alforsite
Sign in to saveAlso known as IMA1980-039
Alforsite is a barium phosphate chloride mineral with formula: Ba5(PO4)3Cl. It was discovered in 1981, and named to honor geologist John T. Alfors (1930–2005) of the California Geological Survey for his work in the area where it was discovered.
Key facts
- Mineral.other
- Intense violet cathodoluminescence
- Mineral.name
- Alforsite
- Mineral.image
- Alforsite.jpg
- Mineral.caption
- Alforiste, SEM (by Parvel M. Kartashov)
- Mineral.category
- Phosphate minerals Apatite group
- Mineral.formula
- Ba5(PO4)3Cl
- Mineral.IMAsymbol
- Afr
- Mineral.strunz
- 8.BN.05
- Mineral.system
- Hexagonal
- Mineral.class
- Dipyramidal (6/m) H-M symbol: (6/m)
- Mineral.symmetry
- P63/m
- Mineral.unit cell
- a = 10.25, c = 7.64 [Å]; Z = 2
- Mineral.color
- Colorless
- Mineral.habit
- Subhedral, fine grained masses
- Mineral.mohs
- 5
- Mineral.luster
- Vitreous
- Mineral.streak
- White
- Mineral.diaphaneity
- Semitransparent
via Wikipedia infobox
~5 min read
Encyclopedic overview
8 sectionsContents
- Composition
- Structure
- Geologic occurrence
- Special characteristics
- Physical properties
- Origin of the name
- References
- External links
Alforsite is a barium phosphate chloride mineral with formula: Ba5(PO4)3Cl. It was discovered in 1981, and named to honor geologist John T. Alfors (1930–2005) of the California Geological Survey for his work in the area where it was discovered.
Alforsite is a hexagonal colorless crystal in the chemical class phosphates and the group apatite. It is found in certain parts of central California, primarily Fresno, Mariposa, and Tulare Counties. It has also been found in Baja California, Mexico.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “alforsite” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.