{{Short description|Organic mineral}} {{infobox mineral | name = Fichtelite | category = Organic mineral | boxwidth = | boxbgcolor = | image = 18-norabietane.svg | imagesize = | alt = | caption = Chemical structure of fichtelite | formula = C<sub>19</sub>H<sub>34</sub> | IMAsymbol = Fic<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Warr|first=L.N.|date=2021|title=IMA–CNMNC approved mineral symbols|journal=Mineralogical Magazine|volume=85|issue=3|pages=291–320|doi=10.1180/mgm.2021.43|bibcode=2021MinM...85..291W|s2cid=235729616|doi-access=free}}</ref> | molweight = | strunz = 10.BA.05 <br/>Hydrocarbons | dana = 50.03.04.01 | system = Monoclinic | class = Sphenoidal (2) <br/><small>(same H-M symbol)</small> | symmetry = ''P2''<sub>1</sub> | color = Colorless, white, pale yellow | colour = | habit = Elongated tabular crystals | twinning = | cleavage = Good on {001} and {100} | fracture = | tenacity = | mohs = 1 | luster = Greasy | streak = White | diaphaneity = Transparent | gravity = 0.631 calculated<ref name=Handbook/> 1.032<ref name=Webmin/> | density = | polish = | opticalprop = Biaxial | refractive = | birefringence = | pleochroism = | 2V = | dispersion = | extinction = | length fast/slow = | fluorescence= | absorption = | melt = 44.2 °C – 45.0 °C | fusibility = | diagnostic = | solubility = | other = | alteration = | references = <ref name=Handbook>http://rruff.geo.arizona.edu/doclib/hom/fichtelite.pdf Handbook of Mineralogy</ref><ref name=Webmin>http://webmineral.com/data/Fichtelite.shtml Webmineral data</ref><ref name=Mindat>http://www.mindat.org/min-1545.html Mindat.org</ref> }} '''Fichtelite''' is a rare white mineral found in fossilized wood from Bavaria. It crystallizes in the monoclinic crystal system. It is a cyclic hydrocarbon: (dimethyl)(isopropyl)perhydrophenanthrene, C<sub>19</sub>H<sub>34</sub>. It is very soft with a Mohs hardness of 1, the same as talc. Its specific gravity is very low at 1.032, just slightly denser than water.
It was first described in 1841 and named for the location, Fichtelgebirge, Bavaria, Germany.<ref name=Mindat/> It has been reported from fossilized pine wood from a peat bog and in organic-rich modern marine sediments.<ref name=Handbook/>
==References== {{Reflist}}
Category:Organic minerals Category:Diterpenes Category:Monoclinic minerals Category:Minerals in space group 4 Category:Phenanthrenes Category:Minerals described in 1841
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