Name/Title
Stilbite/ApophylliteEntry/Object ID
2004.1.133Description
Chemical Composition: NaCa2Al5Si13O36 -14H2O
Crystal System: Monoclinic System
Description: Common Name: Stilbite/ Apophyllite
Group Name: Zeolite
Chemistry: NaCa2Al5Si13O36 -14H2O
Location: Mibladen, Morocco
Description: Rusty orange with dark grey/dark orange. Has cat eye effect (medium)
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS:
Color is pink or white; also tinted yellow and red.
Luster is vitreous to pearly especially on the prominant pinacoid and cleavage surfaces.
Transparency: crystals are transparent to mostly translucent.
Crystal System is monoclinic; 2/m
Crystal Habits include platy often thin crystals that can aggregate together into a wheat sheaflike structure. The prominant pinacoid is sometimes but rarely modified by other pinacoid and prism faces. Cruciform (cross-like) twins can also be found. Also forms radiating nodules.
Cleavage is perfect in one direction parallel to the prominant pinacoid.
Fracture is uneven.
Hardness is 3.5 - 4.
Specific Gravity is approximately 2.2 (very light)
Streak is white.
Associated Minerals are quartz, calcite, babingtonite, apophyllite, heulandite, natrolite and other zeolites.
Notable Occurrences include Poona, India; Scotland; Iceland; New Jersey and Nova Scotia, Canada.
Best Field Indicators are crystal habit, luster, density and associations.
Fracture: conhoidal
Hardness: 3 Calcite
Luster: Vitreous
Occurrence: zeolites in the amygdaloidal cavities of basaltic volcanic rocks; it is sometimes found in granite and gneiss, and exceptionally in hydrothermal veins. It is abundant in the volcanic rocks of Iceland, Faroe Islands, Isle of Skye, Bay of Fundy, Nova Scotia, northern New Jersey and elsewhere. Salmon-pink crystals occur with pale green apophyllite in the Deccan traps near Bombay and Poona, India; white sheaf-like groups encrust the calcite (Iceland-spar) of Berufjord near Djupivogr in Iceland; brown sheafs are found near Paterson, New Jersey in the United States; and crystals of a brick-red color are found at Old Kilpatrick, Scotland.
Notable Occurrences include Poona, India; Scotland; Iceland; New Jersey and Nova Scotia, Canada.
Specific Gravity: 2.2
Streak: white
Variety: Stilbite is a common and perhaps the most popular zeolite mineral for collectors. Stilbite crystals can aggregate together to form a structure resembling wheat sheafs. This hourglass structure looks like several crystals stacked parallel to each other with the tops and bottoms of this structure fanning out while the middle remains thin. Stilbite's hallmark crystal habit is unique to stilbite and a rarer but related zeolite called stellerite. Whether in the wheat sheafs or not, stilbite can be a hansome specimen with its pearly luster and often colorful pink tints. Stilbite commonly forms nice crystals inside the petrified bubbles (called vesicles) of volcanic rocks that have undergone a small amount of metamorphism.Collection
Suomynona Mineral CollectionAcquisition
Accession
2004.1Source or Donor
Suomynona Mineral CollectionAcquisition Method
DonationDimensions
Width
2-1/2 inDepth
3 inLength
3 inDimension Notes
Dimension taken at widest pointsLocation
Location
Room
Neil JohnsonBuilding
Attic StorageCategory
PermanentMoved By
Lehman R.Date
August 28, 2009Location
Container
CenterDrawer
Front Row / 2nd ShelShelf
Right, RightWall
NorthBuilding
Founders RoomCategory
PermanentMoved By
Lehman R.Date
August 28, 2009Location
Shelf
RightCabinet
Case # 7Room
Mentzer HallBuilding
Crater Rock MuseumCategory
Permanent
