Home > Thumbnails – June 17 > MS1605 Zirconolite
Zirconolite - Sold
- Stålaker quarry
- Larvik
- Vestfold County
- Norway
- 2.5 by 2.2 by 1.0 cm – Thumbnail specimen (fits into a 2.5 cm cube)
Zirconolite is a calcium zirconium titanium oxide. Borodin et al. (1956) originally described the species from the Kola Peninsula, Russia. The mineral name denotes its zirconium content. Zirconolite shows polytypism, i.e. samples show different crystal structures based upon the same fundamental building block (Bayliss et al., 1989).
Zirconolite here forms a submetallic bladed crystal, 1.4 cm long, in matrix. The matrix consists of iron-stained quartz and dark green amphibole. This specimen was originally labelled "polymignite", which has been found to be metamict zirconolite (Bayliss et al., 1989).
