L'henritermiérite, une nouvelle espèce minérale

The new mineral henritermierite is tetragonal, I4₁ /acd, a = 12.39, c = 11.91 ± 0.01 Å, Z = 8. The strongest X-ray lines are (powder diagramm indexed) : 4.37 (s), 3.09 (s), 2.98 (s), 2.75 (vvs), 2.516 (vs). It occurs in clove or apricot-brown grains, some tenths of a mm ; vitreous luster ; commonly twinned on (101) giving 4 sectors ; no cleavage, fracture conchoidal. d[mes.] = 3.34, d[calc.] 3.40. Uniaxal or abnormally biaxial (+) with 2 V small. Irregular birefringence and extinctions n₀ = 1.765 (very pale yellow) n[e] = 1.800 ± 0.005 (lemon yellow). Chemical, spectrographic and microprobe tests, and a chemical analysis on 1 g of carefully selected material gave the formula Ca₃ (Mn₁.₅ , Al₀.₅) [(SiO₄)₂/(OH)₄], which is of hydrogarnet type. Differential thermal and thermogravimetric analysis show that decomposition begins at about 500° C. Occurrence in the manganese deposit of Tachgagalt (Anti-Atlas, Morocco), associated with marokite, hausmanite and calcite. Name in honour of professeur Henri Termier.