As efflorescences on the walls, boulders, bat quano, and earthy floor of the cave and as saline crusts coating boulders in a dolomite hill in the Kalahari Basin.
IMA Status:
Approved IMA 1999 (Dana # Added)
Locality:
Gewihaba Cave (also known as Drotsky's Cave), northwestern Botswana, 280 km west of Maun. Link to MinDat.org Location Data.
Name Origin:
Named after it's locality.
Name Pronunciation:
Gwihabaite + Pronunciation
Synonym:
ICSD 28078
IMA1994-011
Nitrammite
PDF 50-1566
Gwihabaite Crystallography
Axial Ratios:
a:b:c =0.9251:1:0.7557
Cell Dimensions:
a = 7.075, b = 7.647, c = 5.779, Z = 4; V = 312.66 Den(Calc)= 1.81
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Physical Properties of Gwihabaite
Cleavage:
None
Color:
Colorless, White.
Density:
1.77
Diaphaneity:
Transparent
Habit:
Acicular - Occurs as needle-like crystals.
Habit:
Efflorescences - Crystals covering matrix, generally produced from transpiro-evaporation.