Calcite Mineral Data
General Calcite Information
Chemical Formula:
CaCO3
Composition:
Molecular Weight = 100.09 gm
Calcium 40.04 % Ca 56.03 % CaO
Carbon 12.00 % C 43.97 % CO2
Oxygen 47.96 % O
______ ______
100.00 % 100.00 % = TOTAL OXIDE
Empirical Formula:
(CO3 )
Environment:
Found in sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic rocks.
IMA Status:
Valid Species (Pre-IMA) 1845
Locality:
Common world wide. Link to MinDat.org Location Data.
Name Origin:
From the Latin, calx, meaning lime.
Name Pronunciation:
Calcite
Synonym:
Glendonite - pseudomorph
ICSD 73446
Manganocalcite - variety
Nicols
PDF 5-586
Parakutnohorite - intermediate composition between calcite and rhodochrosite
Travertine
Calcite Image
Images:
Quartz Calcite
Comments: Purple-colored druse of amethystine quartz and white calcite.
Location: Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
Scale: Sample size 20 cm.
© Dave Barthelmy
Images:
Beryl Calcite
Comments: Transparent emerald, the green variety of beryl on calcite (marble) matrix.
Location: Coscuez, Boyacá, Colombia.
Scale: 2.5 x 2.5 cm.
© Fabre Minerals
Images:
Calcite
Comments: White, divergent calcite scalenohedral crystals.
Location: Santa Eulalia, Chihuahua, S.A., Mexico.
Scale: 8 cm.
© Dave Barthelmy
Images:
Calcite
Comments: Cream-colored crystalline aggregate of calcite crystals.
Location: Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
Scale: 20 cm.
© Dave Barthelmy
Calcite Crystallography
Axial Ratios:
a:c = 1:3.41992
Cell Dimensions:
a = 4.989, c = 17.062, Z = 6; V = 367.78 Den(Calc)= 2.71
Crystal System:
Trigonal - Hexagonal Scalenohedral H-M Symbol (3 2/m) Space Group: R 3 c
X Ray Diffraction:
By Intensity(I/Io ): 3.035(1), 2.095(0.18), 2.285(0.18),
Forms:
Mouse
Dbl Clk - Start-Stop Rotation
RMB - Cycle Display Modes
Drag1 - Manipulate Crystal
Drag2 - Resize
Keyboard
S - Stereo
I - Indicies
<space> - Start-Stop Rotation
F - Fit to Screen
M - Menu
Help on Above
Forms:
( 2 1 1 )
( 0 1 1)
Warning: this java applet does not work in some browsers because of security restrictions.
Physical Properties of Calcite
Cleavage:
{1011} Perfect, {1011} Perfect, {1011} Perfect
Color:
Colorless, White, Pink, Yellow, Brown.
Density:
2.71
Diaphaneity:
Transparent to translucent to opaque
Fracture:
Brittle - Conchoidal - Very brittle fracture producing small, conchoidal fragments.
Habit:
Crystalline - Coarse - Occurs as well-formed coarse sized crystals.
Habit:
Massive - Uniformly indistinguishable crystals forming large masses.
Habit:
Stalactitic - Shaped like pendant columns as stalactites or stalagmites (e.g. calcite).
Hardness:
3 - Calcite
Luminescence:
Fluorescent and phosphorescent, Short UV=yellow, blue, red green, Long UV=yellow, blue, red green.
Luster:
Vitreous (Glassy)
Streak:
white
Optical Properties of Calcite
Gladstone-Dale:
CI meas = 0.004 (Superior) - where the CI = (1-KPDmeas /KC ) CI calc = 0.004 (Superior) - where the CI = (1-KPDcalc /KC )
KPDcalc = 0.2096,KPDmeas = 0.2096,KC = 0.2104 Ncalc = 1.57
Optical Data:
Uniaxial (-), e=1.486, w=1.64-1.66, bire=0.1540-0.1740.
Calculated Properties of Calcite
Electron Density:
Bulk Density (Electron Density)=2.71 gm/cc note: Specific Gravity of Calcite =2.71 gm/cc.
Fermion Index:
Fermion Index = 0.0020908312 Boson Index = 0.9979091688
Photoelectric:
PECalcite = 5.06 barns/electronU=PECalcite x r Electron Density= 13.70 barns/cc.
Radioactivity:
GRapi = 0 (Gamma Ray American Petroleum Institute Units) Calcite is Not Radioactive
Calcite Classification
Dana Class:
14.01.01.01 (14) Anhydrous Carbonates
(14.01) with Simple Formula A+ CO3
(14.01.01) Calcite Group (Trigonal: R-3c)
14.01.01.01 Calcite CaCO3 R 3 c 3 2/m
14.01.01.02 Magnesite MgCO3 R 3 c 3 2/m
14.01.01.03 Siderite FeCO3 R 3 c 3 2/m
14.01.01.04 Rhodochrosite MnCO3 R 3 c 3 2/m
14.01.01.05 Sphaerocobaltite CoCO3 R 3 c 3 2/m
14.01.01.06 Smithsonite ZnCO3 R 3 c 3 2/m
14.01.01.07 Otavite CdCO3 R 3 c 3 2/m
14.01.01.08 Gaspeite (Ni,Mg,Fe)CO3 R 3 c 3 2/m
Strunz Class:
05.AB.05 05 - CARBONATES (NITRATES)
05.A - Carbonates without additional anions, without H2O
05.AB -Alkali-earth (and other M2+) carbonates
05.AB.05 Calcite CaCO3 R 3 c 3 2/m
05.AB.05 Gaspeite (Ni,Mg,Fe)CO3 R 3 c 3 2/m
05.AB.05 Magnesite MgCO3 R 3 c 3 2/m
05.AB.05 Rhodochrosite MnCO3 R 3 c 3 2/m
05.AB.05 Otavite CdCO3 R 3 c 3 2/m
05.AB.05 Sphaerocobaltite CoCO3 R 3 c 3 2/m
05.AB.05 Siderite FeCO3 R 3 c 3 2/m
05.AB.05 Smithsonite ZnCO3 R 3 c 3 2/m
Other Calcite Information
References:
NAME( Duda&Rejl90) PHYS. PROP.(Enc. of Minerals,2nd ed.,1990) OPTIC PROP.(Enc. of Minerals,2nd ed.,1990)
See Also:
Links to other databases for Calcite :
1 - Alkali-Nuts(English)
2 - Alkali-Nuts(Francais)
3 - Am. Min. Crystal Structure Database
4 - Amethyst Galleries' Mineral Gallery
5 - Athena
6 - CalTech Mineral Spectroscopy
7 - EUROmin Project
8 - Ecole des Mines de Paris
9 - Franklin Minerals(Dunn)
10 - Franklin Minerals(Palache)
11 - GeoScienceWorld
12 - Glendale Community College
13 - Google Images
14 - Google Scholar
15 - Handbook of Mineralogy (MinSocAm)
16 - Handbook of Mineralogy (UofA)
17 - HyperPhysics
18 - MinDAT
19 - Mineral and Gemstone Kingdom
20 - Mineral of the Month
21 - Mineralienatlas (Deutsch)
22 - Minerals in Thin Section-University of North Carolina
23 - Minerals in Thin Sections-Humboldt State
24 - NSDL Reciprocal Net (JAVA)
25 - Online Mineral Museum
26 - Philatelic Mineralogy
27 - QUT Mineral Atlas
28 - Ruff.Info
29 - Scandinavian mineral gallery
30 - Tradeshop.com - The Rainbow of Gems
31 - UCLA - Petrography Thin-Sections
32 - University of Colorado - Mineral Structure Data
33 - WWW-MINCRYST
34 - YupRocks
Search for Calcite using:
[AOL ]
[Bing ]
[Dog Pile ]
[GeoScienceWorld ]
[HotBot ]
[Ixquick ]
[Lycos ]
[MAMMA ]
[Scirus ]
[Teoma ]
[WebCrawler ]
[Wikipedia ]
[YAHOO ]
Visit our Advertisers for Calcite :
Ask about Calcite here :
Ask-A-Mineralogist from the Mineralogical Society of America
Mindat.org's Discussion Groups
Original Rockhounds Discussion Group
Rockhounds Discussion Group on Yahoo Groups
Mineral Discussion Forum from Fabre Minerals - also available in
Espa�ol
Print or Cut-and-Paste your Calcite Specimen Label here :
Calcite
CaCO3
Dana No: 14.01.01.01 Strunz No: 05.AB.05
Locality:
Notes:
Dakota Matrix
Excalibur Minerals
Exceptional Minerals
Hudson Insitute
John Betts Fine Minerals
Mc Dougall Minerals
Mineral News
Rock and Mineral Shows
Weinrich Minerals, Inc.