Siderite Mineral Data

General Siderite Information

Chemical Formula:

Fe++CO3

Composition:

Molecular Weight = 115.86 gm

Iron 48.20 % Fe 62.01 % FeO

Carbon 10.37 % C 37.99 % CO₂

Oxygen 41.43 % O

______ ______

100.00 % 100.00 % = TOTAL OXIDE

Empirical Formula:

Fe²⁺(CO₃)

Environment:

Primarily bedded, biosedimentary deposits, also in metamorphic and igneous rocks. Forms a series with rhocochrosite.

IMA Status:

Valid Species (Pre-IMA) 1845

Locality:

Common world wide. Link to MinDat.org Location Data.

Name Origin:

From the Greek sideros, "iron."

Name Pronunciation:

Siderite

Synonym:

Chalybite

ICSD 100678

Iron spar

PDF 29-696

Spathose iron

Siderite Image

Images:

Siderite Arsenopyrite

Comments: White, metallic arsenopyrite and tan siderite crystals.
Location: Panasqueira (2000, 3rd level), in the region of Beira Baixa, Portugal. Scale: 11 x 7 cm.
© Fabre Minerals

Images:

Siderite

Comments: Blocky siderite crystals on quartz.
Location: Panasqueira (2nd level), in the region of Beira Baixa, Portugal. Scale: 7 x 8 cm.
© Fabre Minerals

Images:

Siderite

Comments: Bladed siderite crystal groups on crystallized quartz matrix.
Location: Peyrebrune, Tarn, France. Scale: 8.7 x 6.5 x 4.7 cm.
© Fabre Minerals

Images:

Siderite Garronite

Comments: Translucent white micro crystals of garronite on brown siderite crystals.
Location: Mont Saint Hilaire, Quebec, Canada. Scale: See Photo.
© Jeff Weissman / Photographic Guide to Mineral Species

Siderite Crystallography

Axial Ratios:

a:c = 1:3.27542

Cell Dimensions:

a = 4.72, c = 15.46, Z = 6; V = 298.28 Den(Calc)= 3.87

Crystal System:

Trigonal - Hexagonal ScalenohedralH-M Symbol (3 2/m) Space Group: R 3c

$Help on X Ray Diffraction:$ X Ray Diffraction:

By Intensity(I/I_o): 2.79(1), 1.734(0.8), 3.59(0.6),

Forms:

Mouse
Dbl Clk - Start-Stop Rotation
RMB - Cycle Display Modes
Drag1 - Manipulate Crystal
Drag2 - Resize
Keyboard
S - Stereo
I - Indicies
<space> - Start-Stop Rotation
F - Fit to Screen
M - Menu
Help on Above

Forms: ( 1 1 0) ( 1 1 1) ( 0 0 1)

Warning: this large pop-up is very compute intensive and may not work well with some computers.

Crystal Structure:

Mouse
drag1 - LMB Manipulate Structure
drag2 - RMB Resize/Rotate
Keyboard
S - Stereo Pair on/off
H - Help Screen
I - Data Info
A - Atoms On/Off
P - Polyhedra On/Off
B - Bonds On/Off
Help on Above

Graf D L , American Mineralogist , 46 (1961) p.1283-1316, Crystallographic tables for the rhombohedral carbonates

Physical Properties of Siderite

Cleavage:

{1011} Perfect, {1011} Perfect, {1011} Perfect

Color:

Yellowish brown, Brown, Gray, Yellowish gray, Greenish gray.

Density:

3.96

Diaphaneity:

Translucent to subtranslucent

Fracture:

Brittle - Conchoidal - Very brittle fracture producing small, conchoidal fragments.

Habit:

Botryoidal - "Grape-like" rounded forms (e.g.. malachite).

Habit:

Massive - Uniformly indistinguishable crystals forming large masses.

Habit:

Tabular - Form dimensions are thin in one direction.

Hardness:

3.5 - Copper Penny

Luminescence:

Non-fluorescent.

Luster:

Vitreous (Glassy)

Streak:

white

Optical Properties of Siderite

Gladstone-Dale:

CI meas= 0.081 (Poor) - where the CI = (1-KPDmeas/KC)
CI calc= 0.06 (Fair) - where the CI = (1-KPDcalc/KC)
KPDcalc= 0.1849,KPDmeas= 0.1807,KC= 0.1967
Ncalc = 1.76 - 1.78

Optical Data:

Uniaxial (-), e=1.57-1.633, w=1.785-1.875, bire=0.2150-0.2420.

Calculated Properties of Siderite

Electron Density:

Bulk Density (Electron Density)=3.74 gm/cc
note: Specific Gravity of Siderite =3.87 gm/cc.

Fermion Index:

Fermion Index = 0.01
Boson Index = 0.99

Photoelectric:

PE_Siderite= 14.62 barns/electron
U=PE_Siderite x rElectron Density= 54.68 barns/cc.

Radioactivity:

GRapi = 0 (Gamma Ray American Petroleum Institute Units)
Siderite is Not Radioactive

Siderite Classification

Dana Class:

14.01.01.03 (14)Anhydrous Carbonates

(14.01)with Simple Formula A+ CO3

(14.01.01)Calcite Group (Trigonal: R-3c)

14.01.01.01 Calcite CaCO3 R 3c 3 2/m

14.01.01.02 Magnesite MgCO3 R 3c 3 2/m

14.01.01.03 Siderite FeCO3 R 3c 3 2/m

14.01.01.04 Rhodochrosite MnCO3 R 3c 3 2/m

14.01.01.05 Sphaerocobaltite CoCO3 R 3c 3 2/m

14.01.01.06 Smithsonite ZnCO3 R 3c 3 2/m

14.01.01.07 Otavite CdCO3 R 3c 3 2/m

14.01.01.08 Gaspeite (Ni,Mg,Fe)CO3 R 3c 3 2/m

Strunz Class:

05.AB.05 05 - CARBONATES (NITRATES)

05.A - Carbonates without additional anions, without H2O

05.AB -Alkali-earth (and other M2+) carbonates

05.AB.05 Calcite CaCO3 R 3c 3 2/m

05.AB.05 Gaspeite (Ni,Mg,Fe)CO3 R 3c 3 2/m

05.AB.05 Magnesite MgCO3 R 3c 3 2/m

05.AB.05 Rhodochrosite MnCO3 R 3c 3 2/m

05.AB.05 Otavite CdCO3 R 3c 3 2/m

05.AB.05 Sphaerocobaltite CoCO3 R 3c 3 2/m

05.AB.05 Siderite FeCO3 R 3c 3 2/m

05.AB.05 Smithsonite ZnCO3 R 3c 3 2/m

Other Siderite Information

References:

NAME( Duda&Rejl90) PHYS. PROP.(Enc. of Minerals,2nd ed.,1990) OPTIC PROP.(Mason68)

Search for Siderite using:

[AOL] [Bing] [Dog Pile] [GeoScienceWorld] [HotBot] [Ixquick] [Lycos] [MAMMA] [Scirus] [Teoma] [WebCrawler] [Wikipedia] [YAHOO]

Visit our Advertisers for Siderite :

A Bijoux Google Search for Siderite
Adam's Minerals Google Search for Siderite
Cape Minerals Google Search for Siderite
Dakota Matrix Minerals Google Search for Siderite
Excalibur Mineral Corp. Google Search for Siderite
Exceptional Minerals Google Search for Siderite
John Betts Fine Minerals Search for Siderite
McDougall Minerals Google Search for Siderite
Mineral News Website Link
Rock and Mineral Shows Google Search for Siderite
Weinrich Minerals, Inc. Google Search for Siderite

Ask about Siderite here :
Ask-A-Mineralogist from the Mineralogical Society of America
Mindat.org's Discussion Groups
Original Rockhounds Discussion Group
Rockhounds Discussion Group on Yahoo Groups
Mineral Discussion Forum from Fabre Minerals - also available in Espa�ol

Print or Cut-and-Paste your Siderite Specimen Label here :

Siderite

Fe++CO3
Dana No: 14.01.01.03 Strunz No: 05.AB.05
Locality:

Notes: