Levyne or levynite is a

zeolite Zeolites are microporous, crystalline aluminosilicate materials commonly used as commercial adsorbents and catalysts. They mainly consist of silicon, aluminium, oxygen, and have the general formula ･y where is either a metal ion or H+. These p ...

mineral, i.e. a hydrated

silicate mineral Silicate minerals are rock-forming minerals made up of silicate groups. They are the largest and most important class of minerals and make up approximately 90 percent of Earth's crust. In mineralogy, silica (silicon dioxide, ) is usually consid ...

. There are two forms of levyne: *''Levyne-Na'', the sodium dominated form (), and *''Levyne-Ca'' the calcium dominated form () Levyne crystallizes in the

Trigonal In crystallography, the hexagonal crystal family is one of the six crystal families, which includes two crystal systems (hexagonal and trigonal) and two lattice systems (hexagonal and rhombohedral). While commonly confused, the trigonal crystal ...

- Hexagonal Scalenohedral class. It typically occurs as radiating clusters or fibrous masses that are transparent to translucent in colors ranging from white through reddish and yellowish white to gray. It has a

specific gravity Relative density, or specific gravity, is the ratio of the density (mass of a unit volume) of a substance to the density of a given reference material. Specific gravity for liquids is nearly always measured with respect to water at its densest ...

of 2.09 - 2.16 and a

Mohs hardness The Mohs scale of mineral hardness () is a qualitative ordinal scale, from 1 to 10, characterizing scratch resistance of various minerals through the ability of harder material to scratch softer material. The scale was introduced in 1812 by t ...

of 4.0 to 4.5. It has a vitreous luster and perfect cleavage on

011 The following is a list of different international call prefixes that need to be dialled when placing an international telephone call from different countries. Countries by international prefix Countries using optional carrier selection code ...

Typical occurrence is as an alteration and vesicle filling mineral in

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the surface of a rocky planet or moon. More than 90 ...

s. It was named for French

mineralogist Mineralogy is a subject of geology specializing in the scientific study of the chemistry, crystal structure, and physical (including optical) properties of minerals and mineralized artifacts. Specific studies within mineralogy include the proce ...

Armand Lévy (1795–1841). The calcium variety was first described in 1821 for an occurrence in Dalsnipa, Sandoy,

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. They are located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway bet ...

. The sodium variety was described in 1997 for an occurrence in Chojabaru,

Nagasaki Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Nagasaki Prefecture has a population of 1,314,078 (1 June 2020) and has a geographic area of 4,130 km2 (1,594 sq mi). Nagasaki Prefecture borders Saga Prefecture to the northeast. N ...

, Japan.

References

Webmineral - Levyne-CaWebmineral - Levyne-Na

External links

Structure type LEV
Zeolites Trigonal minerals Minerals in space group 166 {{silicate-mineral-stub