Home > Thumbnails – June 17 > MS1608 Strontianite
Strontianite - Sold
- Oberdorf an der Laming
- Steiermark (Styria)
- Austria
- 3.2 by 2.7 by 2.1 cm – Thumbnail specimen (fits into a 2.5 cm cube)
Strontianite is simple strontium carbonate with the aragonite crystal structure. Like aragonite, strontianite has orthorhombic symmetry, coincidentally with axial ratios approaching hexagonal metrics. Consequently, cyclic pseudo-hexagonal twinning is typical of the species. Its name comes for its type locality at Strontian, Scotland, as described by Bras-de-Fer (1778) and Sulzer (1791).
This is a columnar aggregate of twinned pseudo-hexagonal strontainite. Individual twins here reach 2.2 cm long and 0.9 cm wide, together forming a barrel like aggregate, overall 2.7 by 2.7 cm. The strontianite has a tan color on its terminations. This locality produces the best of species for strontianite. This is a nice thumbnail example.