
Mordenite Locality: Jalgaon District, Maharashtra, India (Locality at mindat.org) Size: 17.9 x 14.9 x 9.9 cm. Mordenite is one of the rarer zeolite minerals. So — Photo: Robert M. Lavinsky · CC BY-SA 3.0
Mordenite
One of the six most abundant zeolites — a high-silica zeolite described in 1864 and mined commercially for adsorbents.
Intro adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).
Mordenite is an IMA-recognized mineral species in the silicate class, with the chemical formula (Na₂,Ca,K₂)₄(Al₈Si₄₀)O₉₆·28H₂O.
It crystallizes in the orthorhombic crystal system (space group Cmc2_1). It is a member of the Mordenite structural group.
Key properties: Mohs hardness 3–4; specific gravity 2.12–2.15; typically white or pink or yellow or colorless; white streak; Vitreous, pearly on {010}, silky if fibrous luster; optically biaxial.
IMA symbol Mor, IMA status: approved, named in 1864.
Found in veins and amygdules in various igneous rocks; a hydration product of volcanic glasses; an authigenic mineral in sediments.
It is found associated with Zeolites, calcite, kaolinite, glauconite.
The name is derived from the locality at Morden, Nova Scotia, Canada.
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