Levinsonite-(Y)
Levinsonite-(Y) is a rare organic mineral named in honor of Alfred A. Levinson (1927-2005), Professor Emeritus of mineralogy at the University of Calgary. It was named in part because of his origination of the internationally used nomenclature for rare-earth minerals, the Levinson modifier, which is a standard in mineralogical nomenclature and allows for the more precise identification and classification of rare-earth minerals. The type material for Levinsonite-(Y) is kept at the University of Michigan, and the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C.
Intro adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).
Levinsonite-(Y) is an IMA-recognized mineral species in the organic mineral class, with the chemical formula YAl(SO₄)₂(C₂O₄)·12H₂O.
It crystallizes in the monoclinic crystal system (space group P2/n). It is a member of the Oxalate structural group.
Key properties: specific gravity 2.181; White streak; optically biaxial.
IMA symbol Lvi-Y, IMA status: approved, named in 1996.
Formed by evaporative precipitation during weathering of pyritiferous phyllite, the rare earths probably derived from monazite and xenotime.
It is found associated with Zugshunstite-(Ce), epsomite, halotrichite.
The mineral was named to honor Dr. Alfred Abraham Levinson (1927–), mineralogist, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada, who originated the nomenclature system in use for rare-earth-bearing minerals.