Clinochlore
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clinochlore
[′klī·nə‚klȯr]Clinochlore
a mineral of the chlorite group; one of the layered aluminosilicates.
The approximate chemical composition of chlinochlore is
(Mg, Fe)4.75 Al,1.25 [Al,1.25 Si2.75 O10] (OH)8
The ratios of magnesium to aluminum and aluminum to silicon vary considerably, although clinochlore is primarily a magnesium-aluminum chlorite. The low-iron variety of clinochlore is known as leichtenbergite (colorless). Clinochlore containing admixtures of chromium is called kotschubeite (pinkish-violet).
Clinochlore crystallizes in the monoclinic system, forming small pseudohexagonal plumose crystals with good cleavage. Most often, clinochlore forms microplumose aggregates. Its color ranges from dark gray-green to light olive-green. Clinochlore is transparent in the form of thin laminae. Its hardness on the mineralogical scale is 2–2.5; its density varies between 2,610 and 2,780 kg per cu m. It is a rock-forming mineral in chlorite shales and occurs in other metamorphic rocks as well (appearing as a result of changes in pyroxenes, amphiboles, garnets, ferromagnesian mica). Clinochlore also exists in contact-meta-somatic rocks, such as skarns, and in modified secondary rocks in hydrothermal lodes. Clinochlore is very widely distributed in nature.
G. P. BARSANOV