File:Calcite crystals (Gibraltar Island, Lake Erie, Ohio, USA) (31129126281).jpg

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Calcite from the Silurian of Ohio, USA.

A mineral is a naturally-occurring, solid, inorganic, crystalline substance having a fairly definite chemical composition and having fairly definite physical properties. At its simplest, a mineral is a naturally-occurring solid chemical. Currently, there are over 5400 named and described minerals - about 200 of them are common and about 20 of them are very common. Mineral classification is based on anion chemistry. Major categories of minerals are: elements, sulfides, oxides, halides, carbonates, sulfates, phosphates, and silicates.

The carbonate minerals all contain one or more carbonate (CO3-2) anions.

Calcite is a common mineral. It is calcium carbonate (CaCO3). It has a nonmetallic luster, commonly clearish to whitish to yellowish to grayish in color, is moderately soft (H≡3), moderately light-weight, has hexagonal crystals, and rhombohedral cleavage (three cleavage planes at 75º & 105º angles - cleavage pieces look like lopsided boxes). The easiest way to identify calcite is to drop acid on it - it easily bubbles (effervesces) in acid. The bubbles are carbon dioxide gas. If the acid is dilute hydrochloric acid, the chemical reaction is:

2HCl(aq) + CaCO3(s) -->> CO2(g)↑ + H2O(l) + CaCl2(aq)

The most important & voluminous calcitic rocks in the world are limestone (sedimentary), marble (metamorphic), carbonatite (igneous), and travertine (speleothem, or "cave formations", and many hotspring deposits). Many hydrothermal veins in the world are calcitic or have calcite as a principal component.

Geologic context: honey-colored macrocrystalline calcite from a cavity in dolostone, Salina Group, Silurian

Locality: Gibraltar Island, Put-in-Bay, northern side of South Bass Island, western Lake Erie, far-northern Ohio, USA


Photo gallery of calcite:

<a href="http://www.mindat.org/gallery.php?min=859" rel="nofollow">www.mindat.org/gallery.php?min=859</a>
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Source Calcite crystals (Gibraltar Island, Lake Erie, Ohio, USA)
Author James St. John

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This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
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This image was originally posted to Flickr by James St. John at https://flickr.com/photos/47445767@N05/31129126281 (archive). It was reviewed on 10 October 2019 by FlickreviewR 2 and was confirmed to be licensed under the terms of the cc-by-2.0.

10 October 2019

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Date/TimeThumbnailDimensionsUserComment
current00:29, 10 October 2019Thumbnail for version as of 00:29, 10 October 20191,619 × 2,249 (2 MB)Ser Amantio di Nicolao (talk | contribs)Transferred from Flickr via #flickr2commons

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