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American Mineralogist, Volume 68, pages 277-279, 1983

Symbolsfor rock-forming mineralsl

RupH KRBrz
Department of Geology
University of Ottawa
Ottawa. Canada KIN 984

There is at present a disturbing lack of uniformity An example of a mineral that has very diferent
in the choice of symbols for rock-forming minerals. namesin different languagesis:
For example,in Volume 65 (1980)of TheAmerican
E kyanite
Mineralogisl, all of BT, BIO, and Biot are used for
F disthdne
biotite, and all of Q, QTZ, Qtz, Qz and qtz are used
G cyanit
for quartz. At least 10other minerals are referred to
R K,I4aH'ITr
by two or more symbols, and in one instance,two
S cianita
different symbols are used for a mineral in a single
paper. Here, because Russian and English writing out-
In Table I is a list of mineral names,taken mainly weighs that of other languages,agreementmight be
from Deer et al. (1962), and for each name a found in the symbol Ky.
proposed symbol. In preparing the list of symbols, Most of the symbols that were selectedhave been
consideration was given to mineral names in the usedpreviouslyby numerousauthors,e.g., Bowen
different languagesused in scientific writing. With (1928), Ramberg (1952), Perchuk (1973), Winkler
few exceptions, the names for a mineral in the (1973), Mueller and Saxena (1977), Barton and
languages English (E), French (F), German (G), Skinner (1979) and the various authors of the Re-
Russian (R), and Spanish (S) have similar phonet- viewsin Mineralogy(e.g.,Prewitt, 1980).However,
ics, for example: becauseso much variation exists, some guidelines
were required, and the following were chosen:(l)
E biotite
The mineral symbol should consist of 2 or 3 letters,
F biotite
the first capitalized, the other(s) in lower case. (2)
G biotit
The first letter should be the sameas the first letter
R 'uorrrr
of the mineral name, and the others should be
S biotita
selectedfrom the mineral name,preferably from the
and a suitable choice for a symbol is Bt. Interna- consonants.(3) A mineral symbol should not be
tional uniformity would depend on the willingness identical to any of the symbols of the periodic table
of Russian scientists to adopt Latin letters for of the elements. (4) The symbol should preferably
mineral symbols, as Perchuk (1973) has already not spell out a word in common use in any of the
done. Another example is: languagesused in scientific writing.
The standard we should strive for with regard to
E garnet
mineral symbols is the universally adopted system
F grenat
granat of symbols for the chemical elements.
G
The use of a single symbol for both a mineral
R rpanar
phase and a component of a mineral or of a melt
S granate
phase has created confusion in the past, and a
and the symbol Grt would seempreferable to Gar. separateset of symbols for componentsis required.
It is suggestedthat component symbols be written
entirely in the lower case, for example di for the
componentCaMgSizOoin a pyroxene crystal or in a
IEditor's note: the abbreviation system describedin this note melt. Some examples of components that coffe-
is recommended,not required, for use in TheAmerican Mineral- spond to mineral "end members" and their pro-
ogist. Comments will be appreciated. posedsymbolsare listed in Table 2.
0003-.fix)vE3/0r02-0277$02.ffi 277
278 KRETZ: SYMBOLS FOR ROCK.FORMING MINERALS

Table l. Mineral Symbols

Acm acmite Elb elbaite Ntr natrolite


Act actlJlollte En enstatLte (ortho) Ne nephellne
Agt aegirine-augLte Ep epidote Nrb norberglte
Ak ikernanite Fst fasslte Nsn nosean
Ab al-bite Fa fayalite 01 olLvine
Aln al-lanite Fac ferroactinolite Omp ornphacite
Alm almandine Fed ferroederilte Oam orthoarnphibole
Anl anal-clte Fs ferrosiltte (ortho) Or orthoclase
Ant. anatase Fts ferrotschermaklte Opx orthopyroxene
And andalusite Fl" fluorite Pg paragonite
Adr andradite Fo forsterite Prg pargasite
Anh anhydrite Gn galena Pct pectolite
Ank ankerite Grt garnet Pn pentlandite
Ann annlte Ged gedriEe Per periclase
An anorthite Gh gehlenite Prv perovsklte
Atg antigoriEe Gbs gibbsite Phl phlogopite
Ath anthophylllte Glt glauconite Pgt pigeonite
Ap apatite Gln glaucophane Pl plagiocLase
Apo apophylllte Gt geothite Prh prehnlte
Arg aragonite Gr graphite Pen protoenstatite
Arf arfvedsonite Grs grossularite Pnp punpellylte
Apy arsenopyrite Gru grunerite Py pyrite
Aug augite Gp gypsum Prp pyrope
Ax axinite HI halite Prl pyrophylliEe
Brt barite Hs hastingsite Po pyrrhotite
Br1 beryl Hyn haiiyne Qtz quartz
Bt biotite Hd hedenbergite Rbk riebeckite
Btm boehnite Hem hematite Rds rhodothrosite
Bn bornite Hc hercynite Rdn rhodonj.te
Brk brookite Hul- heulandlte Rt rutile
Brc brucite Hb1 hornblende Sa sanidine
Bst bustanite Hu humLte Spr sapphlrine
Cam Ca clinoamphibole IL1 illite Scp scapolite
Cpx Ca cllnopyroxene IIn ilmenite Sr1 schorl
Ca1 caLcite Jd jadelte Srp serpentine
Ccn cancrlnite Jh johannsenLte Sd siderite
Crn carnegleite Krs kaersutLte Sil sillinanite
Cst cassiterite Kls kalsllite Sd1 sodalite
Cls celestite K1n kaolinite Sps spessartine
Cbz chabazite Ktp kataphorite Sp sphalerite
Cc chalcocite Kfs K feldspar Spn sphene
Ccp chalcopyrite Krn kornerupine Sp1 spinel
Ch1 chlorite Ky kyanite Spd spodumene
Ctd chloritold Lmt laumontlte St staurolite
Chn chondrodite Lws lawsonite Stb stilbite
Chr chronlte Lpd lepidolite Stp stilpnomelane
Ccl chrysocolla Lct leucite Str strontianite
Ct1 chrysotile Lm linonite T1c tal-c
Cen cl-inoenstatite Lz lizardite Ilrp thonpsohite
cfs clinoferrosilite Lo loellingite Ttn titanite
Chu cllnohunite Mgh uaghemite Toz topaz
Czo clinozoisite Mkt magnesiokatoptorlte Tur tourmaline
Crd cordierite Mrb magnesioriebeckite Tr Eremolite
Crn corundum Mgs magnesite Trd trldymite
Cv covellite Mag nurgnetite Tro trollite
Crs cristoballite Mrg margarLte Ts tschermakite
Cum cummingtonite Me1 nelilite Usp ulv6spinel
Dsp diaspore Mc microcline Vrm vermiculite
Dg diginite Mo urolybdenite Ves vesuvianite
Di diopside Wrz monazite l.,lh lrltherite
Dol doloni.te Mtc monticel-lLte tJo wollastonite
Drv dravite l,lnt montmorillonlte Wus wiistite
Eck eckermannite MuL nullite Ztn zircon
Ed edenite Ms muscovite Zo zolslte
KRETZ: SYMBOLS FOR ROCK-FORMING MINERALS 279

Table 2. Symbols for some components References


Barton, P. B. Jr. and Skinner, B. J. (1979) Sulfide mineral
fo MgrSiOO stabilities, In H. L. Barnes, Ed., Geochemistryof Hydrother-
mal Ore Deposits, p. 236-333.J. Wiley & Sons, New York.
fa FerStOO
Bowen, N. L. (192E) The Evolution of the Igneous Rocks.
alo Fe3A12S130l2 Princeton University Press, New Jersey.
Deer, W. A., Howie, R. A. and Zussman, J. (1962) Rock-
PTP u83412S13012 Forrning Minerals: vol. l-5. Longmans, Green & Co., Lon-
don.
sPs l{n3A12S13Ot2
Mueller, R. F. and Saxena, S. K. (1977) Chemical Petrology.
en l,lC2Si2O6 Springer-Verlag,New York.
Prewitt, C. T. (Editor) (19E0)Reviews in Mineralogy, vol. 7:
di Cal,lCSl2O6 Pyroxenes. Mineralogical Society of America, Washington,
D. C.
tr ca2Mg5st8022 (oH)
Perchuk, L. L. (1973)Thermodynamic Regime of Deep-Seated
2
ph1 KrMeUAlrsiroro
(oH)O Petrogenesis. Academyof Sciences,U.S.S.R. (In Russian).
Ramberg,H. (1952)The Origin of Metamorphic and Metasomat-
eaa (oH)
K2l,lg5A1A13s1502o ic Rocks. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois.
4
Winkler, H. G. F. (1974) Petrogenesisof Metamorphic Rocks.
ab NaAlS13O8 Springer-Verlag,New York.
an CaAl2St208
Manuscript received, February 17, 19E2;
acceptedfor publication, May 3, 1962.

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