Arfvedsonite

Arfvedsonite is a sodium amphibole mineral with composition: Na₃(Fe²⁺,Mg)₄Fe³⁺Si₈O₂₂(OH)₂. It crystallizes in the monoclinic prismatic crystal system and typically occurs as greenish black to bluish grey fibrous to radiating or stellate prisms. It has a specific gravity of 3.44 to 3.45 and a Mohs hardness of 5.5 to 6. Refractive indices are n_α=1.652 - 1.699, n_β=1.660 - 1.705, and n_γ=1.666 - 1.708.

It is a rather rare mineral occurring in nepheline syenite intrusions and agpaitic (peralkaline) pegmatites and granites as the Golden Horn batholith in Okanogan County, Washington (type locality for zektzerite). Occurrences include Mont Saint-Hilaire, Quebec, Canada; the Ilímaussaq complex in Southern Greenland; and in pegmatites of the Kola Peninsula, Russia. Its mineral association includes nepheline, albite, aegirine, riebeckite, katophorite and quartz.[1]

Arfvedsonite was discovered in 1923 and named for the Swedish chemist Johan August Arfwedson (1792-1841).[3]


List of minerals