Ajay Kumar at 17:27, 29 August 2023

2023-08-29T17:27:50Z

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{{Distinguish|Kainate}}
{{Infobox mineral
| name = Kainite
| image = Kainite - Grube Brefeld, Tarthun, Staßfurt, Sachsen-Anhalt.jpg
| imagesize = 260px
| alt =
| caption =
| category = [[Sulfate minerals]]
| formula = KMg(SO4)Cl·3H2O
| strunz = 7.DF.10
| dana =
| system = [[Monoclinic]]
| class = Prismatic (2/m) (same [[H-M symbol]])
| symmetry = ''C2/m''
| unit cell = a = 19.72, b = 16.23 c = 9.53 [Å]; β = 94.92°; Z = 16
| color = Colorless; yellow, brownish, greyish-green, red, violet, blue
| habit = Crystal aggregates, fibrous, massive
| twinning =
| cleavage = {001}, perfect
| fracture = Splintery
| tenacity = Brittle
| mohs = 2.5-3
| luster = Vitreous
| streak = White
| diaphaneity = Transparent
| gravity = 2.15
| density =
| polish =
| opticalprop = Biaxial (-)
| refractive = nα = 1.494 nβ = 1.505 nγ = 1.516
| birefringence = δ = 0.022
| pleochroism = Visible: X = violet, Y = blue, Z = yellowish
| 2V = Measured: 90°
| dispersion = Weak
| extinction =
| length fast/slow =
| fluorescence =
| absorption =
| melt =
| fusibility =
| diagnostic =
| solubility =
| impurities =
| alteration =
| other =
| prop1 =
| prop1text =
| references = <ref name=HBM>[http://rruff.info/doclib/hom/kainite.pdf The Handbook of Mineralogy]</ref><ref name=Mindat>[http://www.mindat.org/min-2132.html Mindat.org]</ref><ref name=Webmin>[http://webmineral.com/data/Kainite.shtml#.U6HPHZTMQbg Webmineral.com]</ref>
}}

'''Kainite''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|aɪ|n|aɪ|t}} or {{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|eɪ|n|aɪ|t}})<ref>{{Cite OED|kainite}}</ref> (KMg(SO4)Cl·3H2O) is an [[evaporite]] [[mineral]] in the class of "Sulfates (selenates, etc.) with additional anions, with H2O" according to the [[Nickel–Strunz classification]]. It is a hydrated potassium-magnesium sulfate-chloride, naturally occurring in irregular granular masses or as crystalline coatings in cavities or fissures. This mineral is dull and soft, and is colored white, yellowish, grey, reddish, or blue to violet. Its name is derived from Greek καινος [kainos] ("(hitherto) unknown"), as it was the first mineral discovered that contained both [[sulfate]] and [[chloride]] as [[anion]]s. Kainite forms [[monoclinic]] crystals.

[[File:Kainite.png|thumb|400px|left|Crystal structure of kainite]]

== Properties ==

Kainite is of bitter taste and soluble in water. On recrystallization [[picromerite]] is deposited from the solution.

== Genesis and occurrence ==

Kainite was discovered in the [[Stassfurt]] salt mines in today's [[Saxony-Anhalt]], [[Germany]] in 1865 by the mine official Schöne and was first described by Carl Friedrich Jacob Zincken.<ref>Zincken, C. (1865): Mittheilung an Prof. H.B. Geinitz vom 18.März 1865 [Über ein neues Mineral, Kainit].- Neues Jahrbuch für Mineralogie, Geologie und Paläontologie, 310.</ref><ref>Zincken, C. (1865): Ueber die Zusammensetzung des Kainits von Leopoldshall bei Stassfurth.- Berg- und hüttenmännische Zeitung 24, 288.</ref>

Kainite is a typical secondary mineral that forms through metamorphosis in marine deposits of [[potassium carbonate]], and is also occasionally formed through resublimation from volcanic vapours. It is often [[paragenesis|accompanied]] by [[anhydrite]], [[carnallite]], [[halite]], and [[kieserite]].

Kainite is only found in comparatively few places,<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.mindat.org/show.php?id=2132&ld=2#themap | title = Kainite: Localities for Kainite | publisher = Mindat}}</ref> among them in salt mines in central and northern Germany, [[Bad Ischl]] (Austria), on [[Pasquasia]] in [[Sicily]], in [[Whitby]] (UK), and in the Carlsbad Potash District in [[New Mexico]], in volcanic deposits in [[Kamchatka]]<ref>Pekov, Igor V., et al. "New zinc and potassium chlorides from fumaroles of the Tolbachik volcano, Kamchatka, Russia: mineral data and crystal chemistry. II. Flinteite, K2ZnCl4." European Journal of Mineralogy (2015): ejm2459_pap_gsw.</ref> and in [[Iceland]],<ref>Jacobsson et al (1992) Encrustations from Lava Caves on Surtsey, Iceland. A Preliminary Report: Surtsey Research Progress Report X: 73-78 Reykjevik, Iceland.</ref> and in salt lakes in western [[China]]. It has also been identified in [[Gusev Crater]] on [[Mars]].<ref>Rice, M. S., et al. "Silica-rich deposits and hydrated minerals at Gusev Crater, Mars: Vis-NIR spectral characterization and regional mapping." Icarus 205.2 (2010): 375-395.</ref>

== Uses ==

Kainite is used as a source of [[potassium]] and [[magnesium]] compounds, as a [[fertilizer]], and as gritting salt.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Magnesium minerals]]
[[Category:Potassium minerals]]
[[Category:Halide minerals]]
[[Category:Sulfate minerals]]
[[Category:Monoclinic minerals]]
[[Category:Minerals in space group 12]]
[[Category:Evaporite]]
[[Category:Potash]]

{{sulfate-mineral-stub}}

Kainite - Revision history

Ajay Kumar at 17:27, 29 August 2023