Celsian Mineral Data

General Celsian Information

Chemical Formula:

BaAl2Si2O8

Composition:

Molecular Weight = 375.46 gm

Barium 36.58 % Ba 40.84 % BaO

Aluminum 14.37 % Al 27.16 % Al₂O₃

Silicon 14.96 % Si 32.01 % SiO₂

Oxygen 34.09 % O

______ ______

100.00 % 100.00 % = TOTAL OXIDE

Empirical Formula:

BaAl₂Si₂O₈

Environment:

Contact metamorphic rocks with significant barium.

IMA Status:

Valid Species (Pre-IMA) 1895

Locality:

Imfeld-Binnental, Switzerland. Link to MinDat.org Location Data.

Name Origin:

Named after the Swedish astronomer and natural scientist, A. Celsius(1701-1744).

Synonym:

ICSD 25836

PDF 38-1450

Celsian Image

Images:

Celsian Hendricksite

Comments: Gray massive celsian with dark red hendricksite.
Location: Franklin, Sussex County, New Jersey, USA. Scale: See Photo.
© Jeff Weissman / Photographic Guide to Mineral Species

Images:

Alforsite Titantaramellite Sanbornite Celsian

Comments: SEM image showing alforsite (al). Matrix composed by lamellar sanbornite (sa) and granular quartz (q). Rectangular crystal in the upper right corner is titantaramellite (ti) and isometric crystals included in sanbornite are celsian (ce).
Location: Trumbull Peak, near Incline, Mariposa Co., California, USA. Scale: See Image.
© Pavel M. Kartashov

Celsian Crystallography

Axial Ratios:

a:b:c =0.6613:1:1.1044

Cell Dimensions:

a = 8.627, b = 13.045, c = 14.408, Z = 8; beta = 115.2° V = 1,467.15 Den(Calc)= 3.40

Crystal System:

Monoclinic - Prismatic H-M Symbol (2/m) Space Group: I21/c

$Help on X Ray Diffraction:$ X Ray Diffraction:

By Intensity(I/I_o): 3.35(1), 3.47(1), 3.02(0.95),

Physical Properties of Celsian

Cleavage:

{001} Perfect, {010} Good

Color:

Colorless, Yellow, White.

Density:

3.1 - 3.4, Average = 3.25

Diaphaneity:

Transparent

Fracture:

Brittle - Uneven - Very brittle fracture producing uneven fragments.

Habit:

Crystalline - Fine - Occurs as well-formed fine sized crystals.

Habit:

Massive - Granular - Common texture observed in granite and other igneous rock.

Hardness:

6-6.5 - Orthoclase-Pyrite

Luminescence:

Non-fluorescent.

Luster:

Vitreous (Glassy)

Streak:

white

Optical Properties of Celsian

Gladstone-Dale:

CI meas= -0.033 (Excellent) - where the CI = (1-KPDmeas/KC)
CI calc= 0.013 (Superior) - where the CI = (1-KPDcalc/KC)
KPDcalc= 0.1728,KPDmeas= 0.1808,KC= 0.1751
Ncalc = 1.54 - 1.6

Optical Data:

Biaxial (+), a=1.58-1.584, b=1.585-1.587, g=1.594-1.596, bire=0.0120-0.0140, 2V(Calc)=62-74, 2V(Meas)=86-90. Dispersion none.

Pleochroism (x):

colorless.

Pleochroism (y):

colorless.

Pleochroism (z):

colorless.

Calculated Properties of Celsian

Electron Density:

Bulk Density (Electron Density)=3.15 gm/cc
note: Specific Gravity of Celsian =3.40 gm/cc.

Fermion Index:

Fermion Index = 0.07
Boson Index = 0.93

Photoelectric:

PE_Celsian= 159.23 barns/electron
U=PE_Celsian x rElectron Density= 501.79 barns/cc.

Radioactivity:

GRapi = 0 (Gamma Ray American Petroleum Institute Units)
Celsian is Not Radioactive

Celsian Classification

Dana Class:

76.01.01.04 (76)Tectosilicate Al-Si Framework

(76.01)with Al-Si frameworks

(76.01.01)K (Na,Ba) feldspars

76.01.01.01 Orthoclase KAlSi3O8 C 2/m 2/m

76.01.01.02 Sanidine (K,Na)(Si,Al)4O8 C 2/m 2/m

76.01.01.03 Hyalophane (K,Ba)Al(Si,Al)3O8 C 2/m 2/m

76.01.01.04 Celsian BaAl2Si2O8 I21/c 2/m

76.01.01.05 Microcline KAlSi3O8 C1 1

76.01.01.06 Anorthoclase (Na,K)AlSi3O8 C1 1

76.01.01.07 Rubicline! (Rb,K)AlSi3O8 P1 1

76.01.01.08 Filatovite! K[(Al,Zn)2(As,Si)2O8] I2/c 2/m

Strunz Class:

09.FA.30 09 - SILICATES (Germanates)

09.F - Tektosilicates without Zeolitic H2O

09.FA -Tektosilicates without additional non-tetrahedral anions, (Al,B):Si = 1:1

09.FA.30 Buddingtonite (NH4)AlSi3O8•0.5(H2O) P 2₁ or P 2₁/m Mono

09.FA.30 Celsian BaAl2Si2O8 I21/c 2/m

09.FA.30 Anorthoclase (Na,K)AlSi3O8 C1 1

09.FA.30 Hyalophane (K,Ba)Al(Si,Al)3O8 C 2/m 2/m

09.FA.30 Orthoclase KAlSi3O8 C 2/m 2/m

09.FA.30 Microcline KAlSi3O8 C1 1

09.FA.30 Rubicline! (Rb,K)AlSi3O8 P1 1

09.FA.30 Sanidine (K,Na)(Si,Al)4O8 C 2/m 2/m

Other Celsian Information

References:

NAME( Duda&Rejl90) PHYS. PROP.(Enc. of Minerals,2nd ed.,1990) OPTIC PROP.(Heinrich65)

See Also:

Links to other databases for Celsian :
1 - Am. Min. Crystal Structure Database
2 - Athena
3 - EUROmin Project
4 - Ecole des Mines de Paris
5 - Franklin Minerals(Dunn)
6 - GeoScienceWorld
7 - Google Images
8 - Google Scholar
9 - Handbook of Mineralogy (MinSocAm)
10 - Handbook of Mineralogy (UofA)
11 - MinDAT
12 - Mineral and Gemstone Kingdom
13 - Mineralienatlas (Deutsch)
14 - Online Mineral Museum
15 - QUT Mineral Atlas
16 - Ruff.Info
17 - WWW-MINCRYST

Search for Celsian using:

[AOL] [Bing] [Dog Pile] [GeoScienceWorld] [HotBot] [Ixquick] [Lycos] [MAMMA] [Scirus] [Teoma] [WebCrawler] [Wikipedia] [YAHOO]

Visit our Advertisers for Celsian :

Ask about Celsian here :
Ask-A-Mineralogist from the Mineralogical Society of America
Mindat.org's Discussion Groups
Original Rockhounds Discussion Group
Rockhounds Discussion Group on Yahoo Groups
Mineral Discussion Forum from Fabre Minerals - also available in Español

Print or Cut-and-Paste your Celsian Specimen Label here :

Celsian

BaAl2Si2O8
Dana No: 76.01.01.04 Strunz No: 09.FA.30
Locality:

Notes:

Dakota Matrix
Excalibur Minerals
Exceptional Minerals
Hudson Insitute
John Betts Fine Minerals
Mc Dougall Minerals
Mineral News
Rock and Mineral Shows
Weinrich Minerals, Inc.