Wurtzite
Encyclopedia
- This article is about the mineral wurtzite. For the wurtzite crystal structure, see Wurtzite (crystal structure).
Wurtzite is a zinc
Zinc
Zinc , or spelter , is a metallic chemical element; it has the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is the first element in group 12 of the periodic table. Zinc is, in some respects, chemically similar to magnesium, because its ion is of similar size and its only common oxidation state is +2...
iron
Iron
Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...
sulfide mineral
Sulfide mineral
The sulfide minerals are a class of minerals containing sulfide as the major anion. Some sulfide minerals are economically important as metal ores. The sulfide class also includes the selenides, the tellurides, the arsenides, the antimonides, the bismuthinides, the sulfarsenides and the sulfosalts...
((Zn,Fe)S) a less frequently encountered mineral
Mineral
A mineral is a naturally occurring solid chemical substance formed through biogeochemical processes, having characteristic chemical composition, highly ordered atomic structure, and specific physical properties. By comparison, a rock is an aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids and does not...
form of sphalerite
Sphalerite
Sphalerite is a mineral that is the chief ore of zinc. It consists largely of zinc sulfide in crystalline form but almost always contains variable iron. When iron content is high it is an opaque black variety, marmatite. It is usually found in association with galena, pyrite, and other sulfides...
. The iron content is variable up to eight percent. It is trimorphous
Polymorphism (materials science)
Polymorphism in materials science is the ability of a solid material to exist in more than one form or crystal structure. Polymorphism can potentially be found in any crystalline material including polymers, minerals, and metals, and is related to allotropy, which refers to chemical elements...
with matraite and sphalerite
Sphalerite
Sphalerite is a mineral that is the chief ore of zinc. It consists largely of zinc sulfide in crystalline form but almost always contains variable iron. When iron content is high it is an opaque black variety, marmatite. It is usually found in association with galena, pyrite, and other sulfides...
.
It occurs in hydrothermal deposits associated with sphalerite
Sphalerite
Sphalerite is a mineral that is the chief ore of zinc. It consists largely of zinc sulfide in crystalline form but almost always contains variable iron. When iron content is high it is an opaque black variety, marmatite. It is usually found in association with galena, pyrite, and other sulfides...
, pyrite
Pyrite
The mineral pyrite, or iron pyrite, is an iron sulfide with the formula FeS2. This mineral's metallic luster and pale-to-normal, brass-yellow hue have earned it the nickname fool's gold because of its resemblance to gold...
, chalcopyrite
Chalcopyrite
Chalcopyrite is a copper iron sulfide mineral that crystallizes in the tetragonal system. It has the chemical composition CuFeS2. It has a brassy to golden yellow color and a hardness of 3.5 to 4 on the Mohs scale. Its streak is diagnostic as green tinged black.On exposure to air, chalcopyrite...
, barite
Barite
Baryte, or barite, is a mineral consisting of barium sulfate. The baryte group consists of baryte, celestine, anglesite and anhydrite. Baryte itself is generally white or colorless, and is the main source of barium...
and marcasite
Marcasite
The mineral marcasite, sometimes called white iron pyrite, is iron sulfide with orthorhombic crystal structure. It is physically and crystallographically distinct from pyrite, which is iron sulfide with cubic crystal structure. Both structures do have in common that they contain the disulfide...
. It also occurs in low-temperature clay
Clay
Clay is a general term including many combinations of one or more clay minerals with traces of metal oxides and organic matter. Geologic clay deposits are mostly composed of phyllosilicate minerals containing variable amounts of water trapped in the mineral structure.- Formation :Clay minerals...
-ironstone
Ironstone
Ironstone is a sedimentary rock, either deposited directly as a ferruginous sediment or created by chemical repacement, that contains a substantial proportion of an iron compound from which iron either can be or once was smelted commercially. This term is customarily restricted to hard coarsely...
concretion
Concretion
A concretion is a volume of sedimentary rock in which a mineral cement fills the porosity . Concretions are often ovoid or spherical in shape, although irregular shapes also occur. The word 'concretion' is derived from the Latin con meaning 'together' and crescere meaning 'to grow'...
s.
It was first described in 1861 for an occurrence in the San José Mine, Oruro City, Cercado Province, Oruro Department
Oruro Department
Oruro is a department in Bolivia, with an area of 53,588 km². Its capital is the city of Oruro. At the time of census 2001 it had a population of 391,870.- Provinces of Oruro :...
, Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...
, and named for French chemist Charles-Adolphe Wurtz
Charles-Adolphe Wurtz
Adolphe Wurtz was an Alsatian French chemist. He is best remembered for his decades-long advocacy for the atomic theory and for ideas about the structures of chemical compounds, against the skeptical opinions of chemists such as Marcellin Berthelot and Etienne Henri Sainte-Claire Deville...
. It has widespread distribution. In Europe it is reported from Příbram
Príbram
Příbram is a city in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic with a population of 35,147. The city is located on the Litavka river and the foothills of Brdy, 60 kilometers south-west of Prague, the country's capital...
, Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
; Hesse
Hesse
Hesse or Hessia is both a cultural region of Germany and the name of an individual German state.* The cultural region of Hesse includes both the State of Hesse and the area known as Rhenish Hesse in the neighbouring Rhineland-Palatinate state...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
; and Liskeard, Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. In the US it is reported from Litchfield County, Connecticut
Litchfield County, Connecticut
Litchfield County is a county located in the northwestern corner of the U.S. state of Connecticut. Litchfield County has the lowest population density of any county in Connecticut but is geographically the state's largest county. As of 2010 the population was 189,927...
; Butte, Silver Bow County, Montana
Silver Bow County, Montana
-National protected areas:*Beaverhead National Forest *Deerlodge National Forest -Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 34,606 people, 14,432 households, and 8,933 families residing in the county. The population density was 48 people per square mile . There were 16,176 housing units at...
; at Frisco, Beaver County, Utah
Beaver County, Utah
As of the census of 2010, there were 6,629 people, 2,265 households, and 1,697 families residing in the county. The population density was 2.56 people per square mile . There were 2,908 housing units at an average density of 1.12 per square mile...
; and from the Joplin district, Jasper County, Missouri
Jasper County, Missouri
Jasper County is a county located in the US state of Missouri. It is included in the Joplin, Missouri Metropolitan Statistical Area. The 2010 total population of Jasper County was 117,404. It is the ninth most populous county in Missouri. Its county seat is Carthage, making it one of the few...
.
Wurtzite structure
Cadmoselite
Cadmoselite is a rare cadmium selenide mineral with chemical formula CdSe. Cadmoselite crystallizes in the hexagonal system and occurs as black to pale grey opaque crystals and grains....
CdSe, Greenockite
Greenockite
Greenockite is a rare cadmium mineral that consists of cadmium sulfide, CdS, in crystalline form. Greenockite crystallizes in the hexagonal system. It occurs as massive encrustations and as six-sided pyramidal crystals which vary in color from a honey yellow through shades of red to brown...
CdS, Mátraite ZnS and Rambergite
Rambergite
Rambergite is a manganese sulfide mineral with formula MnS.It has been found in anoxic marine sediments, rich in organic matter of the Gotland Deep, Baltic Sea and also in skarn in the Garpenberg area, Dalarna, Sweden. It was named after the mineralogist, Hans Ramberg .It is closely related to...
MnS, in addition to wurtzite.
Its crystal structure
Crystal structure
In mineralogy and crystallography, crystal structure is a unique arrangement of atoms or molecules in a crystalline liquid or solid. A crystal structure is composed of a pattern, a set of atoms arranged in a particular way, and a lattice exhibiting long-range order and symmetry...
is called the wurtzite crystal structure, to which it lends its name. This structure is a member of the hexagonal 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...
and consists of tetrahedrally coordinated zinc
Zinc
Zinc , or spelter , is a metallic chemical element; it has the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is the first element in group 12 of the periodic table. Zinc is, in some respects, chemically similar to magnesium, because its ion is of similar size and its only common oxidation state is +2...
and sulfur
Sulfur
Sulfur or sulphur is the chemical element with atomic number 16. In the periodic table it is represented by the symbol S. It is an abundant, multivalent non-metal. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with chemical formula S8. Elemental sulfur is a bright yellow...
atoms that are stacked in an ABABAB pattern.
The unit cell parameters of wurtzite are (-2H polytype):
- a = b = 3.82 ÅÅngströmThe angstrom or ångström, is a unit of length equal to 1/10,000,000,000 of a meter . Its symbol is the Swedish letter Å....
= 382 pm1 E-12 mTo help compare different orders of magnitude this page lists lengths between 10−12 m and 10−11 m .Distances shorter than 1 pm* 1 pm = 1 picometre = 1,000 femtometres* 1 pm = distance between atomic nuclei in a white dwarf... - c = 6.26 Å = 626 pm
- V = 79.11 Å3
- Z = 2