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Formula: Na(NaCa)Mg5Si8O22(OH)2
Inosilicate (chain silicate),
richterite root name group,
amphibole
Crystal System: Monoclinic
Specific gravity: 3.1 measured
Hardness: 5 to 6
Streak: White
Colour: Brown to brownish-red, rose-red, or yellow, grey-brown, and also pale to dark green, dark green-blue and
grey-blue
Common impurities: Ti,Al,Cr,Mn,Ni,Sr,K,F,Cl,H2O
Environments:
Plutonic igneous environments
Volcanic igneous environments
Carbonatites
Metamorphic environments
Richterite occurs in syenite, in
basalt, in carbonatites, in
gneiss and in impure metamorphosed
limestone due to
regional metamorphism, and
in meteorites and lunar basalts
(AM59.518, Mindat).
Associated minerals include leucite,
diopside,
forsterite, calcite,
apatite, natrolite,
phlogopite, cristobalite,
enstatite and plagioclase
(HOM).
Magnesium-rich richterites occur in thermally metamorphosed
limestone, and they are also found in
skarn
associated with iron-manganese deposits, and in carbonate veins in
ultramafic rocks rich in
pyroxene
(Dana).
Potassium-rich richterite is found in leucite rocks, often enclosing
diopside and leucite
(Dana).
Localities
At Earle Farm, Wilberforce and at Tory Hill, Ontario, Canada, richterite occurs as crystals in
calcite
(Dana).
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