Datolite
Mineral CaBSiO4(OH)
About it
Glassy pale green crystals with many faces in traprock of New Jersey and Massachusetts, and porcelain-like nodules in red, pink, and brown from Michigan's copper country.
- Type
- Mineral
- Group
- Silicate (nesosilicate), datolite group
- Formula
- CaBSiO4(OH)
- Hardness (Mohs)
- 5–5.5
- Specific gravity
- 2.9–3
- Streak
- white
- Lustre
- vitreous (glassy)
- Crystal system
- Monoclinic
- Colours
- colourless, white, pale green, yellow, pink, brown
- Transparency
- transparent, translucent, opaque
- Cleavage and fracture
- none; conchoidal to uneven fracture
Typical values: real specimens vary. For more, see mindat.org.