Celestine (mineral)

{{Short description|Sulfate mineral}} {{Redirect|Celestite|Wolves in the Throne Room album|Celestite (album)}} {{use dmy dates|date=September 2022}} {{Infobox mineral | name = Celestine | category = Sulfate minerals | boxwidth = | boxbgcolor = | image = Celestine - Sakoany deposit, Katsepy, Mitsinjo, Boeny, Madagascar.jpg | imagesize = 270px | caption = Clear grey-blue celestine crystals | formula = Sr S O{{sub|4}} sometimes contains minor calcium and/or barium | IMAsymbol=Clt<ref name=Warr-2021>{{cite journal |last=Warr |first=L.N. |year=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 = 7.AD.35 | system = Orthorhombic | class = Dipyramidal (mmm) H-M symbol: (2/m 2/m 2/m) | symmetry = ''Pnma'' | unit cell = a = 8.359 Å, b = 5.352 Å, c = 6.866 Å; Z = 4 | color = White, pink, pale green, pale brown, black, pale blue, reddish, greyish; colourless or lightly tinted in transmitted light | habit = Tabular to pyramidal crystals, also fibrous, lamellar, earthy, massive granular | twinning = | cleavage = Perfect on {001}, good on {210}, poor on {010} | fracture = Uneven | tenacity = Brittle | mohs = 3.0–3.5 | luster = Vitreous, pearly on cleavages | polish = | refractive = nα = 1.619–1.622 nβ = 1.622–1.624 nγ = 1.630–1.632 | opticalprop = Biaxial (+) | 2V = Measured: 50°–51° | birefringence = δ = 0.011 | dispersion = Moderate r < v | pleochroism = Weak | fluorescence= yellow, white blue (both short and long UV) | absorption = | streak = white | gravity = 3.95–3.97 | density = | melt = | fusibility = | diagnostic = | solubility = | diaphaneity = Transparent to translucent | other = | references = <ref>{{cite web |title=Celestine |department=Lexikon |website=Mineralien Atlas – Fossilien Atlas |via=mineralienatlas.de |lang=en, de |url=https://www.mineralienatlas.de/lexikon/index.php/MineralData?lang=en&language=english&mineral=Celestine |access-date=2022-09-25}}</ref><ref name=HBM>{{cite book |section=Celestine |title=Handbook of Mineralogy |series=RRUFF™ Database Project |publisher=University of Arizona Department of Geology |section-url=http://rruff.geo.arizona.edu/doclib/hom/celestine.pdf}}</ref><ref name=Mindat>{{cite web |title=Celestine |website=Mindat.org |url=http://www.mindat.org/min-927.html}}</ref><ref name=Webmin>{{cite web |title=Celestine |website=Webmineral |series=data |url=http://webmineral.com/data/Celestine.shtml}}</ref> }}

'''Celestine''' (the IMA-accepted name)<ref name=IMA>{{cite web |url=https://www.ima-mineralogy.org/Minlist.htm |title=List of Minerals |date=21 March 2011}}</ref> or '''celestite'''<ref name=Warr-2021/><ref name=Nickel-Nichols-2004/>{{efn|'''''Celestine''''' is the approved name for this mineral by the IMA Commission on New Minerals and Mineral Names (CNMMN). Although ''celestite'' finds frequent usage in some mineralogical texts, the name has been discredited as a valid mineral name by that organization.<ref name=Nickel-Nichols-2004>{{cite book |author1=Nickel, Ernie |author2=Nichols, Monte |chapter=Mineral list / Materials data |year=2004 |page=26 |title=Mineral Names, Redefinitions, & Discreditations Passed by the CNMMN of the IMA |url=http://www.geo.vu.nl/users/ima-cnmmn/MINERALlist.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080530134400/http://www.geo.vu.nl/users/ima-cnmmn/MINERALlist.pdf |archive-date=May 30, 2008}}</ref><ref name=Warr-2021/>}} is a mineral consisting of strontium sulfate (Sr S O{{sub|4}}). The mineral is named after its occasional delicate blue color. Celestine and the carbonate mineral strontianite are the principal sources of the element strontium, commonly used in fireworks and in various metal alloys.

==Etymology== Celestine derives its name from the Latin word ''caelestis'' meaning celestial<ref>{{cite dictionary |title=Celestine |dictionary=Collins English Dictionary |via=collinsdictionary.com |url=https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/celestine}}</ref> which in turn is derived from the Latin word ''caelum'' meaning sky, air, weather, atmosphere and heaven.<ref>{{cite dictionary |title=Celestial |date=24 April 2024 |dictionary=Merriam-Webster Dictionary |via=merriam-webster.com |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/celestial}}</ref>

==Occurrence== Celestine occurs as crystals, and also in compact massive and fibrous forms. It is mostly found in sedimentary rocks, often associated with the minerals gypsum, anhydrite, and halite. On occasion in some localities, it may also be found with sulfur inclusions.

The mineral is found worldwide, usually in small quantities. Pale blue crystal specimens are found in Madagascar. White and orange variants also occurred at Yate, Bristol, UK, where it was extracted for commercial purposes until April 1991.<ref>{{cite web |title=Beneath our feet |department=Discover Yate's History |website=Yate Heritage Centre |via=yateheritage.co.uk |url=http://www.yateheritage.co.uk/history-of-yate/beneath-our-feet.htm}}</ref>

The skeletons of the protozoan ''Acantharea'' are made of celestine, unlike those of other radiolarians which are made of silica.

In carbonate marine sediments, burial dissolution is a recognized mechanism of celestine precipitation.<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Baker |first1= Paul A. |last2= Bloomer |first2= Sherman H. |year= 1988 |title=The origin of celestite in deep-sea carbonate sediments | journal = Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta | volume= 52 | issue =2 |pages=335–339 |bibcode=1988GeCoA..52..335B | doi = 10.1016/0016-7037(88)90088-9 }}</ref> It is sometimes used as a gemstone.<ref>{{cite book |first1=Roger |last1=Dedeyne |first2=Ivo |last2=Quintens |year=2007 |title=Tables of Gemstone Identification |publisher=Glirico |isbn= 978-90-78768-01-2 |page=174}} {{isbn|9078768010}}</ref> <gallery mode="packed" heights="150"> Celestine Poland.jpg|Celestine from the Machow Mine, Poland Celestine SrSO4.jpg|Celestine mineral on display at Yale's Peabody Museum </gallery>

==Geodes== Celestine crystals are found in some geodes. The world's largest known geode, a celestine geode {{convert|35|ft|m}} in diameter at its widest point, is located near the village of Put-in-Bay, Ohio, on South Bass Island in Lake Erie. The geode has been converted into a viewing cave, Crystal Cave, with the crystals which once composed the floor of the geode removed. The geode has celestine crystals as wide as {{convert|18|in|cm}} across, estimated to weigh up to {{convert|300|lb|kg}} each.

Celestine geodes are understood to form by replacement of alabaster nodules consisting of the calcium sulfates gypsum or anhydrite. Calcium sulfate is sparingly soluble, but strontium sulfate is mostly insoluble. Strontium-bearing solutions that come into contact with calcium sulfate nodules dissolve the calcium away, leaving a cavity. The strontium is immediately precipitated as celestine, with the crystals growing into the newly formed cavity.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Anenburg |first1=Michael |last2=Bialik |first2=Or |last3=Vapnik |first3=Yevgeny |last4=Chapman |first4=Hazel |last5=Antler |first5=Gilad |last6=Katzir |first6=Yaron |last7=Bickle |first7=Mike |year=2014 |title=The origin of celestine-quartz-calcite geodes associated with a basaltic dyke, Makhtesh Ramon, Israel |journal=Geological Magazine |volume=151 |issue=5 |pages=798–815 |doi=10.1017/S0016756813000800 |bibcode=2014GeoM..151..798A |s2cid=129529427 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Carlson |first1=Ernest |year=1987 |title=Celestite replacements of evaporites in the Salina Group |journal=Sedimentary Geology |volume=54 |issue=1–2 |pages=93–112 |doi=10.1016/0037-0738(87)90005-4 |bibcode=1987SedG...54...93C }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kile |first1=Daniel |last2=Dayvault |first2=Richard |last3=Hood |first3=William |last4=Hatch |first4=H. Steven |year=2015 |title=Celestine-bearing geodes from Wayne and Emery counties, southeastern Utah: Genesis and mineralogy |journal=Rocks & Minerals |volume=90 |issue=4 |pages=314–337 |doi=10.1080/00357529.2015.1034489 |bibcode=2015RoMin..90..314K |s2cid=130452012 }}</ref>

<gallery mode="packed" heights="150"> Celestitemadagascar.jpg|Celestine geode section Crystal Cave Ohio.JPG|Inside the Crystal Cave geode in Ohio </gallery>

==See also== * List of minerals

==Footnotes== {{notelist}}

==References== {{Reflist|25em}}

==External links== {{Commons category|Celestine}} *{{cite EB1911|wstitle=Celestine (mineral) |display=Celestine |volume=5 |short=x}}

Category:Strontium minerals Category:Sulfate minerals Category:Orthorhombic minerals Category:Minerals in space group 62 Category:Luminescent minerals Category:Evaporite Category:Gemstones Category:Baryte group Category:Minerals described in 1798