Sassolite
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sassolite
[′sas·ə‚līt] (mineralogy)
H3BO3 A white or gray mineral consisting of native boric acid usually occurring in small pearly scales as an incrustation or as tabular triclinic crystals. Also known as sassoline.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.
Sassolite
(also sassoline), a borate mineral with the chemical formula H3BO3 or B(OH)3. Sassolite crystallizes in the triclinic system, forming fine, colorless scales with a pseudohexagonal habit or white efflorescences. The color is white, gray, or greenish, with a pearly luster. Sassolite has a hardness of 1 on Mohs’ scale, and its density is 1,480 kg/m3. A rare mineral, sassolite is formed by volcanic processes as a fumarolic sublimate deposited in the form of films along thin cracks of volcanogenic rocks.
The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.