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Formula: CaFe2+(SiO4)
Nesosilicate (insular SiO4 groups), olivine group, forms a
series with monticellite
Crystal System: Orthorhombic
Specific gravity: 3.434 measured, 3.596 calculated
Hardness: 5½
Streak: White
Colour: Greenish
Common impurities: Ti,Al,Mn,Mg,Na,K,P,H2O
Environments
Plutonic igneous environments
Metamorphic environments
Extraterrestrial environments
Kirschsteinite has been observed in calcareous skarn,
peridotite, meteorites and lunar samples
(Dana). Associated minerals include calcite,
cuspidine, diopside,
garnet, graphite,
melilite, perovskite,
titanium-rich augite,
troilite and wollastonite
(Mindat).
Localities
At the Nyiragongo Volcano, Nyiragongo Territory, North Kivu, DR Congo, kirschsteinite occurs with
clinopyroxene, leucite,
magnetite, melilite,
nepheline and pyrrhotite
(Dana).
At the type locality, Mount Shaheru, Nyiragongo Volcano, Nyiragongo Territory, North Kivu, DR Congo,
kirschsteinite occurs in
melilite-nephelinite
lava associated with clinopyroxene,
melilite, nepheline,
kalsilite, götzenite,
sodalite, combeite,
magnetite, perovskite,
apatite, brown hornblende
and pale biotite
(MM 31.698-699).
At the Tazheranskii Massif, Lake Baikal area, Irkutsk Oblast, Russia, kirschsteinite occurs in
calcareous skarn, associated with
titanium-rich augite,
wollastonite, melilite,
garnet, calcite,
cuspidine, diopside,
perovskite, troilite and
graphite
(HOM).
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