artinite

{{Short description|Hydrated basic magnesium carbonate mineral}}{{Infobox mineral

| name = Artinite

| image = Artinite - Atlas mine1, San Benito, California, USA.jpg

| imagesize = 280px

| alt = Artinite – Atlas mine, San Benito, California, US

| caption = Artinite from New Idria District, California

| category = Carbonate mineral

| formula = {{chem2|Mg2(CO3)(OH)2*3H2O}}

| IMAsymbol = Art{{Cite journal|last=Warr|first=L.N.|date=2021|title=IMA–CNMNC approved mineral symbols|journal=Mineralogical Magazine|volume=85|issue=3|pages=291–320|doi=10.1180/mgm.2021.43|bibcode=2021MinM...85..291W|s2cid=235729616|doi-access=free}}

| molweight =

| strunz = 5.DA.10

| dana =

| system = Monoclinic

| class = Prismatic (2/m)
(same H-M symbol)

| symmetry = C2/m

| unit cell = a = 16.56, b = 3.15
c = 6.22 [Å]; β = 99.15°; Z = 2

| color = White

| colour =

| habit = Acicular crystals, fibrous veinlets, botryoidal crusts, and spherical aggregates

| twinning =

| cleavage = On {100} perfect; on {001} good.

| fracture =

| tenacity =

| mohs = 2.5

| luster = Vitreous, silky

| streak = White

| diaphaneity = Transparent

| gravity = 2.01 – 2.03

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| polish =

| opticalprop = Biaxial (−)

| refractive = nα = 1.488 – 1.489 nβ = 1.533 – 1.534 nγ = 1.556 – 1.557

| birefringence = δ = 0.068

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| references = [http://rruff.geo.arizona.edu/doclib/hom/artinite.pdf Handbook of Mineralogy][http://www.mindat.org/min-377.html Artinite on Mindat.org][http://www.webmineral.com/data/Artinite.shtml Artinite on Webmineral]

}}

Artinite is a hydrated basic magnesium carbonate mineral with formula: {{chem2|Mg2(CO3)(OH)2*3H2O}}. It forms white silky monoclinic prismatic crystals that are often in radial arrays or encrustations. It has a Mohs hardness of 2.5 and a specific gravity of 2.

It occurs in low-temperature hydrothermal veins and in serpentinized ultramafic rocks. Associated minerals include brucite, hydromagnesite, pyroaurite, chrysotile, aragonite, calcite, dolomite and magnesite.

It was first reported in 1902 in Lombardy, Italy. It was named for Italian mineralogist, Ettore Artini (1866–1928).

File:Artinite-148070.jpg district, California US. Size: 9.2 x 5.2 x 1.5 cm.]]

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