Kanoite is a light pinkish brown silicate mineral that is found in metamorphic rocks. It is an inosilicate and has a formula of (Mg,Mn²⁺)₂Si₂O₆. It is a member of pyroxene

Pyroxene

The pyroxenes are a group of important rock-forming inosilicate minerals found in many igneous and metamorphic rocks. They share a common structure consisting of single chains of silica tetrahedra and they crystallize in the monoclinic and orthorhombic systems...

 group and clinopyroxene subgroup.

Crystallography

Kanoite crystallizes in the monoclinic crystal system

Crystal system

In crystallography, the terms crystal system, crystal family, and lattice system each refer to one of several classes of space groups, lattices, point groups, or crystals...

. Its Hermann–Mauguin Symbol is 2/m. Under this crystal system, the three axes of the crystal are all different in length. The a and the b axes are perpendicular, and b and c axes are perpendicular. The a and c axes make an oblique shape. The axial ratio for kanoite is a:b:c =1.0894:1:0.5884 and the cell dimensions are: a = 9.73, b = 8.93 and c = 5.26 Å with Z = 4. Kanoite has a 2-fold axis and a mirror plane.

Kanoite is birefringent. It occurs as a mineral has 3 different indices of refraction. When the light passes through the Kanoite medium, the light splits due to unequal reflection from the crystal faces. As kanoite is birefringent, it is also anisotropic. In an anisotropic mineral, the velocity of light differs as the direction of the crystal changes.

Discovery and occurrence

Kanoite is a rare mineral which was found in Tatehira mine, Kumaishi, Oshima Peninsula

Oshima Peninsula

The Oshima Peninsula is the southernmost part of Hokkaidō, the northernmost of the Japanese islands. Where the peninsula starts is open to interpretation. A more generous interpretation is to draw a line southeast from Ishikari Bay across the Ishikari Plain to Yufutsu...

, Hokkaido

Hokkaido

, formerly known as Ezo, Yezo, Yeso, or Yesso, is Japan's second largest island; it is also the largest and northernmost of Japan's 47 prefectural-level subdivisions. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaido from Honshu, although the two islands are connected by the underwater railway Seikan Tunnel...

, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 in 1977. In the type locality

Type locality (geology)

Type locality , also called type area or type locale, is the where a particular rock type, stratigraphic unit, fossil or mineral species is first identified....

 kanoite occurs along a joint that cuts a pyroxmangite

Pyroxmangite

Pyroxmangite has the general chemical formula of MnSiO3. It is the high-pressure, low-temperature dimorph of rhodonite.It was first described in 1913 and named for the mineral group, pyroxenes, and is known as the manganese member. It forms a series with pyroxferroite.Pyroxmangite occurs in...

-cummingtonite

Cummingtonite

Cummingtonite is a metamorphic amphibole with the chemical composition 7Si8O222, magnesium iron silicate hydroxide.Monoclinic cummingtonite is compositionally similar and polymorphic with orthorhombic anthophyllite, which is a much more common form of magnesium-rich amphibole, the latter being...

 metamorphic rock

Metamorphic rock

Metamorphic rock is the transformation of an existing rock type, the protolith, in a process called metamorphism, which means "change in form". The protolith is subjected to heat and pressure causing profound physical and/or chemical change...

 in a manganese ore deposit. The region has undergone contact metamorphism as magma

Magma

Magma is a mixture of molten rock, volatiles and solids that is found beneath the surface of the Earth, and is expected to exist on other terrestrial planets. Besides molten rock, magma may also contain suspended crystals and dissolved gas and sometimes also gas bubbles. Magma often collects in...

 intruded the area. It was named to honor Hiroshi Kano, a petrology

Petrology

Petrology is the branch of geology that studies rocks, and the conditions in which rocks form....

 professor at Akita University

Akita University

Akita University is a university in Akita City, Japan. It has three faculties: the Faculty of Education and Human Studies, the School of Medicine, and the Faculty of Engineering and Resource Science.-External links:*...

 in Japan.

It has also been reported from Broken Hill, New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, the Semail Ophiolite in Oman

Oman

Oman , officially called the Sultanate of Oman , is an Arab state in southwest Asia on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by the United Arab Emirates to the northwest, Saudi Arabia to the west, and Yemen to the southwest. The coast is formed by the Arabian Sea on the...

, and the Balmat-Edwards Zinc District, Saint Lawrence County, New York.