Gaylussite
Mineral Na2Ca(CO3)2·5H2O
Take care.
- Damaged by water: Keep it dry: don't wash it, and keep it out of damp places.
About it
Colourless, wedge-shaped crystals from soda lakes that turn chalky white as they lose water in dry air. Named for French chemist Joseph Gay-Lussac; well known from Searles Lake, California.
- Type
- Mineral
- Group
- Carbonate
- Formula
- Na2Ca(CO3)2·5H2O
- Hardness (Mohs)
- 2.5–3
- Specific gravity
- 1.93–1.99
- Streak
- white
- Lustre
- vitreous (glassy)
- Crystal system
- Monoclinic
- Colours
- colourless, white, grey, yellowish
- Transparency
- transparent, translucent
- Cleavage and fracture
- perfect prismatic; conchoidal fracture
Typical values: real specimens vary. For more, see mindat.org.