Wavellite

Wavellite

Wavellite

Aluminium phosphate basic hydrate mineral

Wavellite is an aluminium basic phosphate mineral with formula Al3(PO4)2(OH, F)3·5H2O. Distinct crystals are rare, and it normally occurs as translucent green radial or spherical clusters.[6]

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Discovery and occurrence

Wavellite from the Avant Mine, Garland County, Arkansas, showing spherical structure (size: 3.4 x 2.0 x 1.1 cm)

Wavellite was first described in 1805 for an occurrence at High Down, Filleigh, Devon, England and named by William Babington in 1805 in honor of Dr. William Wavell (1750–1829),[4] a Devon-based physician, botanist, historian, and naturalist, who brought the mineral to the attention of fellow mineralogists.[7][4][6][8]

It occurs in association with crandallite and variscite in fractures in aluminous metamorphic rock, in hydrothermal regions and in phosphate rock deposits.[2] It is found in a wide variety of locations notably in the Mount Ida, Arkansas area in the Ouachita Mountains.

It is sometimes used as a gemstone.[9]

See also

References

  1. [1]
    Warr, L.N. (2021). "IMA–CNMNC approved mineral symbols". Mineralogical Magazine. 85 (3): 291–320. Bibcode:2021MinM...85..291W. doi:10.1180/mgm.2021.43. S2CID 235729616.
  2. [2]
    Handbook of Mineralogy
  3. [3]
    Webmineral
  4. [4]
    Mindat
  5. [5]
    Klein, Corneis and Cornelius S. Hurlbut, Jr., Manual of Mineralogy, Wiley, 20th ed. 1985, p. 362-3 ISBN 0-471-80580-7
  6. [6]
    Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Wavellite" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 28 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 430.
  7. [7]
    Green, David; Cotterell, Tom; Jones, I.; Cox, D.; Cleevely, R. (2007). "Wavellite: its discovery and occurrences in the British Isles". UK Journal of Mines and Minerals. 28: 11–30.
  8. [8]
    Curtis, Samuel and Hooker, William Jackson (1827). Memoirs of the Life and Writing of the Late Mr. William Curtis, Curtis's Botanical Magazine; or Flower Garden Displayed, v. 1 (new series), v-xxxii.
  9. [9]
    Gemstones: Properties, identification and use by Arthur Thomas, p. 132.
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