CALCITE

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CALCITE

Named as a mineral by Gaius Plinius Secundus (Pliny the elder) in 79 CE from


Calx, Latin for Lime, and the related German word calcit.

WHAT IS CALCITE?
 Calcite is a carbonate mineral, meaning that it contains the chemical
carbonate, CO32-.
 Carbonate is made of 1 atom of carbon and 3 atoms of oxygen and has
an electric charge of −2.

 Calcite is a rock-forming mineral with a chemical formula of CaCO3.

 Calcite is the most common form of calcium carbonate.


 It is extremely common and found throughout the world in sedimentary,
metamorphic, and igneous rocks and  is known for the variety and
beautiful development of its crystals.

 Some geologists consider it to be a “ubiquitous mineral” – one that is found


everywhere.

COMPOSITION
Calcium carbonate, CaC03.

 Molecular Weight = 100.09 gm (gram mole)


 Calcium = 40.04 %
 Carbon = 12.00 %
 Oxygen = 47.96 %
 CaO = 56.0 %
 C02 = 44.0 %
ALL ABOUT CALCITE
 Crystals with shallow rhombohedral terminations are called nailhead spar.
(calcite that crystallizes in nail-headed forms)
 Highly transparent calcite is called optical spar.
 Occur most often as scalenohedra and are commonly twinned, sometimes
forming heart-shaped, butterfly twins.
 A hemihedral crystal form of 8 or 12 faces, each face being a scalene
triangle.
 Although calcite can form spectacular crystals, it is usually massive,
occurring either as marble or as limestone.

VARIETIES
 Cobaltocalcite  -  This is a cobalt-rich type of calcite with the color of pink.
 Salmon Calcite - Orange/red (salmon) color of calcite and cannot be seen
through.
 Iceland Spar - Colorless to slightly colored, transparent, rhombohedral type
of calcite. Easy to see double refraction.
 Sand Calcite  -  Sand that gets trapped in calcite during the formation.

Associated Rock types:


 Calcite is mainly found in limestone and marble.
 it is the principal constituent of limestone and marble. there yhese rocks
are extremely common and make up a significant portion of Earth’s
crust.
 Calcite can also sometimes be found in igneous rocks like carbonatites and
kimberlites.

Environment
 Calcite is most often found in a sedimentary settings, especially in marine
areas that are not very deep.
 It can also find calcite in hot spring deposits and hydrothermal veins. 

CALCITE PHYSICAL PROPERTIES


 COLOR
 Usually white but also colorless, gray, red, green, blue, yellow, brown,
orange.
 STREAK (A better determinant of the true color of a mineral is its streak. Streak
is a test used by a geologist to see the color of the mineral under the top layer or
coating on the mineral. )
 White
 LUSTER (Luster is a property of a mineral that tells how the mineral reflects
light. Luster gives you an indication of how "Shiny" a mineral is. )
 Vitreous. (like glass in appearance or physical properties.) 
 DIAPHANEITY(Diaphaneity refers to a mineral's ability to transmit light.)
 Transparent to translucent.

 CLEAVAGE/FRACTURE

 Perfect, rhombohedral, three directions.

 rhomboid
 A rhomboid is a six-sided solid object in which the opposite sides are
parallel.

It has perfect cleavage in three directions. If you hit calcite with a hammer it will
break into smaller but perfectly shaped rhomboids.

 MOHS HARDNESS
 Hardness is 3
 CRYSTAL SYSTEM
 rhombohedral structure
 hexagonal crystals

Calcite forms in a huge (more than 12,000) number of shapes. It has


a rhombohedral structure (fig. 2) and frequently shows hexagonal crystals.

 TENACITY(the quality or fact of being able to grip something firmly)


 Brittle
 DENSITY
 2.7102(2) g/cm3 (Measured)
 2.711 g/cm3 (Calculated)
 PARTING (Parting breaks are very similar in appearance to cleavage, but the
cause is different.)
 Readily along twin lamellae

In calcite, such lamellae can occur both parallel to the rhomb edges (A and B)
and parallel to the long diagonal of the rhomb, but not the short diagonal.
CALCITE OPTICAL PROPERTIES
 REFRACTIVE INDICES VALUES:
 epsilon = 1.486
 omega = 1.658 
 MAX BIREFRINGENCE(formally defined as the double refraction of light
in a transparent, molecularly ordered material)
 omega - epsilon = 0.172 = δ
 OPTIC SIGN (Indicates the type of double refraction in a mineral. In uniaxial minerals, the
material is said to be positive when the extraordinary ray has a higher refractive index than
the ordinary ray and negative when the ordinary ray has the greater index.)
 Uniaxial (-)

They are called uniaxial because they have a single optic axis.  
 OPTIC ORIENTATION:
 Difficult to determine due to high birefringence
 EXTINCTION
 Symmetrical to cleavage traces

when crystal is in an extinct position, birefringent calcite dust formed by


grinding is visible.

WHAT TEST CAN BE USED TO IDENTIFY CALCITE


FROM OTHER MINERALS?
 MINERAL ACID TEST
 The mineral calcite is tested against a cold, dilute (10%) solution of
hydrochloric acid (HCl). Observation reveals a reaction that is
characteristic of this mineral and helps in identifying calcite.

HOW TO IDENTIFY CALCITE?


Calcite is typically white with a transparent look. What sets it apart from other
minerals is the perfect cleavage it has allowing it to form a perfect rhombus.
Also, to be certain or to see if a rock contains calcite, we can put acid on it and it
will make little CO2 bubbles. It also has a hardness of 3, which makes it
scratchable by a penny.

IMPORTANCE OF CALCITE IN ENGINEERING


INDUSTRY
 The construction industry is the primary consumer of calcite in the form of
limestone and marble.
 These rocks have been used as dimension stones.
 Modern construction uses calcite in the form of limestone and marble to
produce cement and concrete.
 These materials are easily mixed, transported, and placed in the form of a
slurry that will harden into a durable construction material.
 Concrete is used to make buildings, highways, bridges, walls, and many
other structures.

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