Found in a single, head-sized boulder collected in 1986 on the dumps. Dimorphous with kintoreite.
IMA Status:
Approved IMA 2005 (Dana # Added)
Locality:
Grube Vereinigung, near Eisenbach, Taunus, Hesse, Germany. Link to MinDat.org Location Data.
Name Origin:
Named for Arthur Lindo Patterson (1902-1966), a crystallographer who developed a method employing a Fourier series to generate a three-dimensional function, the now well-known "Patt erson function" in crystal-structure d
Synonym:
IMA2005-049
Pattersonite Crystallography
Axial Ratios:
a:b:c =0.7361:1:1.0194
Cell Dimensions:
a = 5.307, b = 7.209, c = 7.349, Z = 1; alpha = 87.75°, beta = 86.36°, gamma = 71.42° V = 265.76 Den(Calc)= 4.17
Conchoidal - Fractures developed in brittle materials characterized by smoothly curving surfaces, (e.g. quartz).
Habit:
Encrustations - Forms crust-like aggregates on matrix.
Hardness:
4.5 - Between Fluorite and Apatite
Luster:
Adamantine
Streak:
very pale yellow
Optical Properties of Pattersonite
Gladstone-Dale:
CI meas= -0.696 (Poor) - where the CI = (1-KPDmeas/KC) CI calc= -0.643 (Poor) - where the CI = (1-KPDcalc/KC)
KPDcalc= 0.2164,KPDmeas= 0.2233,KC= 0.1317 Ncalc = 1.53 - 1.55
Optical Data:
Biaxial (-), a=1.86, b=1.917, g=1.93, bire=0.0700
Calculated Properties of Pattersonite
Electron Density:
Bulk Density (Electron Density)=3.86 gm/cc note: Specific Gravity of Pattersonite =4.17 gm/cc.
Fermion Index:
Fermion Index = 0.07 Boson Index = 0.93
Photoelectric:
PEPattersonite = 523.02 barns/electron U=PEPattersonite x rElectron Density=2,018.41 barns/cc.
Radioactivity:
GRapi = 0 (Gamma Ray American Petroleum Institute Units) Pattersonite is Not Radioactive
Pattersonite Classification
Dana Class:
30.02.10.01(30)Anhydrous Sulfates Containing Hydroxyl or Halogen
Chemical Formula: