Crystal Structures

Steven Dutch, Professor Emeritus, Natural and Applied Sciences, University of Wisconsin - Green Bay

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Visualizing Atomic Structures in Minerals

Coordination and Pauling's Rules

Packing Structures

Non-Silicate Structures

Elements

• Kamacite and Taenite (Meteoritic Iron-Nickel) Structure
• Diamond Structure
• Sulfur Structure

Sulfides

• Marcasite
• Sphalerite and Chalcopyrite
• Pyrite Structure
• Pyrrhotite and Troilite
• Stibnite Structure
• Molybdenite Structure
• Cinnabar Structure

Oxides and Hydroxides

• Rutile Structure
• Spinel Structure
• Perovskite Structure
• Goethite-Diaspore Structure
• Lepidocrocite-Boehmite Structure
• Hematite and Corundum

Sulfates

• Anhydrite
• Barite
• Jarosite

Other Minerals

• Ice Structure
• Natural Gas Hydrates
• Halite Structure
• Hydrohalite Structure
• Fluorite Structure
• Cryolite Structure
• Malladrite Structure A silicon mineral that is not a silicate
• Calcite Structure
• Dolomite Structure
• Apatite Structure
• Scheelite Structure
• Crocoite and Monazite Structure
• Turquoise Structure That staple of Southwestern jewelry
• Putnisite Structure A delightfully odd rarity with no chemical affinity to anything else

Silicate Structures

Some of the minerals described here are rare and unusual, but interesting because of their unusual, and often beautiful, structures.

Nesosilicates

• Olivine
• Garnet
• Andalusite Structure
• Kyanite Structure
• Sillimanite Structure
• Titanite (Sphene) Structure
• Topaz Structure
• Zircon Structure
• Staurolite Structure

Sorosilicates

• Epidote Structure (Mixed single and double tetrahedra)
• Melilite Structure
• Kilchoanite Structure (Mixed triple and single tetrahedra)
• Zunyite Structure (Pentamers: 5-tetrahedra units)

Cyclosilicates

• Benitoite and Wadeite (3-membered rings)
• Beryl and Cordierite Structure (6-membered rings with other linking tetrahedra)
• Tourmaline Structure (Trigonal 6-membered rings)
• Brannockite Structure (Double six-membered rings)

Chain Silicates

• Biopyriboles
• Inosilicates
• Pyroxene Structure (2-periodic single chains)
• Wollastonite Structure (3-periodic single chains)
• Rhodonite and Pyroxmangite Structure (5- and 7-periodic single chains)
• Pectolite Structure (3-periodic single chains)
• Jimthompsonite and Clinojimthompsonite Structure (Triple chains)
• Chesterite Structure (Mixed double and triple chains)

Unusual Chain Structures

• Astrophyllite Structure (Branched 2-periodic single chains)
• Narsarsukite Structure (Paired double chains)
• Pellyite Structure (4-periodic double chains)
• Inesite Structure (5-periodic double chains)
• Sapphirine Structure (Branched 4-periodic single chains)
• Zektzerite Structure (Sinuous double silica shains)

Sheet Structures

• Phyllosilicates
• Apophyllite Structure
• Prehnite Structure

Tectosilicates

• Quartz
• Silica polymorphs
• Feldspar
• Scapolite

Felspathoids

• Leucite Structure
• Nepheline Structure
• Analcime Structure
• Cancrinite Structure
• Sodalite Group Structure (Sodalite, Lazurite, Hayne, Nosean)

Zeolites

• Natrolite Structure
• Thomsonite Structure
• Laumontite Structure
• Chabazite Structure
• Heulandite Structure
• Stilbite Structure
• Erionite Structure

Musherals: Minerals that are Mostly Water

• Hydrohalite
• Antarcticite
• Carnallite
• Bischofite
• Nickelbischofite
• Chalcanthite
• Rosenbergite
• Chloraluminite
• Ikaite

Ices

Liquids and gases to us, minerals in the outer solar system.

• Ice Structure
• Carbon Dioxide
• Ammonia
• Sulfur Dioxide

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Created 18 September 1998, Last Update