Stilbite

Object/Artifact

-

Crater Rock Museum

Stilbite

Stilbite

Name/Title

Stilbite

Entry/Object ID

2009.62.14

Description

Chemical Composition: Ca2Mn7Si10O28(OH)2 - 5H2 Crystal System: Monoclinic System Description: Common Name: Stilbite Chemistry: NaCa2Al5Si13O36 -14H2O, Hydrated sodium calcium aluminum silicate Group: Zeolites Location: Jackson County, Oregon USA Description: Very thin almost sheetlike. Very spiny with tiny crystals, a dark salmon color. 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. Best Field Indicators are crystal habit, luster, density and associations. Fracture: Uneven Hardness: 4 Flourite Luster: Vitreous Occurrence: Stilbite commonly forms nice crystals inside the petrified bubbles (called vesicles) of volcanic rocks that have undergone a small amount of metamorphism. Rock Type: Sedimentary Specific Gravity: 2.2 Streak: White Texture: Microcrystaline Variety: Stilbite is a common and perhaps the most popular zeolite mineral, the 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.

Collection

RAGM Mineral Collection

Acquisition

Accession

2009.62

Source or Donor

Museum Collection of Minerals

Acquisition Method

Donation

Dimensions

Width

3-1/2 in

Depth

3 in

Length

5 in

Weight

0.86 oz

Dimension Notes

Dimension taken at widest points

Location

Location

Shelf

CS-D-6

Room

Curation Storage

Building

Crater Rock Museum

Category

Storage

Moved By

Curator

Date

February 23, 2024