Witherite in the context of "Tarnowskie Góry"

Play Trivia Questions online!

 or

Skip to study material about Witherite in the context of "Tarnowskie Góry"

⭐ Core Definition: Witherite

Witherite is a barium carbonate mineral, BaCO3, in the aragonite group. Witherite crystallizes in the orthorhombic system and virtually always is twinned. The mineral is colorless, milky-white, grey, pale-yellow, green, to pale-brown. The specific gravity is 4.3, which is high for a translucent mineral. It fluoresces light blue under both long- and short-wave UV light, and is phosphorescent under short-wave UV light.

Witherite forms in low-temperature hydrothermal environments. It is commonly associated with fluorite, celestine, galena, barite, calcite, and aragonite. Witherite occurrences include: Cave-in-Rock, Illinois, US; Pigeon Roost Mine, Glenwood, Arkansas, US; Settlingstones Mine Northumberland; Alston Moor, Cumbria; Anglezarke, Lancashire and Burnhope, County Durham, England; Thunder Bay area, Ontario, Canada, Germany, and Poland (Tarnowskie Góry and Tajno at Suwałki Region).

↓ Menu

In this Dossier

Witherite in the context of Barium

Barium is a chemical element; it has symbol Ba and atomic number 56. It is the fifth element in group 2 and is a soft, silvery alkaline earth metal. Because of its high chemical reactivity, barium is never found in nature as a free element.

The most common minerals of barium are barite (barium sulfate, BaSO4) and witherite (barium carbonate, BaCO3). The name barium originates from the alchemical derivative "baryta" from Greek βαρὺς (barys), meaning 'heavy'. Baric is the adjectival form of barium. Barium was identified as a new element in 1772, but not reduced to a metal until 1808 with the advent of electrolysis.

↑ Return to Menu

Witherite in the context of Strontianite

Strontianite (SrCO3) is an important raw material for the extraction of strontium. It is a rare carbonate mineral and one of only a few strontium minerals. It is a member of the aragonite group.

Aragonite group members: aragonite (CaCO3), witherite (BaCO3), strontianite (SrCO3), cerussite (PbCO3)

↑ Return to Menu

Witherite in the context of Barium carbonate

Barium carbonate is the inorganic compound with the formula BaCO3. Like most alkaline earth metal carbonates, it is a white salt that is poorly soluble in water. It occurs as the mineral known as witherite. In a commercial sense, it is one of the most important barium compounds.

↑ Return to Menu
LINKED FROM (PARENTS)
← Barium ← Strontianite ← Barium carbonate
LINKS TO (CHILDREN)
Barium carbonate → Barium → Carbon → Oxygen → Aragonite → Orthorhombic → Crystal twinning → Specific gravity → Fluorescence → Ultraviolet → Phosphorescence → Hydrothermal → Fluorite → Celestine (mineral) → Galena → Barite → Calcite → Cave-in-Rock, Illinois → Northumberland → Alston Moor → Cumbria → Anglezarke → Lancashire → Burnhope → County Durham → England → Thunder Bay → Ontario → Canada → Germany → Poland → Tarnowskie Góry → Tajno Podjeziorne → Suwałki Region →