Sonolite is a

mineral In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid chemical compound with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed. ( ...

with formula Mn₉(SiO₄)₄(OH,F)₂. The mineral was discovered in 1960 in the Sono mine in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. In 1963, it was identified as a new mineral and named after the Sono mine.

Description

Sonolite is transparent to translucent and is red-orange, pinkish brown to dark brown in color and colorless in thin sections. The mineral has a granular

habit A habit (or wont as a humorous and formal term) is a routine of behavior that is repeated regularly and tends to occur subconsciously.

or occurs as prismatic to anhedral crystals up to . Sonolite is the manganese analogue of

clinohumite Clinohumite is an uncommon member of the Humite (mineral group), humite group, a magnesium silicate according to the chemical formula (magnesium, Mg, iron, Fe)9(silicon, Sioxygen, O4)4(fluorine, F,Ohydrogen, H)2. The formula can be thought of as ...

, a

dimorph In materials science, polymorphism describes the existence of a solid material in more than one form or crystal structure. Polymorphism is a form of isomerism. Any crystalline material can exhibit the phenomenon. Allotropy refers to polymorphism ...

jerrygibbsite Jerrygibbsite is a rare silicate mineral with the chemical formula . Jerrygibbsite was originally discovered by Pete J. Dunn in 1984, who named it after mineralogist Gerald V. Gibbs (born 1929). It has only been reported from the type locality ...

, and a member of the

humite group Humite is a mineral found in the volcanically ejected masses of Vesuvius. It was first described in 1813 and named for Sir Abraham Hume, 2nd Baronet, Abraham Hume (1749–1838). See also * Jerrygibbsite * Chondrodite * Clinohumite * Alleghanyit ...

. The mineral occurs in metamorphosed manganese-rich deposits. Sonolite has been found in association with

calcite Calcite is a Carbonate minerals, carbonate mineral and the most stable Polymorphism (materials science), polymorph of calcium carbonate (CaCO3). It is a very common mineral, particularly as a component of limestone. Calcite defines hardness 3 on ...

chlorite The chlorite ion, or chlorine dioxide anion, is the halite with the chemical formula of . A chlorite (compound) is a compound that contains this group, with chlorine in the oxidation state of +3. Chlorites are also known as salts of chlorous ac ...

franklinite Franklinite is an oxide mineral belonging to the normal spinel subgroup's iron (Fe) series, with the formula ZnFe3+2O4. As with another spinel member magnetite, both ferrous (2+) and ferric (3+) iron may be present in Franklinite samples. Di ...

galaxite Galaxite, also known as 'mangan-spinel' is an isometric mineral belonging to the spinel group of oxides with the ideal chemical formula . Galaxite is the manganese (Mn) rich endmember of the aluminium (Al) series of the spinel group. Divalent ir ...

manganosite Manganosite is a rare mineral composed of manganese(II) oxide MnO. It was first described in 1817 for an occurrence in the Harz Mountains, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It has also been reported from Langban and Nordmark, Sweden and at Franklin Furnac ...

, pyrochroite,

rhodochrosite Rhodochrosite is a manganese carbonate mineral with chemical composition MnCO3. In its (rare) pure form, it is typically a rose-red color, but impure specimens can be shades of pink to pale brown. It streaks white, and its Mohs hardness varies bet ...

tephroite Tephroite is the manganese endmember of the olivine group of nesosilicate minerals with the formula Mn2 Si O4. A solid solution series exists between tephroite and its analogues, the group endmembers fayalite and forsterite. Divalent iron or m ...

willemite Willemite is a zinc silicate mineral () and a minor ore of zinc. It is highly fluorescent (green) under shortwave ultraviolet light. It occurs in a variety of colors in daylight, in fibrous masses and apple-green gemmy masses. Troostite is a vari ...

, and

zincite Zincite is the mineral form of zinc oxide ( Zn O). Its crystal form is rare in nature; a notable exception to this is at the Franklin and Sterling Hill Mines in New Jersey, an area also famed for its many fluorescent minerals. It has a hexagonal ...

History

In 1960, Mayumi Yoshinaga was investigating

alleghanyite Alleghanyite is a moderately rare humite mineral with formula Mn5(SiO4)2(OH)2, belonging to the nesosilicates class. In general its occurrences are related with metamorphic (metamorphosed) manganese deposits. The mineral is named after Alleghany ...

and other manganese

orthosilicate In chemistry, orthosilicate is the anion , or any of its salts and esters. It is one of the silicate anions. It is occasionally called the silicon tetroxide anion or group.C. A. Kumins, and A. E. Gessler (1953), "Short-Cycle Syntheses of Ultrama ...

s in Japan. He discovered a dull, red-brown mineral on the first level ore body of the Sono Mine, and later from a number of other sites. Using samples from ten locations in Japan and one in Taiwan, the mineral was described in 1963 and identified as a new mineral species. It was named ''sonolite'' after the mine in which it was first found and the name was approved by the

International Mineralogical Association Founded in 1958, the International Mineralogical Association (IMA) is an international group of 40 national societies. The goal is to promote the science of mineralogy and to standardize the nomenclature of the 5000 plus known mineral species. Th ...

Distribution

, sonolite has been found in Austria, France, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Romania, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, and the United States. The

type material In biology, a type is a particular specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached. In other words, a type is an example that serves to anchor or centralizes the ...

is held at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...

, US.

References

Bibliography

External links