ozokerite
Sign in to savethumb thumb|right|Ozokerite, Wasatch County, Utah Ozokerite or ozocerite, archaically referred to as earthwax or earth wax, is a naturally occurring odoriferous mineral wax or paraffin found in many localities. Lacking a definite composition and crystalline structure, it is not considered a mineral but only a mineraloid. The name was coined from Greek elements Όζω ozο, to stink, and κηρός keros, wax.
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5 sectionsContents
- Sources
- Properties
- Mining
- See also
- References
thumb thumb|right|Ozokerite, Wasatch County, Utah Ozokerite or ozocerite, archaically referred to as earthwax or earth wax, is a naturally occurring odoriferous mineral wax or paraffin found in many localities. Lacking a definite composition and crystalline structure, it is not considered a mineral but only a mineraloid. The name was coined from Greek elements Όζω ozο, to stink, and κηρός keros, wax.
== Sources == Specimens have been obtained from Scotland, Northumberland, Wales, as well as from about thirty countries. Of these occurrences the ozokerite of the island (now peninsula) of Cheleken, near Türkmenbaşy Bay, parts of the Himalayas in India and the deposits of Utah in the United States, deserve mention, though the latter have been largely worked out. The sole sources of commercial supply are in Galicia, at Boryslav, Dzwiniacz and Starunia, though the mineraloid is found at other points on both flanks of the Carpathians.