TiO 6 octahedra; Blue: Oxygen (O 2- ), Green: Titanium (Ti 4+ ) Data: Mitchell et al. 2000: Tausonite-Loparite Series, (Sr 1-2x Na x La x )TiO 3 ; Sample: x = 0.00 in: Physics and Chemistry of Minerals 27, 583-589 Calculated using DrawXtal V5.5, rendering with PovRay, assembled with Gimp — Photo: Bubenik · CC BY-SA 4.0
Tausonite
Natural strontium titanate — rare red-brown perovskite-group cubes.
Intro adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).
Tausonite is an IMA-recognized mineral species in the oxides & hydroxide class, with the chemical formula SrTiO₃.
It crystallizes in the tetragonal crystal system (space group Pbnm). It is a member of the Perovskite structural group.
Key properties: Mohs hardness 6–6.5; specific gravity 4.88; Adamantine luster; refractive index 2.4; optically isotropic.
IMA symbol Tau, IMA status: approved, named in 1982.
Found in aegirine-kalsilite rock in an alkalic massif (Murun massif, Russia); in a rheomorphic fenite dike in a carbonatite complex (Sarambi, Paraguay).
It is found associated with Aegirine, kalsilite, potassic feldspar, titanite, magnetite, lamprophyllite, barium lamprophyllite, wadeite, batisite, anatase (Murun massif, Russia).
The mineral was named to honor Academician Lev Vladimirovich Tauson (1917–1989), Russian geochemist, Director of the Geochemical Institute, Irkutsk, Russia.