Mercallite Mineral Data

General Mercallite Information

Chemical Formula:

KHSO4

Composition:

Molecular Weight = 136.17 gm

Potassium 28.71 % K 34.59 % K₂O

Hydrogen 0.74 % H 6.62 % H₂O

Sulfur 23.55 % S 58.80 % SO₃

Oxygen 47.00 % O

______ ______

100.00 % 100.00 % = TOTAL OXIDE

Empirical Formula:

KH(SO₄)

Environment:

Found as stalactites composed of minute tabular crystals in fumaroles.

IMA Status:

Valid Species (Pre-IMA) 1935

Locality:

Crater of the volcano, Vesuvius, Italy Link to MinDat.org Location Data.

Name Origin:

Named for Giuseppe Mercalli (1850-1914), Italian Geologist, director of the Vesuvius Observatory.

Name Pronunciation:

Mercallite + Pronunciation

Synonym:

ICSD 346

PDF 11-649

Mercallite Image

Images:

Mercallite

Comments: Pale blue to white powdery aggregate of mercallite.
Location: Vesuvius, Campania, Italy. Scale: See Photo.
© Jeff Weissman / Photographic Guide to Mineral Species

Mercallite Crystallography

Axial Ratios:

a:b:c =0.8583:1:2.0364

Cell Dimensions:

a = 8.412, b = 9.8, c = 19.957, Z = 16; V = 1,645.21 Den(Calc)= 2.20

Crystal System:

Orthorhombic - Dipyramidal H-M Symbol (2/m 2/m 2/m) Space Group: P bca

$Help on X Ray Diffraction:$ X Ray Diffraction:

By Intensity(I/I_o): 3.84(1), 3.26(0.9), 3.41(0.9),3.52(0.9), 3.87(0.7), 3.03(0.7), 2.37(0.3), 2.74(0.3),

Physical Properties of Mercallite

Cleavage:

None

Color:

Colorless, Sky blue.

Density:

2.33

Diaphaneity:

Transparent

Habit:

Stalactitic - Shaped like pendant columns as stalactites or stalagmites (e.g. calcite).

Habit:

Tabular - Form dimensions are thin in one direction.

Luster:

Vitreous (Glassy)

Streak:

white

Optical Properties of Mercallite

Gladstone-Dale:

CI meas= -0.028 (Excellent) - where the CI = (1-KPDmeas/KC)
CI calc= -0.088 (Poor) - where the CI = (1-KPDcalc/KC)
KPDcalc= 0.2115,KPDmeas= 0.1997,KC= 0.1944
Ncalc = 1.43 - 1.45

Optical Data:

Biaxial (+), a=1.445, b=1.46, g=1.491, bire=0.0460, 2V(Calc)=72, 2V(Meas)=56.

Calculated Properties of Mercallite

Electron Density:

Bulk Density (Electron Density)=2.33 gm/cc
note: Specific Gravity of Mercallite =2.33 gm/cc.

Fermion Index:

Fermion Index = 0.0020272979
Boson Index = 0.9979727021

Photoelectric:

PE_Mercallite= 4.28 barns/electron
U=PE_Mercallite x r_electron= 9.97 barns/cc.

Radioactivity:

GRapi = 413.77 (Gamma Ray American Petroleum Institute Units)
Concentration of Mercallite per GRapi unit = 0.24 (%)

Estimated Radioactivity from Mercallite - barely detectable

Mercallite Classification

Dana Class:

28.01.01.01 (28)Anhydrous Acid and Sulfates

(28.01)(Anhydrous, Acid)

(28.01.01)Dana Group

28.01.01.01 Mercallite KHSO4 P bca 2/m 2/m 2/m

Strunz Class:

07.AD.10 07 - SULFATES (SELENATES, TELLURATES)

07.A - Sulfates (selenates, etc.) without Additional Anions, without H2O

07.AD -With only large cations

07.AD.10 Mercallite KHSO4 P bca 2/m 2/m 2/m

Other Mercallite Information

References:

NAME( Dana8) PHYS. PROP.(Dana8) OPTIC PROP.(Enc. of Minerals,2nd ed.,1990)

See Also:

Links to other databases for Mercallite :
1 - Am. Min. Crystal Structure Database
2 - Athena
3 - EUROmin Project
4 - Ecole des Mines de Paris
5 - GeoScienceWorld
6 - Google Images
7 - Google Scholar
8 - Handbook of Mineralogy (MinSocAm)
9 - Handbook of Mineralogy (UofA)
10 - MinDAT
11 - Mineralienatlas (Deutsch)
12 - Online Mineral Museum
13 - QUT Mineral Atlas
14 - Ruff.Info
15 - WWW-MINCRYST

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Print or Cut-and-Paste your Mercallite Specimen Label here :

Mercallite

KHSO4
Dana No: 28.01.01.01 Strunz No: 07.AD.10
Locality:

Notes:

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