Description
ASTROPHYLLITE SPECIMEN
This is the raw astrophyllite specimen. Dimensions: 2.8 x 2.3 x 0.5″ (7.1 x 5.8 x 1.2cm). Weight – 2.4oz (67 grams). Origin: Russia, Kola Peninsula.
Some information about astrophyllite:
Astrophyllite is a very rare, brown to golden-yellow hydrous potassium iron titanium silicate mineral. Belonging to the astrophyllite group, astrophyllite may be classed either as an inosilicate, phyllosilicate, or an intermediate between the two. It forms an isomorphous series with kupletskite, to which it is visually identical and often intimately associated. Astrophyllite is of interest primarily to scientists and collectors.
Heavy, soft and fragile, astrophyllite typically forms as bladed, radiating stellate aggregates. It is this crystal habit that gives astrophyllite its name, from the Greek words astron meaning “star” and phyllon meaning “leaf”. Its great submetallic gleam and darkness contrast sharply with the light (felsic) matrix the mineral is regularly found within. Astrophyllite is usually opaque to translucent, but may be transparent in thin specimens. Found in cavities and fissures in unusual felsic igneous rocks.
Astrophyllite is found in a few scarce, remote localities: Mont-Saint-Hilaire, Quebec, Canada; Pikes Peak, Colorado, USA; Narsarsuk and Kangerdluarsuk, Greenland; Brevig, Norway; and the Kola Peninsula, Russia. It was first discovered in 1854 at its type locality; Laven Island, Norway.
