Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
Helen Lang
Dept.
p of Geology
gy & Geography
g p y
West Virginia University
SPRING 2009
Pyrite
dodecahedron
Garnet
octahedron
Magnetite
g
Crystal Shape
General Shapes
prismatic
platy
blocky
tabular
bladed
By quality
perfect
goodd
fair
By shape or number
cubic
rhombohedral
octahedral
pprismatic
Cleavage
Examples
360o
22-fold
fold
180o
3-fold
120o
4-fold
90o
6-fold
60o
Symbol
1, 2, 3, 4, 6
m
1
4
3
proper rotations
mirror planes
center of symmetry
rotoinversion
i
i
rotoinversion
Demonstration of 4 and 3
These can be combined in 32 ways to make crystal shapes
Characteristic Symmetry
four 3 or 3
one 6, 6, 3 or 3
one 4 or 4
three 2 and/or m
one 2 and/or m
1 or 1
Strategies
g for identifying
y g symmetry
y
y
Grasp crystal or block with thumb and finger on
opposite corners, edges or face centers, turn
block 60, 90, 120 or 180, check to see if it
looks the same
Check for other symmetry
y
y axes and mirror
planes perpendicular to the axis you find
All symmetry elements intersect at center
Use flat hand or card to check for mirror planes
Use
U kknowledge
l d off systems
t
(Ill explain)
l i )
A Form is:
A set of similarly shaped faces
That are related to eachother by the
symmetry of the crystal
Forms can be open or closed
Isometric System
Four 3 or 3 (corner-corner of
reference cube)
All isometric shapes also have
th perpendicular
three
di l 4,
4 4 or 2 axes
These are the crystallographic
axes a1, a2, a3; all equal length
All isometric forms are
equidimensional
Highest
g est symmetry
sy
et y system
syste
cube
octahedron
dodecahedron
hexoctahedron
tetrahedron
tristetrahedron
Twin
To what mineral group
does fluorite belong?
All isometric
i
i minerals
i
l are
isotropic which means?
N
Name
off G
Garnet G
Growth
hF
Form??
Isometric Minerals:
P it
Pyrite
Forms?
Formula?
Mineral Group?
single face
2 parallel faces
3, 4, 6, 8 or 12 faces, all
parallel to a common line
3, 4, 6, 8 or 12 faces that
i
intersect
at a point
i
tetragonal
pyramid
hexagonal
prism
disphenoid
di h id
rhombohedron
scalenohedron
two 3-,
3 4-,
4 6-,
6 88 or 12
12sided pyramids (top and
bottom) related by a
horizontal mirror plane
4 non-equilateral
il
l
triangular faces
6 rhomb-shaped faces
8 or 12 scalene triangleg
shaped faces
Hexagonal
dipyramid
Tetragonal
disphenoid
Hexagonal
g
scalenohedron
Rhombohedra
Point Groups
There are 32 possible combinations of the
allowed symmetry
y
y elements in minerals
Theyre called Point Groups or Crystal
Classes (more later)
Can be grouped into 6 Crystal Systems
Characteristic Symmetry
four 3 or 3
one 6,
6 6,
6 3 or 3
one 4 or 4
three
h 2 and/or
d/ m
one 2 and/or m
1 or 1
Crystallographic Axes
Reference axes
Conventional ways to hold and refer to
faces on crystals
Different convention for each system
Crystallographic Axes:
Isometric System
Three
Th perpendicular
di l axes
+a3
Coincide with three 4-fold
or 2-fold axes
All equal length
Called a1, a2, a3
+a2
+a1
Crystallographic Axes:
Tetragonal System
Three perpendicular axes
Vertical axis,
axis c,
c coincides
with 4 or 4-bar axis
One axis
axis, cc, is longer or
shorter than other two, a1
and a2 , which are equal
+c
+a2
+a1
Tetragonal Examples
Wulfenite PbMoO4
Crystallographic Axes:
Orthorhombic System
+c
Three perpendicular axes coincide with 2-fold axes
or are perpendicular to
mirror p
planes
All different lengths
called a,
a b,
b c
+b
b
+a
Crystallographic Axes:
Monoclinic System
+c
All axes different lengths
Called a,
a b,
b c
b axis coincides with 2fold axis or mirror plane
c is parallel to long edges
a slants down to the front
g
a b,, b c,, angle
between a and c>90o
> 90o
+
+a
+b
b
Crystallographic Axes:
Triclinic System
+c
No perpendicular axes
All different lengths
Called a, b, c
+b
+
+a
Crystallographic Axes:
Hexagonal System
Four axes
Vertical axis, c, is longer
or shorter and coincides
with
i h 6-fold
f ld or 3-fold
f ld axis
i
Three horizontal axes
coincide with 2-fold axes,
are to c, and 120o to
each-other
Three horizontal axes are
equal lengths a1, a2, a3
+cc
+a3
120o
+a1
+a2
Hexagonal Examples
Axial Relationships?