Mineral phase
IMA name
Lizardite subgroup
Type
Class
silicate mineral
Compound type
phyllosilicate
Chemical composition
Formula
$(Fe^{2+},Fe^{3+},Mn^{2+},Mg,Ni)_{2-3}.Si_2O_5(OH)_4$
Chemical formula
(Fe2+,Fe3+,Mn2+,Mg,Ni)2-3Si2O5(OH)4
Elemental formula
(Fe2+)2-3 (Fe3+)0-1 (Mn2+)0-3 (Mg)0-3 (Ni)0-3 Si2 O9 H4
Isotope mixture type
terrestrial abundance
  Formula Name Family Number min-max Isotope mole fraction State Relevance
$Fe^{2+}$ Iron(II) cation element 2 - 3 constituent element main
$Fe^{3+}$ Iron(III) cation element 0 - 1 constituent element main
$Mn^{2+}$ Manganese(II) cation element 0 - 3 constituent element main
$Mg$ Magnesium element 0 - 3 constituent element main
$Ni$ Nickel element 0 - 3 constituent element main
$Si$ Silicon element 2 constituent element main
$O$ Oxygen element 9 constituent element main
$H$ Hydrogen element 4 constituent element main
Composition comments
Common substitution: Zn substituting 2+ ions, As substituting Si, Cl substituting OH - Common impurities: Al, Ca, Na, K, F
Chemical functions
  Function Number
$(OH)^-$ 4
Chemical bonds
  Bond Number
$O^--H$ 1
Oxides
Formula $FeO$ $Fe_{2}O_{3}$ $MnO$ $MgO$ $NiO$ $SiO_{2}$ $H_{2}O$
Mass fraction (%)

Strunz

Class
silicates (09)
Division
phyllosilicate (09.E)
Family
with kaolinite layers composed of tetrahedral and octahedral nets (09.ED)
Code
09.ED.15

Dana

Major class
silicates (VIII)
Class
phyllosilicate sheets of six-membered rings (71)
Type
with 1:1 layers (71.01)
Group
Serpentine group (Lizardite subgroup) (71.01.02b)
End-members
Phase type
crystalline
Crystal system
various
Crystal class
various
Crystal class symbol
various
Crystal spacegroup
various
Molar mass
277.11 - 380.27 $g/mol$
Density
2.5 - 3.2 $g/cm^3$
State NTP
solid
Refringence type
biaxial
Refringence sign
positive or negative
Birefringence
0.001 - 0.035
Refraction index $n_{\alpha}$
1.541 - 1.675
Refraction index $n_{\beta}$
1.565 - 1.674
Refraction index $n_{\gamma}$
1.553 - 1.674
Dispersion V
weak to medium
Pure color
various
Color
white, blue green, light yellow green, dark green, yellow, reddish brown, greenish brown, orange brown, black
Diaphaneity
transparent to opaque
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