Flamite

flamite

Images

Formula: Ca_8-x(Na,K)_x(SiO₄)_4-x(PO₄)x
Nesosilicate (insular SiO₄ groups)
Crystal System: Orthorhombic
Specific gravity: 3.264 calculated
Hardness: 5 to 5½
Streak: White
Colour: Greyish to yellowish
Luminescence: Not fluorescent under UV
Environments

Metamorphic environments

Localities

At the type locality, the Southern Hatrurim Basin, Hatrurim Basin, Tamar Regional Council, Beersheba Subdistrict, Southern District, Israel, flamite occurs in Ca- and Al- rich paralava, an ultrahigh-temperature combustion metamorphic melt rock. The flamite occurs as regular lamellar intergrowths with partially hydrated larnite, together with rock-forming gehlenite, rankinite and titanium-rich andradite, minor ferrian perovskite, magnesioferrite, hematite, and retrograde ettringite and calcium silicate hydrates. The flamite is greyish to yellowish, transparent with a vitreous lustre, non-fluorescent under ultraviolet light and shows no parting or cleavage (MM 79.3.583-596).
Flamite from the Southern Hatrurim Basin - Image

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