Rich royal blue, green, yellow, violet, white veining common
Crystal habit
Massive; rarely as dodecahedra
Twinning
Common on {111} forming pseudohexagonal prisms
Cleavage
Poor on {110}
Fracture
Conchoidal to uneven
Tenacity
Brittle
Mohs scale hardness
5.5–6
Luster
Dull vitreous to greasy
Streak
White
Diaphaneity
Transparent to translucent
Specific gravity
2.27–2.33
Optical properties
Isotropic
Refractive index
n = 1.483 – 1.487
Ultraviolet fluorescence
Bright red-orange cathodoluminescence and fluorescence under LW and SW UV, with yellowish phosphorescence; may be photochromic in magentas
Fusibility
Easily to a colourless glass; sodium yellow flame
Solubility
Soluble in hydrochloric acid and nitric acid
References
[2][3][4][5]
Major varieties
Hackmanite
Tenebrescent; violet-red or green fading to white
Sodalite (/ˈsoʊ.dəˌlaɪt/SOH-də-lyte) is a tectosilicate mineral with the formula Na 8(Al 6Si 6O 24)Cl 2, with royal blue varieties widely used as an ornamental gemstone. Although massive sodalite samples are opaque, crystals are usually transparent to translucent. Sodalite is a member of the sodalite group with hauyne, nosean, lazurite and tugtupite.
The people of the Caral culture traded for sodalite from the Collao altiplano.[6] First discovered by Europeans in 1811 in the Ilimaussaq intrusive complex in Greenland, sodalite did not become widely important as an ornamental stone until 1891 when vast deposits of fine material were discovered in Ontario, Canada.
^Warr, Laurence N. (June 2021). "IMA–CNMNC approved mineral symbols". Mineralogical Magazine. 85 (3): 291–320. Bibcode:2021MinM...85..291W. doi:10.1180/mgm.2021.43. S2CID 235729616.
^Mindat with locations
^Webmineral data
^Handbook of Mineralogy
^Hurlbut, Cornelius S.; Klein, Cornelis, 1985, Manual of Mineralogy, 20th ed., ISBN 0-471-80580-7
^Sanz, Nuria; Arriaza, Bernardo T.; Standen, Vivien G., eds. (2015). The Chinchorro culture: a comparative perspective, the archaeology of the earliest human mummification. UNESCO Publishing. p. 162. ISBN 978-92-3-100020-1.
Although massive sodalite samples are opaque, crystals are usually transparent to translucent. Sodalite is a member of the sodalite group with hauyne...
microcline is very characteristic of some types of nepheline syenite. Sodalite, colorless and transparent in thin section, but frequently pale blue in...
present, and also H2O and Cl. It is a feldspathoid and a member of the sodalite group. Hauyne was first described in 1807 from samples discovered in Vesuvian...
Princess Sodalite Mine (previously the Princess Sodalite Quarry) is a sodalite quarry and retail shop, located near Bancroft, Ontario. The sodalite deposit...
is lazurite (25% to 40%), a blue feldspathoid silicate mineral of the sodalite family, with the formula (Na,Ca) 8(AlSiO 4) 6(S,SO 4,Cl) 1–2. Most lapis...
aluminosilicate mineral Petalite – Silicate mineral, used in ceramic glazing Sodalite Group Hauyne – Silicate mineral Lazurite – Alumino-silicate mineral whose...
atoms of the mineral sodalite. The space group, I43m, is the same as the fully expanded form of sodalite would have if sodalite had just silicon or just...
in the Earth's crust and exists in numerous minerals such as feldspars, sodalite, and halite (NaCl). Many salts of sodium are highly water-soluble: sodium...
of feldspar (mostly albite but also some microcline), with nepheline, sodalite, cancrinite and calcite. The mafic minerals, when present, are magnetite...
order from oldest to youngest, the Outer Coarse Syenite, the Nepheline Sodalite Syenite, the Fire Tower Syenite, the Garland Peak Syenite, the Watson Ledge...
Ca)8[(S,Cl,SO4,OH)2|(Al6Si6O24)]. It is a feldspathoid and a member of the sodalite group. Lazurite crystallizes in the isometric system although well‐formed...
Diffraction (HRPXRD) Illustrated with Rietveld Structure Refinement of Quartz, Sodalite, Tremolite, and Meionite". The Canadian Mineralogist. 46 (6): 1501–1509...
tracks are written by Jerrilynn Patton; "Borealis" written with Björk, "Sodalite" and "The Precision of Infinity" written with Philip Glass. Eede, Christian...
and FAU (right). Both zeolites share the truncated octahedral structure (sodalite cage) (purple line). However, the way they are connected (yellow line)...
such as nepheline, syenites (especially kakortokite or naujaite) and sodalite (sodalite-foya). In Ivittuut, where cryolite was formerly mined, there are fluoride-bearing...
(KCl∙MgSO4∙3H2O). It is also found in evaporite minerals such as chlorapatite and sodalite. Chloride has a major physiological significance, which includes regulation...
Chesterfield, South Carolina. Syenite pebbles, containing fluorescent sodalite, were moved from Canada to Michigan by glaciers; these glacial erratic...
Afghanite is a feldspathoid of the cancrinite group and typically occurs with sodalite group minerals. It forms blue to colorless, typically massive crystals...
Chemical name Chemical formula Percentage composition Sodalite 3Na2O⋅3Al2O3⋅6SiO2⋅Na2SO4 4–40% Cancrinite Na3⋅CaAl3⋅Si3⋅O12CO3 0–20% Aluminous-goethite...
ear ornaments depicting winged runners; 3rd–7th century; gold, turquoise, sodalite and shell; diameter: 8 cm; Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York City)...
igneous intrusion known as the Ice River Complex containing deposits of sodalite, an ornamental stone. Mount Goodsir 3,567 m (11,703 ft) Mount Vaux 3,310 m...
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