GO 336 Adopt-a-mineral project

Adopt-a-Mineral Project:
Barite and Corundum
by John Waechter

www.emporia.edu/earthsci/amber/
go336/waechter/

Corundum:
Final Webpage Project
by John Waechter

www.emporia.edu/earthsci/amber/
go336/waechter/corundum.htm

Table of Contents
  • Introduction
  • Properties of Barite
  • Properties of Corundum
  • Sources

    • Introduction

    The webpage was created for my mineralogy course, www.emporia.edu/earthsci/amber/go336, at Emporia State University. During the semester students adopted minerals to study them in greater detail. After an introduction to mineralogy and minerals, my adopted minerals, barite and corundum, will be briefly described.
    Mineralogy is a subfield of the geosciences that includes crystallography and mineral genesis, as well as as the physical, chemical, and optical properties of naturally occurring, crystalline solids (S. Aber, pers. commun., 8/2007). Mineralogy has been studied by a number of people such Theophrastus in 300 BC, A.G. Werner in 1774, and Max von Laue in 1912 among other scientists who played a large part in the study of minerals (Bulakh and Wenk, 2004). Specifically, a mineral is defined as “an element or chemical compound that is normally crystalline and that has been formed as a result of geological processes" (www.webmineral.com/Mineral_Definition.shtml).

    Properties of Barite

    The mineral barite receives its name and origin from the Greek word baryos meaning "heavy" (    www.webmineral.com/data/Barite.shtml). This mineral is composed of about fifty-nine percent barium, fourteen percent sulfur, and twenty-seven percent oxygen. The chemical formula for this mineral is BaSO4. For its crystalline structural class, it is referred to by some as orthorhombic dipyramidal, which means the mineral falls in the the orthorhombic crystal system and may display the closed form known as dipyramid that is defined by a translation-free symmetry of three two-fold axes. Barite is classified chemically as a sulfate, and it is not radioactive. The mineral is either colorless or white; however, it can be a yellow or brownish color if there are chemical impurities or inclusions. It has a hardness of about three to three and a half on the Mohs Hardness Scale. Most of the time it can be found in gangue mineral in ore deposits of epithermal or mesothermal origin (www.mindat.org/min-549.html).

    Properties of Corundum

    The mineral corundum is composed of aluminum and oxygen. It has a chemical formula of Al2O3. The molecular weight of this mineral is 101.96 grams. This mineral can be found in areas where there has been some form of contact metamorphism taking place. It has a density of about 4.0 and a hardness of 9 on the Mohs hardness scale. This mineral has a vitreous luster and can be found in colors of blue, red, yellow, brown, and gray along with being colorless (    webmineral.com/data/Corundum.shtml).

    The name of this mineral is derived from Sanskrit, kuruvinda which stands for “ruby.” It belongs to the trigonal crystal system with a hexagonal scalenohedral crystal class (www.mindat.org/min-1136.html). Corundum can be used as an abrasive in today’s society. It can be used in machines to emery cloth. Corundum can be mined in Zimbabwe, Russia, and India to be used as an abrasive. This mineral can also be found on the Greek island of Naxos.

    Sources

    For more information email kingrooster48@yahoo.com.

    Related Links
    Emporia State University
    www.emporia.edu     		Earth Science at ESU
    www.emporia.edu/earthsci
    Mineralogy Webpage Assignment
    http://www.emporia.edu/earthsci/amber/
    go336/assign.htm         		Past Student Projects
    www.emporia.edu/earthsci/amber/
    go336/webpages.htm

    Return to GO336 Student Webpages, www.emporia.edu/earthsci/amber/go336/webpages.htm.

    Webpage created October 2007; last update December 21, 2007.