whitlockite
Sign in to saveWhitlockite is a mineral, an unusual form of calcium phosphate. Its formula is Ca9(MgFe)(PO4)6PO3OH. It is a relatively rare mineral but is found in granitic pegmatites, phosphate rock deposits, guano caves and in chondrite meteorites. It was first described in 1941 and named for Herbert Percy Whitlock (1868–1948), American mineralogist and curator at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.
Key facts
- Mineral.name
- Whitlockite
- Mineral.category
- Phosphate minerals
- Mineral.image
- Whitlockite-RoyalOntarioMuseum-Jan18-09.jpg
- Mineral.imagesize
- 150px
- Mineral.caption
- An example of the mineral whitlockite on display at the Royal Ontario Museum.
- Mineral.formula
- Ca9(Mg,Fe++)(PO4)6(PO3OH)
- Mineral.IMAsymbol
- Wht
- Mineral.strunz
- 8.AC.45
- Mineral.system
- Trigonal
- Mineral.class
- Ditrigonal pyramidal (3m) H-M symbol: (3m)
- Mineral.symmetry
- R3c
- Mineral.unit cell
- a = 10.33, c = 37.103(5) [Å]; Z = 3
- Mineral.color
- Colorless, gray-white, light pink, light yellow
- Mineral.habit
- rhombohedral crystals, often tabular, massive, microcrystalline crusts and as "cave pearls"
- Mineral.cleavage
- None
- Mineral.fracture
- Brittle
- Mineral.tenacity
- Brittle
- Mineral.mohs
- 5
via Wikipedia infobox
~7 min read
Encyclopedic overview
6 sectionsContents
- Historical evolution as distinct minerals
- Geological occurrences
- Biological occurrences
- Physical properties
- See also
- References
Whitlockite is a mineral, an unusual form of calcium phosphate. Its formula is Ca9(MgFe)(PO4)6PO3OH. It is a relatively rare mineral but is found in granitic pegmatites, phosphate rock deposits, guano caves and in chondrite meteorites. It was first described in 1941 and named for Herbert Percy Whitlock (1868–1948), American mineralogist and curator at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.
With regard to periodontal dentistry, magnesium whitlockite comprises one component of many of the inorganic content of calculus. It is found primarily in subgingival calculus (as opposed to supragingival calculus). It is also found more in posterior as opposed to anterior regions of the oral cavity.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “whitlockite” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.