Fluorapatite
| General Information | ||||||||||||||
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| A variety or type of: | Apatite | |||||||||||||
| Chemical Formula |
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| Physical Properties of Fluorapatite | ||||||||||||||
| Mohs Hardness | 5, Handbook of mineralogy (2001) | |||||||||||||
| Specific Gravity | 3.1 to 3.25, Handbook of mineralogy (2001) | |||||||||||||
| Tenacity | Brittle, Handbook of mineralogy (2001) | |||||||||||||
| Cleavage Quality | Poor, Handbook of mineralogy (2001) | |||||||||||||
| Fracture | Uneven,Conchoidal, Handbook of mineralogy (2001) | |||||||||||||
| Optical Properties of Fluorapatite | ||||||||||||||
| Optical Character | Uniaxial/-, Handbook of mineralogy (2001) | |||||||||||||
| Pleochroism | Weak to strong if colored, Handbook of mineralogy (2001) | |||||||||||||
| Colour | ||||||||||||||
| Colour (General) | Sea-green, violet, purple, blue, pink, yellow, brown, white, colorless, may be zoned; colorless or faintly tinted in thin section, Handbook of mineralogy (2001) | |||||||||||||
| Transparency | Transparent,Translucent, Handbook of mineralogy (2001) | |||||||||||||
| Lustre | Vitreous, Handbook of mineralogy (2001) Vitreous to subresinous | |||||||||||||
| Crystallography of Fluorapatite | ||||||||||||||
| Crystal System | Hexagonal,Monoclinic, Handbook of mineralogy (2001) Hexagonal or monoclinic | |||||||||||||
| Habit | As prismatic hexagonal crystals, elongated, to 2 m; as complex tabular to discoidal crystals ?attened, typically with many forms; granular, globular to reniform, nodular, massive., Handbook of mineralogy (2001) | |||||||||||||
| Geological Environment | ||||||||||||||
| Where found: | The most common rock-forming phosphate mineral. Accessory in most igneous rocks, important in syenites, alkaline rocks, carbonatites, granite pegmatites. Common in marbles and skarns, Ca-rich regional metamorphic rocks, Alpine-type ?ssures, and hydrothermal tin veins. An essential component of sedimentary phosphorites, common as a detrital or diagenetic component in oolitic ironstones and phosphatic carbonate rocks and shales. Residual in laterites., Handbook of mineralogy (2001) | |||||||||||||
| Spectrographic Data | ||||||||||||||
| Calculated Spectra: Click spectra for more information | Fluorapatite - Locality: Unrecorded Fluorapatite - Locality: Brazil | |||||||||||||
| Further Information | ||||||||||||||
| Mineral information: | Fluorapatite information at mindat.org | |||||||||||||
| Significant Gem Localities | ||||||||||||||
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