Sunday, November 11, 2012

Maryland Minerals: A to C

This is the first part of a  compendium for the Maryland Minerals website seeking to list all mineral species and varieties of species known to have occurred in  Maryland. The name of any major mineral family to which a species or variety belongs appears in parenthesis next to the species/variety name. Duly noted on the list also are a relatively few questionable or unverified occurrences.  Also included and similarly noted are the names of  species that the I.M.A. has since discredited. Images of Maryland-collected specimens arranged by county for many of these species may be at the website's  Maryland-collected minerals slideshow.

For nearly all of  information in this compendium, we are grateful to the following sources.

  • Minerals of Maryland by Charles Ostrander and Walter E. Price, Jr.,  Natural History Society of Maryland, 1940
  • Minerals of the Washington, D.C. Area by Lawrence R. Bernstein, Maryland Geological Survey, 1980
  • Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History Database.
  • Mindat
Continuing through the end of the alphabet, subsequent posts will cover the names of additional minerals that have been collected in Maryland. 

Here is the list from A to C:

Actinolite   (member of Amphibole Group)
Albite    (member of Feldspar Group)
Allanite 
Almandine  (member of Garnet Group)
Alum
Alunite 
Alunogen? 
Amazonite   (var. of Microcline, a member of Feldspar Group)
Amber 
Amesite  
Amethyst   (var. of quartz)
Analcime
Anatase
Andalusite
Andradite   (member of Garnet Group)  
Anglesite
Ankerite
Annite (member of Mica Group)
Anorthite   (member of Feldspar Group;  
Anorthoclase   (member of Feldspar Group)
Anthophyllite   (member of Amphibole Group)
Antigorite   (member of Serpentine Group)
Anthophyllite  (member of Amphibole Group)
Apatite
Apophyllite 
Aragonite                                                                                                        
Arfvedsonite (member of the Amphibole Group)
Argentiferous  Galena (var. of Galena)
Asbestos  (a name for finely fibrous Amphibole Group and Serpentine Group members)
Augite  (member of the Pyroxene Group) \
Aurichalcite
Autunite 
Axinite  (member of the Axinite Group)  
Azovskite  (according to Mindat, a species of questionable status, possibly identical to Delvauxite) and reported via oral conversation only.
Barite
Bastite (serpentine group variety relating to pseudomorphs after Enstatite)
Beaumontite (early name and/or synonymb for Heulandite, member of Zeolite Group)
Beidellite
Bertrandite
Beryl 
Biotite (member of Mica Group discredited by the I.M.A.)
Bornite
Breunnerite   (var. of Ferroan Magesite)
Brochantite
Bronzite   (var. of Enstatite
Brookite
Brucite
Byssolite  (member of Amphibole Group)
Bytownite   (variety of Anorthite, a member of Feldspar Group)
Cacoxenite
Calamine (an informal name known to refer to hemimorphite, smithsonite, and hydrozincite)
Calcite 
Carnelian (a var. of Chalcedony, which is a variety of Quartz)
Carrollite (member of Linnaeite Group)
Cassiterite
Celestine
Cerussite
Chabazite (Member of Zeolite Group)
Chalcanthite
Chalcedony (var. of Quartz)
Chalcocite
Chalcopyrite
Chalcotrichite (var. of Cuprite)
Chamosite
Chert  (var. of Chalcedony, which is a variety of Quartz)
Chlorite Group
Chlroritoid
Chrome Tourmaline (var. of Tourmaline)
Chromite
Chrysocolla
Chrysolite (synonym for Olivine and/or Prehnite)
Chrysotile (Member of Serpentine Group)
Cinnabar
Citrine (var. of Quartz)
Cleavelandite (var. of Albite,  a member of Feldspar Group)
Clinochlore (Member of Chlorite Group)
Clinozoisite (member of Epidote Group)
Coalingite 
Cobaltiferrous Gahnite (see Gahnite)
Coccolite (synonym for Diopside)
Collophane (carbonate rich var. Apatite found in fossil bone)
Columbite (member of Columbite Group)
Copper (Native);
Corundophilite (discredited by the I.M.A., member of Chlorite Group)
Corundum
Covellite
Cummingtonite   (member of Amphibole Group) 
Cuprite

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