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Ca2(Mg3Al2)(Si6Al2)O22(OH)2) is a calcium
rich monoclinic amphibole mineral. It is frequently synthesized along with its
ternary solid solution series members tremolite and cummingtonite so that the
thermodynamic properties of its assemblage can be applied to solving other solid
solution series from a variety of amphibole minerals.
Contents
1 Mineral composition
2 Geologic occurrence
3 Namesake biography
4 Mineral structure
5 Physical properties
6 Special characteristics
7 References
Mineral composition
Tschermakite is an end-member of the hornblende subgroup in the calcic-amphibole
group. Calcium-rich amphiboles have the general formula X2-3 Y5 Z8 O22 (OH)2 where
X=Ca, Na, K, Mn; Y=Mg, Fe+2, Fe+3, Al, Ti, Mn, Cr, Li, Zn; Z=Si, Al (Deer et al.,
1963). The structure of tremolite (Ca2Mg5(Si8O22)(OH,F)2), another calcic
amphibole, is commonly used as the standard for calcic amphiboles from which the
formulae for their substitutions are derived. The wide range in variety of minerals
classified in the amphibole group is due to its great ability for ionic replacement
resulting in a widely varying chemical composition. Amphiboles can be classified on
the basis of the substitution of ions on the X site as well as the substitution of
AlAl for Si(Mg, Fe+2). In the calcium amphiboles like tschermakite Ca2(Mg,
Fe2+)3Al2 (Si6 Al2) O22(OH)2, the predominant ion in the X position is occupied by
Ca as in tremolite, while the substitution MgSi<->AlAl occurs on the Y and the
tetrahedral Z site.
Geologic occurrence
Hornblendes are the most common of the amphiboles and are formed in a wide range of
Pressure-Temperature environments. Tschermakite is found in eclogites and
ultramafic igneous rocks as well as in medium to high-grade metamorphic rocks. The
mineral is widespread throughout the world but has most notably been studied in
Greenland, Scotland, Finland, France, and Ukraine (Anthony, 1995). Because
amphibole minerals like Tschermakite are hydrous (contain an OH group), they can
break down to denser anhydrous minerals like pyroxene or garnet at high
temperatures. Conversely, amphiboles can be recomposed from pyroxenes as a result
of crystallizing igneous rocks as well as during metamorphism (L�ger and Ferry,
1991). Because of this important quality, P-T conditions have repeatedly been
calculated for the crystallization of hornblendes in calc-alkaline magmas (F�m�nias
et al., 2006). In addition to studying tschermakitic content in its natural
occurrences, geologists have frequently synthesized this mineral in order to
further calculate its place as an endmember hornblende.
Namesake biography
Gustav Tschermak von Seysenegg (1836-1927) Austrian mineralogist.
Tschermakite received its name in honor of the Austrian mineralogist Professor
Gustav Tschermak von Seysenegg (1836-1927) whose mineral textbook Lehrbuch der
Mineralogie (orig. pub.1883) was described as the German language equivalent to the
works of Edward Salisbury Dana (Mineralogy 1885).
Mineral structure
The amphibole group consists of an orthorhombic and monoclinic series � hornblendes
and tschermakite both belong to the latter crystal structure. The crystal group of
tschermakite is 2/m.
Tschermakite and all the hornblende varieties are inosilicates, and like the other
rock forming amphiboles are double chain silicates (Klein and Hurlbut, 1985). The
amphibole structure is characterized by its two double chains of SiO4 tetrahedra
(T1 and T2) sandwiching in a strip of cations (M1, M2 and M3 octahedra). Much of
the discussions and studies of both tschermakite and tremolite have been to resolve
the varying cation placements and Al substitutions that seem to occur on all T and
M sites (Najorka and Gottschalk, 2003).