Formed by the reaction of sea water with hydrothermal fluids in a midocean ridge submarine chimney vent. Unstable below 130 deg C., below which it hydrates and redissolves in sea wa ter.
IMA Status:
Approved IMA 1983
Locality:
Along the East Pacific Rise at 21deg N Lat. Link to MinDat.org Location Data.
Name Origin:
Named from the Latin caminus, for chimney, as the mineral occurs in undersea black-smoker chimneys.
CI meas= -0.004 (Superior) - where the CI = (1-KPDmeas/KC) CI calc= 0.214 (Poor) - where the CI = (1-KPDcalc/KC)
KPDcalc= 0.1554,KPDmeas= 0.1985,KC= 0.1978 Ncalc = 1.51 - 1.68
Optical Data:
Uniaxial (-), e=1.532, w=1.534, bire=0.0020.
Calculated Properties of Caminite
Electron Density:
Bulk Density (Electron Density)=2.70 gm/cc note: Specific Gravity of Caminite =2.69 gm/cc.
Fermion Index:
Fermion Index = 0.02 Boson Index = 0.98
Photoelectric:
PECaminite = 1.85 barns/electron U=PECaminite x rElectron Density= 4.98 barns/cc.
Radioactivity:
GRapi = 0 (Gamma Ray American Petroleum Institute Units) Caminite is Not Radioactive
Caminite Classification
Dana Class:
31.10.09.01(31)Hydrated Sulfates Containing Hydroxyl or Halogen
Chemical Formula: 