Pirssonite Mineral Data

General Pirssonite Information

Chemical Formula:

Na2Ca(CO3)2•2(H2O)

Composition:

Molecular Weight = 242.11 gm

Sodium 18.99 % Na 25.60 % Na₂O

Calcium 16.55 % Ca 23.16 % CaO

Hydrogen 1.67 % H 14.88 % H₂O

Carbon 9.92 % C 36.36 % CO₂

Oxygen 52.87 % O

______ ______

100.00 % 100.00 % = TOTAL OXIDE

Empirical Formula:

Na₂Ca(CO₃)₂•2(H₂O)

Environment:

Continental evaporite deposits.

IMA Status:

Valid Species (Pre-IMA) 1896

Locality:

Searles Lake, San Bernardino Co., California. Link to MinDat.org Location Data.

Name Origin:

Named for Louis Valentine Pirsson (1860-1919), American petrographer and mineralogist, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.

Name Pronunciation:

Pirssonite + Pronunciation

Synonym:

ICSD 9012

PDF 22-476

Pirssonite Image

Images:

Pirssonite

Comments: Almost transparent platy pirssonite crystal.
Location: Searles Lake, San Bernardino County, California, USA. Scale: See Photo.
© Jeff Weissman / Photographic Guide to Mineral Species

Pirssonite Crystallography

Axial Ratios:

a:b:c =0.5643:1:0.2991

Cell Dimensions:

a = 11.32, b = 20.06, c = 6, Z = 8; V = 1,362.48 Den(Calc)= 2.36

Crystal System:

Orthorhombic - Pyramidal H-M Symbol (mm2) Space Group: F dd2

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

By Intensity(I/I_o): 2.51(1), 2.65(0.9), 2.57(0.8),

Forms:

Mouse
Dbl Clk - Start-Stop Rotation
RMB - Cycle Display Modes
Drag1 - Manipulate Crystal
Drag2 - Resize
Keyboard
S - Stereo
I - Indicies
<space> - Start-Stop Rotation
F - Fit to Screen
M - Menu
Help on Above

Forms: ( 0 1 0) ( 1 3 1) ( 1 1 1) ( 1 1 0)

Warning: this java applet does not work in some browsers because of security restrictions.

Physical Properties of Pirssonite

Cleavage:

None

Color:

Colorless, Grayish, White.

Density:

2.35

Diaphaneity:

Transparent to translucent

Fracture:

Brittle - Conchoidal - Very brittle fracture producing small, conchoidal fragments.

Hardness:

3 - Calcite

Luminescence:

Fluorescent and Phosphorescent, Short UV=weak Blue-white to blue-gray.

Luster:

Vitreous (Glassy)

Streak:

white

Optical Properties of Pirssonite

Gladstone-Dale:

CI meas= -0.003 (Superior) - where the CI = (1-KPDmeas/KC)
CI calc= 0.001 (Superior) - where the CI = (1-KPDcalc/KC)
KPDcalc= 0.2244,KPDmeas= 0.2254,KC= 0.2246
Ncalc = 1.53

Optical Data:

Biaxial (+), a=1.5043, b=1.5095, g=1.5751, bire=0.0708, 2V(Calc)=34, 2V(Meas)=31.433. Dispersion relatively weak.

Calculated Properties of Pirssonite

Electron Density:

Bulk Density (Electron Density)=2.38 gm/cc
note: Specific Gravity of Pirssonite =2.36 gm/cc.

Fermion Index:

Fermion Index = 0.0015711671
Boson Index = 0.9984288329

Photoelectric:

PE_Pirssonite= 2.48 barns/electron
U=PE_Pirssonite x rElectron Density= 5.90 barns/cc.

Radioactivity:

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

Pirssonite Classification

Dana Class:

15.02.01.01 (15)Hydrated Carbonates

(15.02)where A+m B++n (XO3)p ï¿½ x(H2O), (m+n):p > 1:1

(15.02.01)Dana Group

15.02.01.01 Pirssonite Na2Ca(CO3)2•2(H2O) F dd2 mm2

Strunz Class:

05.CB.30 05 - CARBONATES (NITRATES)

05.C - Carbonates without Additional Anions, with H2O

05.CB -With large cations (alkali and alkali-earth carbonates)

05.CB.30 Pirssonite Na2Ca(CO3)2•2(H2O) F dd2 mm2

Other Pirssonite Information

References:

NAME( MinRec) PHYS. PROP.(Collectors Book of Fluorescent Minerals) OPTIC PROP.(Enc. of Minerals,2nd ed.,1990)

See Also:

Links to other databases for Pirssonite :
1 - Alkali-Nuts(English)
2 - Alkali-Nuts(Francais)
3 - Am. Min. Crystal Structure Database
4 - Amethyst Galleries' Mineral Gallery
5 - Athena
6 - EUROmin Project
7 - Ecole des Mines de Paris
8 - GeoScienceWorld
9 - Google Images
10 - Google Scholar
11 - Handbook of Mineralogy (MinSocAm)
12 - Handbook of Mineralogy (UofA)
13 - MinDAT
14 - Mineralienatlas (Deutsch)
15 - Online Mineral Museum
16 - QUT Mineral Atlas
17 - Ruff.Info
18 - WWW-MINCRYST

Search for Pirssonite using:

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

Visit our Advertisers for Pirssonite :

Ask about Pirssonite 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 Pirssonite Specimen Label here :

Pirssonite

Na2Ca(CO3)2•2(H2O)
Dana No: 15.02.01.01 Strunz No: 05.CB.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.