Charlesite Mineral Data

General Charlesite Information

Chemical Formula:

Ca6(Al,Si)2(SO4)2B(OH)4(OH,O)12•26(H2O)

Composition:

Molecular Weight = 1,234.40 gm

Calcium 19.48 % Ca 27.26 % CaO

Aluminum 3.28 % Al 6.19 % Al₂O₃

Silicon 1.14 % Si 2.43 % SiO₂

Boron 0.88 % B 2.82 % B₂O₃

Hydrogen 5.23 % H 46.70 % H₂O

Sulfur 5.20 % S 12.97 % SO₃

Oxygen 64.81 % O

______ ______

100.00 % 98.38 % = TOTAL OXIDE

Empirical Formula:

Ca₆Al_1.5Si_0.5(SO₄)₂B(OH)₁₂O₄•26(H₂O)

IMA Status:

Approved IMA 1983

Locality:

800 level close to the Palmer shaft, Franklin, Sussex County, New Jersey. Link to MinDat.org Location Data.

Name Origin:

Named for Charles Palache (1869-1954), professor of mineralogy, Harvard University.

Charlesite Image

Images:

Charlesite

Comments: 1 cm white crystal of charlesite on calcite with small (2 mm) octahedral crystals of galena.
Location: N'Chwaning Mine, Kalahari Manganese Field, Northern Cape Province, South Africa. Scale: Picture size 2.5 cm.
© John Veevaert

Charlesite Crystallography

Axial Ratios:

a:c = 1:1.90053

Cell Dimensions:

a = 11.16, c = 21.21, Z = 2; V = 2,287.70 Den(Calc)= 1.79

Crystal System:

Trigonal - Ditrigonal Pyramidal H-M Symbol (3m) Space Group: P 3₁c

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

By Intensity(I/I_o): 9.67(1), 5.58(0.7), 3.89(0.7),2.58(0.6), 2.22(0.5), 2.77(0.5), 2.16(0.4), 4.75(0.2),

Physical Properties of Charlesite

Cleavage:

{1010} Perfect

Color:

Colorless, Light yellow, Pink.

Density:

1.77

Diaphaneity:

Translucent to transparent

Fracture:

Brittle - Generally displayed by glasses and most non-metallic minerals.

Habit:

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

Hardness:

2.5 - Finger Nail

Luminescence:

Weakly Fluorescent, Short UV=light violet or green, Long UV=light violet or green.

Luster:

Vitreous (Glassy)

Streak:

white

Optical Properties of Charlesite

Gladstone-Dale:

CI meas= -0.039 (Excellent) - where the CI = (1-KPDmeas/KC)
CI calc= -0.027 (Excellent) - where the CI = (1-KPDcalc/KC)
KPDcalc= 0.2701,KPDmeas= 0.2732,KC= 0.2629
Ncalc = 1.47

Optical Data:

Uniaxial (-), e=1.475, w=1.492, bire=0.0170.

Calculated Properties of Charlesite

Electron Density:

Bulk Density (Electron Density)=1.88 gm/cc
note: Specific Gravity of Charlesite =1.79 gm/cc.

Fermion Index:

Fermion Index = 0.0032455117
Boson Index = 0.9967544883

Photoelectric:

PE_Charlesite= 2.89 barns/electron
U=PE_Charlesite x rElectron Density= 5.43 barns/cc.

Radioactivity:

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

Charlesite Classification

Dana Class:

32.04.04.01 (32)Compound Sulfates

(32.04)(hydrous) with poly-anionic formula

(32.04.04)Charlesite Group

32.04.04.01 Charlesite Ca6(Al,Si)2(SO4)2B(OH)4(OH,O)12•26(H2O) P 3₁c 3m

32.04.04.02 Sturmanite Ca6(Fe,Al,Mn)2(SO4)2[B(OH)4](OH)12•25(H2O) P 3₁c 3m

32.04.04.03 Jouravskite Ca3Mn(SO4,CO3)2(OH)6•12(H2O) P 6₃/m 6/m

32.04.04.04 Thaumasite Ca3Si(CO3)(SO4)(OH)6•12(H2O) P 6₃/m 6/m

32.04.04.05 Carraraite! Ca3Ge(OH)6(SO4)(CO3)•12H2O P 6₃/m, or P 6₃ Hex

Strunz Class:

07.DG.15 07 - SULFATES (SELENATES, TELLURATES)

07.D - Sulfates (selenates, etc.) with additional anions, with H2O

07.DG -With large and medium sized cations; with NO3, CO3, B(OH)4, SiO4 or IO3

07.DG.15 Bentorite Ca6(Cr,Al)2(SO4)3(OH)12•26(H2O) P 6₃/mmc 6/m 2/m 2/m

07.DG.15 Charlesite Ca6(Al,Si)2(SO4)2B(OH)4(OH,O)12•26(H2O) P 3₁c 3m

07.DG.15 Ettringite Ca6Al2(SO4)3(OH)12•26(H2O) P 6₃/mmc 6/m 2/m 2/m

07.DG.15 Jouravskite Ca3Mn(SO4,CO3)2(OH)6•12(H2O) P 6₃/m 6/m

07.DG.15 Sturmanite Ca6(Fe,Al,Mn)2(SO4)2[B(OH)4](OH)12•25(H2O) P 3₁c 3m

07.DG.15 Thaumasite Ca3Si(CO3)(SO4)(OH)6•12(H2O) P 6₃/m 6/m

07.DG.15 Buryatite! Ca3(Si,Fe,Al)[SO4][B(OH)4](OH,O)6•12(H2O) P 3₁c 3m

07.DG.15 Carraraite! Ca3Ge(OH)6(SO4)(CO3)•12H2O P 6₃/m, or P 6₃ Hex

Other Charlesite Information

References:

NAME( Dana8) PHYS. PROP.(Dana8) OPTIC PROP.(Dana8)

See Also:

Links to other databases for Charlesite :
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 - Mineralienatlas (Deutsch)
13 - Online Mineral Museum
14 - QUT Mineral Atlas
15 - Ruff.Info

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Charlesite

Ca6(Al,Si)2(SO4)2B(OH)4(OH,O)12•26(H2O)
Dana No: 32.04.04.01 Strunz No: 07.DG.15
Locality:

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