-1826)
R
- RambergiteRambergiteRambergite is a manganese sulfide mineral with formula MnS.It has been found in anoxic marine sediments, rich in organic matter of the Gotland Deep, Baltic Sea and also in skarn in the Garpenberg area, Dalarna, Sweden. It was named after the mineralogist, Hans Ramberg .It is closely related to...
MnS – mineralogist Hans RambergHans RambergHans Ramberg was a Norwegian-Swedish geologist. The mineral rambergite was named after him.-Life and work:He received his Ph.D from the University of Oslo in 1946... - RiebeckiteRiebeckiteRiebeckite is a sodium-rich member of the amphibole group of silicate minerals, chemical formula [][Na2][32][2|Si8O22]. It forms a series with magnesioriebeckite. It crystallizes in the monoclinic system, usually as long prismatic crystals showing a diamond-shaped cross section, but also in...
Na2(Fe,Mg)5Si8O22(OH)2 – German explorer Emil RiebeckEmil RiebeckEmil Riebeck was a German explorer, mineralogist, ethnologist, and naturalist. He was born in Preusslitz to Carl Adolf Riebeck, an industrial magnate. He traveled to North Africa and Arabia several times, and in 1881 travelled with Georg Schweinfurth on an expedition to Socotra. He traveled...
(1853-1885) - Rossmanite (LiAl2)Al6Si6O18(BO3)3(OH)4 – Caltech mineralogist George Rossman
- RusselliteRusselliteRussellite is a bismuth tungstate mineral with the chemical formula Bi2WO6. It crystallizes in the orthorhombic crystal system. Russellite is yellow or yellow-green in color, with a Mohs hardness of 3½....
(BiO2)[WO4] – British mineralologist Sir Arthur Russell, 6th BaronetSir Arthur Russell, 6th BaronetSir Arthur Edward Ian Montagu Russell, 6th Baronet, MBE, FRS , was a British mineralogist of the 20th century. He was a collector and a collector of collections....
S
- SamarskiteSamarskiteSamarskite is a radioactive rare earth mineral series which includessamarskite- with formula: 22O8and samarskite- with formula 22O8 The formula for smarskite- is also given as: O4...
YYttriumYttrium is a chemical element with symbol Y and atomic number 39. It is a silvery-metallic transition metal chemically similar to the lanthanides and it has often been classified as a "rare earth element". Yttrium is almost always found combined with the lanthanides in rare earth minerals and is...
0.2REERare earth elementAs defined by IUPAC, rare earth elements or rare earth metals are a set of seventeen chemical elements in the periodic table, specifically the fifteen lanthanides plus scandium and yttrium...
0.3Fe3+IronIron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...
0.3UUraniumUranium is a silvery-white metallic chemical element in the actinide series of the periodic table, with atomic number 92. It is assigned the chemical symbol U. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons...
0.2NbNiobiumNiobium or columbium , is a chemical element with the symbol Nb and atomic number 41. It's a soft, grey, ductile transition metal, which is often found in the pyrochlore mineral, the main commercial source for niobium, and columbite...
0.8TaTantalumTantalum is a chemical element with the symbol Ta and atomic number 73. Previously known as tantalium, the name comes from Tantalus, a character in Greek mythology. Tantalum is a rare, hard, blue-gray, lustrous transition metal that is highly corrosion resistant. It is part of the refractory...
0.2OOxideAn oxide is a chemical compound that contains at least one oxygen atom in its chemical formula. Metal oxides typically contain an anion of oxygen in the oxidation state of −2....
4 – Russian official Colonel Vasili Samarsky-BykhovetsVasili Samarsky-BykhovetsVasili Evgrafovich Samarsky–Bykhovets was a Russian mining engineer and the chief of Russian Mining Engineering Corps between 1845 and 1861. The mineral samarskite and chemical element samarium are named after him...
(1803-1870) - SanborniteSanborniteSanbornite is a rare barium phyllosilicate mineral with formula BaSi2O5. Sanbornite is a colorless to white to pale green, platey orthorhombic mineral with Mohs hardness of 5 and a specific gravity of 3.74....
BaSi2O5 – American mineralogist Frank B. Sanborn (1862-1936) - Satterlyite (Fe++,Mg)2(PO4)(OH) – Canadian geologist Jack Satterly (1906-)
- SchreibersiteSchreibersiteSchreibersite is generally a rare iron nickel phosphide mineral, 3P, though common in iron-nickel meteorites. It is rarely reported from Earth . Another name used for the mineral is rhabdite. It forms tetragonal crystals with perfect 001 cleavage. Its color ranges from bronze to brass yellow to...
(Fe,Ni)3P – Austrian naturalist Carl Franz Anton Ritter von SchreibersCarl Franz Anton Ritter von SchreibersCarl Franz Anton Ritter von Schreibers was an Austrian naturalist who was a native of Pressburg, Hungary, Habsburg Empire . He earned his medical doctorate from Vienna in 1798, but also studied botany, mineralogy and zoology at the university...
(1775-1852) - SekaninaiteSekaninaiteSekaninaite is a silicate mineral, the iron rich analogue of cordierite.It was first described in 1968 for an occurrence in Dolní Bory, Vysočina Region, Moravia, Czech Republic, and is now known also from Ireland, Japan, and Sweden. It was named after a Czech mineralogist, Josef Sekanina...
((Fe+2,Mg)2Al4Si5O18) – Czech mineralogist Josef Sekanina (1901- ) - SillimaniteSillimaniteSillimanite is an alumino-silicate mineral with the chemical formula Al2SiO5. Sillimanite is named after the American chemist Benjamin Silliman . It was first described in 1824 for an occurrence in Chester, Middlesex County, Connecticut, USA....
Al2SiO5 – American chemist Benjamin SillimanBenjamin SillimanBenjamin Silliman was an American chemist, one of the first American professors of science , and the first to distill petroleum.-Early life:...
(1779-1864) - SmithsoniteSmithsoniteSmithsonite, or zinc spar, is zinc carbonate , a mineral ore of zinc. Historically, smithsonite was identified with hemimorphite before it was realised that they were two distinct minerals. The two minerals are very similar in appearance and the term calamine has been used for both, leading to some...
ZnCO3 – British chemist and mineralogist, James SmithsonJames SmithsonJames Smithson, FRS, M.A. was a British mineralogist and chemist noted for having left a bequest in his will to the United States of America, to create "an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men" to be called the Smithsonian Institution.-Biography:Not much is known...
(1754-1829) - SodaliteSodaliteSodalite is a rich royal blue mineral widely enjoyed as an ornamental gemstone. Although massive sodalite samples are opaque, crystals are usually transparent to translucent...
(informally named Princess Blue) – Princess Patricia of ConnaughtPrincess Patricia of ConnaughtPrincess Patricia of Connaught was a member of the British Royal Family, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria...
(1886-1974) - SperryliteSperryliteSperrylite is a platinum arsenide mineral with formula: PtAs2 and is an opaque metallic tin white mineral which crystallizes in the isometric system with the pyrite group structure. It forms cubic, octahedral or pyritohedral crystals in addition to massive and reniform habits...
PtAs2 – American chemist Francis Louis Sperry - SteacyiteSteacyiteSteacyite is a complex silicate mineral containing thorium and uranium; formula Kvariable2Si8O20. It forms small brown or yellow green crystals, often cruciform twinned crystals. It is radioactive. It was discovered at Mont-Saint-Hilaire, Quebec in 1982 and is named after Harold Robert Steacy...
KvariableCa.Na.Th.U.Si8O20 – Canadian mineralogist Harold Robert SteacyHarold Robert SteacyHarold Robert Steacy, a mineralogist, was the curator of the Canadian National Mineral Collection at the Geological Survey of Canada in Ottawa. The mineral Steacyite is named for him.-Literature cited:...
(b. 1923) - StephaniteStephaniteStephanite is a silver antimony sulfosalt mineral with formula: Ag5SbS4 It is composed of 68.8% silver, and sometimes is of importance as an ore of this metal.-History:...
Ag5SbS4 – Archduke Stephan of Austria - StichtiteStichtiteStichtite is a mineral, a carbonate of chromium and magnesium; formula Mg6Cr2CO316·4H2O. Its colour ranges from pink through lilac to a rich purple colour. It is formed as an alteration product from chromium containing serpentine....
Mg6Cr2CO3(OH)16.4H2O – Australian mine manager Robert Carl StichtRobert Carl StichtRobert Carl Sticht was an American metallurgist and copper mine manager, active in Colorado and Montana, U.S.A. and in Tasmania, Australia...
(1857–1922) - StilleiteStilleiteStilleite is a selinide mineral, zinc selenide with formula ZnSe. It has been found only as microscopic grey crystals associated with other selenides. It was originally discovered in Katanga Province, Zaire in 1956 and is named for the German geologist, Hans Stille ....
ZnSe – German geologist Hans StilleHans StilleHans Wilhelm Stille was an influential German geologist working primarily on tectonics and the collation of tectonic events during the Phanerozoic....
(1876-1966) - StolziteStolziteStolzite is a mineral, a lead tungstate; with the formula PbWO4. It is similar to, and often associated with, wulfenite which is the same chemical formula except that the tungsten is replaced by molybdenum...
PbWO4 – Czechoslovakian Joseph Alexi Stolz (1803-1896) - StromeyeriteStromeyeriteStromeyerite is a sulfide mineral of copper and silver, with the chemical formula AgCuS. It forms opaque blue grey to dark blue orthorhombic crystals....
AgCuS – German chemist, Friedrich Stromeyer (1776 - 1835) - Strunzite – German mineralogist Karl Hugo Strunz (1910-2006)
- SugiliteSugiliteSugilite is a relatively rare pink to purple cyclosilicate mineral with the complex chemical formula KNa22Li3Si12O30. Sugilite crystallizes in the hexagonal system with prismatic crystals. The crystals are rarely found and the form is usually massive. It has a Mohs hardness of 5.5 to 6.5 and a...
KNa2(Fe,Mn,Al)2Li3Si12O30 – Japanese petrologist Ken-ichi Sugi (1901-1948) - SylviteSylviteSylvite is potassium chloride in natural mineral form. It forms crystals in the isometric system very similar to normal rock salt, halite . The two are, in fact, isomorphous. 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...
KCl – Dutch chemist François Sylvius de le BoeFranciscus SylviusFranciscus Sylvius , born Franz de le Boë, was a Dutch physician and scientist who was an early champion of Descartes', Van Helmont's and William Harvey's work and theories...
(1614-1672)
T
- TealliteTealliteTeallite is a sulfide mineral of tin and lead with chemical formula: PbSnS2. It occurs in hydrothermal veins and is sometimes mined as an ore of tin. Teallite forms soft silvery grey mica-like plates and crystallizes in the orthorhombic system...
PbSnS2 – British geologist Jethro Justinian Harris Teall (1849-1924) - TennantiteTennantiteTennantite is a copper arsenic sulfosalt mineral. Its chemical formula is Cu12As4S13. It is grey-black, steel-gray, iron-gray or black in color. A closely related mineral, tetrahedrite has antimony substituting for arsenic and the two form a solid solution series. The two have very similar...
Cu12As4S13 – English chemist Smithson TennantSmithson TennantSmithson Tennant FRS was an English chemist.Tennant is best known for his discovery of the elements iridium and osmium, which he found in the residues from the solution of platinum ores in 1803. He also contributed to the proof of the identity of diamond and charcoal. The mineral tennantite is...
(1761-1815) - TenoriteTenoriteTenorite is a copper oxide mineral with the simple formula CuO.-Occurrence:Tenorite occurs in the weathered or oxidized zone associated with deeper primary copper sulfide orebodies. Tenorite commonly occurs with chrysocolla and the copper carbonates, azurite and malachite. The dull grey-black color...
CuOCopper(II) oxideCopper oxide or cupric oxide is the higher oxide of copper. As a mineral, it is known as tenorite.-Chemistry:It is a black solid with an ionic structure which melts above 1200 °C with some loss of oxygen...
– Italian botanist Michele TenoreMichele TenoreMichele Tenore was an Italian botanist active in Naples, Italy.Tenore studied at the University of Naples, receiving his medical degree in 1800...
(1780-1861) - ThomasclarkiteThomasclarkiteThomasclarkite- is a rare mineral which was known as UK-93 until 1997, when it was renamed in honour of Thomas H. Clark , McGill University professor. The mineral is one of many rare earth element minerals from Mont Saint-Hilaire. The only reported occurrence is in an alkalic pegmatite dike in an...
Na0.8Ce0.2Y0.5REE0.7(HCO3)(OH)3•4(H2O) – Canadian geologist Thomas ClarkT. H. ClarkThomas Henry Clark, Ph.D., FRSC was a Canadian geologist who is considered to have been one of the nation's top scientists of the 20th century. He was a professor who authored over 100 scientific publications. After his death, a mineral was named in his honour.Clark was born in London, England...
(1893-1996) - ThortveititeThortveititeThortveitite is a mineral consisting of scandium yttrium silicate 2Si2O7. It is the primary source of scandium. Occurrence is in granitic pegmatites. It was named after Olaus Thortveit, Norwegian engineer. It is greyish-green, black or grey in color....
(Sc,Y)2Si2O7 – Norwegian engineer Olaus Thortveit - TiemanniteTiemanniteTiemannite is a mineral, mercury selenide, formula HgSe. It occurs in hydrothermal veins associated with other selenides, or other mercury minerals such as cinnabar, and often with calcite. Discovered in 1855 in Germany, it is named after C. W...
HgSe – CW Tiemann (1848-1899) - TorberniteTorberniteThe chemical formula of torbenite is similar to that of autunite in which a Cu2+ cation replaces a Ca2+. The number of water hydration molecules can vary between 12 and 8, giving rise to the variety of metatorbernite when torbernite spontaneously dehydrates...
(2)2(4)2 – Swedish chemist Torbern BergmanTorbern BergmanTorbern Olof Bergman was a Swedish chemist and mineralogist noted for his 1775 Dissertation on Elective Attractions, containing the largest chemical affinity tables ever published...
(1735-1784)
U
- UlexiteUlexiteUlexite , sometimes known as TV rock, is a mineral occurring in silky white rounded crystalline masses or in parallel fibers. The natural fibers of ulexite conduct light along their long axes, by internal reflection...
(NaSodiumSodium is a chemical element with the symbol Na and atomic number 11. It is a soft, silvery-white, highly reactive metal and is a member of the alkali metals; its only stable isotope is 23Na. It is an abundant element that exists in numerous minerals, most commonly as sodium chloride...
CaCalciumCalcium is the chemical element with the symbol Ca and atomic number 20. It has an atomic mass of 40.078 amu. Calcium is a soft gray alkaline earth metal, and is the fifth-most-abundant element by mass in the Earth's crust...
BBoronBoron is the chemical element with atomic number 5 and the chemical symbol B. Boron is a metalloid. Because boron is not produced by stellar nucleosynthesis, it is a low-abundance element in both the solar system and the Earth's crust. However, boron is concentrated on Earth by the...
5OOxygenOxygen is the element with atomic number 8 and represented by the symbol O. Its name derives from the Greek roots ὀξύς and -γενής , because at the time of naming, it was mistakenly thought that all acids required oxygen in their composition...
9•8H2OWaterWater is a chemical substance with the chemical formula H2O. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient conditions, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice, and gaseous state . Water also exists in a...
) – German chemist G. L. Ulex - UllmanniteUllmanniteUllmannite is a nickel antimony sulfide mineral with formula: NiSbS. Considerable substitution occurs with cobalt and iron in the nickel site along with bismuth and arsenic in the antimony site...
NiSbS – German chemist and mineralogist Johann Christoph Ullmann (1771-1821) - UvaroviteUvaroviteUvarovite is a chromium-bearing garnet group species with the formula: Ca3Cr23. It was discovered in 1832 by Germain Henri Hess who named it after Count Sergei Semenovitch Uvarov , a Russian statesman and amateur mineral collector....
Ca3Cr2(SiO4)3 – Russian Count Sergei Semenovitch Uvarov (1765-1855)
V
- ValentiniteValentiniteValentinite is an antimony oxide mineral with formula Sb2O3. Valentinite crystallizes in the orthorhombic system and typically forms as radiating clusters of euhedral crystals or as fibrous masses. It is colorless to white with occasional shades or tints of yellow and red. It has a Mohs hardness of...
Sb2O3 – German alchemist Basilius ValentinusBasilius ValentinusBasil Valentine is the Anglicised version of the name Basilius Valentinus, who was allegedly a 15th-century alchemist. There are claims that he was the Canon of the Benedictine Priory of Sankt Peter in Erfurt, Germany but according to John Maxson Stillman, who wrote on the history of chemistry,...
(c. 15th-century) - VateriteVateriteVaterite is a mineral, a polymorph of calcium carbonate. It was named after the German mineralogist Heinrich Vater. It is also known as mu-calcium carbonate and has a JCPDS number of 13-192. Vaterite, like aragonite, is a metastable phase of calcium carbonate at ambient conditions at the surface...
CaCO3 – German mineralogist Heinrich Vater - Vivianite Fe3(PO4)2·8(H2O) – English mineralogist J.G. Vivian
W
- WarditeWarditeWardite is a hydrous sodium aluminium phosphate hydroxide mineral with formula: NaAl324·2. Wardite is of interest for its rare crystallography. It crystallizes in the tetragonal trapezohedral class and is one of only a few minerals in that class. Wardite forms vitreous green to bluish green to...
NaAl3(PO4)2(OH)4•2(H2O) – American naturalist Henry Augustus WardHenry Augustus WardHenry Augustus Ward was an American naturalist and geologist, born in Rochester, New York.After attending Williams College and the Lawrence Scientific School, Harvard, where he was an assistant of Louis Agassiz, he traveled in Egypt, Arabia, and Palestine, and studied at the Jardin des Plantes,...
(1834-1906) - WarikahniteWarikahniteWarikahnite is a rare zinc arsenate mineral of the triclinic crystal system with Hermann- Mauguin notation 1*, belonging to the space group P1*. It occurs in the second oxidation zone of the Tsumeb mine in Namibia on corroded tennantite in the second oxidation zone under hydrothermal conditions in...
Zn3(AsO4)2•2H2O – German dealer and collector of minerals Walter Richard Kahn (1911-) - WeloganiteWeloganiteWeloganite is a rare carbonate mineral with formula: It was discovered in 1967 and named for Canadian geologist Sir William Edmond Logan . It was first discovered in Francon Quarry, Montreal, Canada and has only been reported from a few localities worldwide.-Properties:It is usually white, lemon...
Na2(Sr,Ca)3Zr(CO3)6·3H2O – Canadian geologist Sir William Edmond LoganWilliam Edmond LoganSir William Edmond Logan was a Scottish-Canadian geologist.Logan was born in Montreal, Quebec, and educated at the High School in Edinburgh and the University of Edinburgh . He started teaching himself geology in 1831, when he took over the running of a copper works in Swansea. He produced a...
(1798-1875) - WhewelliteWhewelliteWhewellite is a mineral, hydrated calcium oxalate, formula CaC2O4·H2O. Because of its organic content it is thought to have an indirect biological origin and this is supported by it being found in coal and sedimentary nodules. However, it has also been found in hydrothermal deposits where a...
CaC2O4·H2O – English mineralogist William WhewellWilliam WhewellWilliam Whewell was an English polymath, scientist, Anglican priest, philosopher, theologian, and historian of science. He was Master of Trinity College, Cambridge.-Life and career:Whewell was born in Lancaster...
(1794-1866) - WhitlockiteWhitlockiteWhitlockite is a mineral, an unusual form of calcium phosphate. Its formula is Ca96PO3OH. It is a relatively rare mineral but is found in granitic pegmatites, phosphate rock deposits, guano caves and in chondrite meteorites...
Ca3(PO4)2 – American mineralogist Herbert Percy Whitlock (1868-1948) - WillemiteWillemiteWillemite is a zinc silicate mineral and a minor ore of zinc. It is highly fluorescent under shortwave ultraviolet light.It occurs in all different colors in daylight, in fibrous masses, solid brown masses , and apple green gemmy masses.It was discovered in 1830 and named after William I of the...
Zn2SiO4 – King William I of the NetherlandsWilliam I of the NetherlandsWilliam I Frederick, born Willem Frederik Prins van Oranje-Nassau , was a Prince of Orange and the first King of the Netherlands and Grand Duke of Luxembourg....
(1772-1843) - WitheriteWitheriteWitherite is a barium carbonate mineral, BaCO3, in the aragonite group. Witherite crystallizes in the orthorhombic system and virtually always is twinned. The mineral is colorless, milky white, grey, pale yellow, green, to pale brown. The specific gravity is 4.3, which is high for a translucent...
BaCO3 – English physician and naturalist William WitheringWilliam WitheringWilliam Withering was an English botanist, geologist, chemist, physician and the discoverer of digitalis.-Introduction:...
(1741-1799) - WollastoniteWollastoniteWollastonite is a calcium inosilicate mineral that may contain small amounts of iron, magnesium, and manganese substituting for calcium. It is usually white. It forms when impure limestone or dolostone is subjected to high temperature and pressure sometimes in the presence of silica-bearing fluids...
CaSiO3 – English chemist and mineralogist William Hyde WollastonWilliam Hyde WollastonWilliam Hyde Wollaston FRS was an English chemist and physicist who is famous for discovering two chemical elements and for developing a way to process platinum ore.-Biography:...
(1766-1828) - WulfeniteWulfeniteWulfenite is a lead molybdate mineral with the formula PbMoO4. It can be most often found as thin tabular crystals with a bright orange-red to yellow-orange color, sometimes brown, although the color can be highly variable. In its yellow form it is sometimes called "yellow lead ore".It crystallizes...
PbMoMolybdenumMolybdenum , is a Group 6 chemical element with the symbol Mo and atomic number 42. The name is from Neo-Latin Molybdaenum, from Ancient Greek , meaning lead, itself proposed as a loanword from Anatolian Luvian and Lydian languages, since its ores were confused with lead ores...
OOxygenOxygen is the element with atomic number 8 and represented by the symbol O. Its name derives from the Greek roots ὀξύς and -γενής , because at the time of naming, it was mistakenly thought that all acids required oxygen in their composition...
4 – Austrian mineralogist Franz Xavier von Wulfen (1728-1805)
Z
- ZaccagnaiteZaccagnaiteZaccagnaite is a mineral, with a formula Zn4Al2CO312·3H2O. It occurs as white hexagonal crystals associated with calcite in cavites in Carrara marble of the Italian Alps and is thought to have formed by hydrothermal alteration of sphalerite in an aluminium rich environment. It is named after...
Zn4Al2CO3(OH)12.3H2O – Italian mineral collector Domenico Zaccagna - ZaheriteZaheriteZaherite is a mineral, a complex sulfate of aluminium, formula Al12265·20H2O. Discovered in 1977 in the Salt range, Punjab, Pakistan by Mohamed Abduz Zaher of the Bangladesh Geological Survey after whom it is named. This mineral would be extremely soluble in water and unlikely to persist anywhere...
Al12(OH)26(SO4)5.20H2O – Bangladeshi geologist Mohamed Abduz Zaher - ZajaciteZajacite-(Ce)Zajacite or Zajacite- is a rare radioactive fluoride mineral with formula: NaF6. REE means rare earth elements mostly those belonging to the lanthanide series. It crystallizes in the trigonal - rhombohedral system and has a white vitreous appearance with a conchoidal fracture. It has a Mohs...
Na(REExCa1-x)(REEyCa1-y)F6 – Explorer Dr. I. S. Zajac - ZakharoviteZakharoviteZakharovite is a mineral, a silicate of sodium and manganese; formula Na4Mn5Si10O246·6H2O. It has a yellow colour with a pearly lustre. Discovered in 1982 in the Kola peninsula of Northern Russia, it is named after E.E. Zakharov , the director of the Moscow Institute of Geological...
Na4Mn5Si10O20(OH)6.6H2O – Russian Director of the Moscow Institute of Geological Exploration Evgeii Evgen'evich Zakharov (1902-1980) - ZanazziiteZanazziiteZanazziite is a mineral, a complex phosphate with the formula Ca24Be446·6H2O. Discovered in 1990 in Brazil, it is named after P. F. Zanazzi, Professor of Mineralogy, Perugia, Italy. Its color is pale to dark olive-green.-See also:...
Ca2(MgFe)(MgFeMnAl)4Be(OH)4(PO4)6.6H2O – Italian Professor PF Zanazzi - ZaratiteZaratiteZaratite is a bright emerald green nickel carbonate mineral with formula Ni3CO34·4H2O. Zaratite crystallizes in the isometric crystal system as massive to mammillary encrustations and vein fillings. It has a specific gravity of 2.6 and a Mohs hardness of 3 to 3.5. It has no cleavage and is...
Ni3CO3(OH)4·4H2O – Spanish diplomat and dramatist Antonio Gil y ZárateAntonio Gil y ZárateAntonio Gil y Zárate was a Spanish dramatist and pedagogue whose work is associated with Romanticism. The mineral Zaratite was named after him....
(1793-1861) - ZektzeriteZektzeriteThe mineral zektzerite is a member of the tuhualite group and was first found in 1966 from the Willow creek basin below Silver Star mountain in miarolitic cavities within the alkaline riebeckite granite phase of the Golden Horn batholith, Okanogan County, Washington...
– American mathematician and mineral collector Jack Zektzer (1936- ). - ZhanghengiteZhanghengiteZhanghengite is a mineral consisting of 80% copper and zinc, 10% iron with the balance made up of chromium and aluminium. Its color is golden yellow. It was discovered in 1986 during the analysis of the Bo Xian meteorite and is named after Zhang Heng, an ancient Chinese astronomer....
– ancient Chinese astronomer Zhang HengZhang HengZhang Heng was a Chinese astronomer, mathematician, inventor, geographer, cartographer, artist, poet, statesman, and literary scholar from Nanyang, Henan. He lived during the Eastern Han Dynasty of China. He was educated in the capital cities of Luoyang and Chang'an, and began his career as a...
(78-139) - ZhemchuzhnikoviteZhemchuzhnikoviteZhemchuzhnikovite is a mineral of organic origin; formula NaMgC2O4.8H2O. It forms smokey green crystals with a vitreous lustre and is found in Russian coal mines. It is named after Yury Zhemchuzhnikov , a Russian clay mineralogist.-References:**...
NaMg(FeAl)C2O4.8H2O – Russian clay mineralogist Yury Zhemchuzhnikov - ZiesiteZiesiteZiesite is a mineral, copper vanadate: formula β-Cu2V2O7. It was discovered in 1980 as monoclinic crystals around fumaroles in the crater of the Izalco Volcano, El Salvador. It is named after Emmanuel G. Zies , an American mineralogist....
βCu2V2O7 – mineralogist Emmanuel G. Zies - ZinkeniteZinkeniteZinkenite is a steel-gray metallic sulfosalt mineral composed of lead antimony sulfide Pb9Sb22S42. Zinkenite occurs as acicular needle-like crystals....
PbLeadLead is a main-group element in the carbon group with the symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal. It is also counted as one of the heavy metals. Metallic lead has a bluish-white color after being freshly cut, but it soon tarnishes to a dull grayish color when exposed...
9SbAntimonyAntimony is a toxic chemical element with the symbol Sb and an atomic number of 51. A lustrous grey metalloid, it is found in nature mainly as the sulfide mineral stibnite...
22SSulfurSulfur or sulphur is the chemical element with atomic number 16. In the periodic table it is represented by the symbol S. It is an abundant, multivalent non-metal. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with chemical formula S8. Elemental sulfur is a bright yellow...
42 – German mineralogist and mining geologist, J. K. L. Zincken (1790–1862). - ZippeiteZippeiteZippeite is a hydrous potassium uranium sulfate mineral with formula: K46310·4. It forms yellow to reddish brown monoclinic-prismatic crystals with perfect cleavage. The typical form is as encrustations and pulverulent earthy masses. It forms as efflorescent encrustations in underground uranium...
(UUraniumUranium is a silvery-white metallic chemical element in the actinide series of the periodic table, with atomic number 92. It is assigned the chemical symbol U. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons...
OOxygenOxygen is the element with atomic number 8 and represented by the symbol O. Its name derives from the Greek roots ὀξύς and -γενής , because at the time of naming, it was mistakenly thought that all acids required oxygen in their composition...
2)6(SSulfurSulfur or sulphur is the chemical element with atomic number 16. In the periodic table it is represented by the symbol S. It is an abundant, multivalent non-metal. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with chemical formula S8. Elemental sulfur is a bright yellow...
O4)3(OHHydrogenHydrogen is the chemical element with atomic number 1. It is represented by the symbol H. With an average atomic weight of , hydrogen is the lightest and most abundant chemical element, constituting roughly 75% of the Universe's chemical elemental mass. Stars in the main sequence are mainly...
)10·4(H2OWaterWater is a chemical substance with the chemical formula H2O. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient conditions, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice, and gaseous state . Water also exists in a...
) – Austrian mineralogist Franz Xaver Maxmillian Zippe. - ZirkeliteZirkeliteZirkelite is an oxide mineral with formula: Zr2O7. It occurs as well-formed fine sized isometric crystals. It is a black, brown or yellow mineral with a hardness of 5.5 and a specific gravity of 4.7.-Name and discovery:...
: (CaCalciumCalcium is the chemical element with the symbol Ca and atomic number 20. It has an atomic mass of 40.078 amu. Calcium is a soft gray alkaline earth metal, and is the fifth-most-abundant element by mass in the Earth's crust...
, ThThoriumThorium is a natural radioactive chemical element with the symbol Th and atomic number 90. It was discovered in 1828 and named after Thor, the Norse god of thunder....
, CeCeriumCerium is a chemical element with the symbol Ce and atomic number 58. It is a soft, silvery, ductile metal which easily oxidizes in air. Cerium was named after the dwarf planet . Cerium is the most abundant of the rare earth elements, making up about 0.0046% of the Earth's crust by weight...
)ZrZirconiumZirconium is a chemical element with the symbol Zr and atomic number 40. The name of zirconium is taken from the mineral zircon. Its atomic mass is 91.224. It is a lustrous, grey-white, strong transition metal that resembles titanium...
(TiTitaniumTitanium is a chemical element with the symbol Ti and atomic number 22. It has a low density and is a strong, lustrous, corrosion-resistant transition metal with a silver color....
, NbNiobiumNiobium or columbium , is a chemical element with the symbol Nb and atomic number 41. It's a soft, grey, ductile transition metal, which is often found in the pyrochlore mineral, the main commercial source for niobium, and columbite...
)2OOxygenOxygen is the element with atomic number 8 and represented by the symbol O. Its name derives from the Greek roots ὀξύς and -γενής , because at the time of naming, it was mistakenly thought that all acids required oxygen in their composition...
7 – German petrographer Ferdinand Zirkel (1838–1912) - ZoisiteZoisiteZoisite is a calcium aluminium hydroxy sorosilicate belonging to the epidote group of minerals. Its chemical formula is Ca2Al3O...
Ca2(Al.OH)Al2(SiO4)3 – Slovene scientist Baron Sigmund Zois von EdelsteinBaron Sigmund Zois von EdelsteinSigmund Zois Freiherr von Edelstein, usually referred as Sigmund Zois was a Carniolan nobleman, natural scientist and patron of the arts...
(aka Žiga Zois) (1747-1819) - ZussmaniteZussmaniteZussmanite is a hydrated iron-rich silicate mineral which was found in 1960 by Stuart Olof Agrell, in the Laytonville quarry, Mendocino County, California. Zussmanite is named in honor of Jack Zussman, Head of the University of Manchester’s Department of Geology. Zussmanite is found as a pale...
K(Fe++,Mg,Mn)13[AlSi17O42](OH)14 – British geologist Jack Zussman - ZykaiteZykaiteZykaite or zýkaite is a grey-white mineral consisting of arsenic, hydrogen, iron, sulfur and oxygen with formula: Fe3+43·15. This dull mineral is very soft with a Mohs hardness of only 2 and a specific gravity of 2.5...
– Czech geochemist Dr. Vacklav Zyka.
See also
- MineralogyMineralogyMineralogy is the study of chemistry, crystal structure, and physical properties of minerals. Specific studies within mineralogy include the processes of mineral origin and formation, classification of minerals, their geographical distribution, as well as their utilization.-History:Early writing...
- MineraloidMineraloidA mineraloid is a mineral-like substance that does not demonstrate crystallinity. Mineraloids possess chemical compositions that vary beyond the generally accepted ranges for specific minerals. For example, obsidian is an amorphous glass and not a crystal. Jet is derived from decaying wood under...
- List of minerals (complete)
- List of minerals Short list emphasizing those with Wikipedia articles.