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Antarcticite is an uncommon calcium chloride hexahydrate mineral with formula CaCl2ยท6H2O. It forms colorless acicular trigonal crystals. It is hygroscopy and has a low relative density of 1.715.
As its name implies, it was first described in 1965 for an occurrence in Antarctica where it occurs as crystalline precipitate from a highly saline brine in Don Juan Pond, in the west end of Wright Valley, Victoria Land. This discovery was made by Japanese geochemists Tetsuya Torii and Joyo Ossaka. Antarcticite: A New Mineral, Calcium Chloride Hexahydrate, Discovered in Antarctica, Science 27 August 1965: Vol. 149 no. 3687 pp. 975-977 It was also reported from brine in Bristol Dry Lake, California, and stratified brine within on North Andros in the Bahamas. It has also been noted within fluid inclusions within quartz in pegmatite bodies in the Bushveld complex of South Africa. It occurs in association with halite, gypsum and celestine in the California dry lake.
A similar mineral, sinjarite, the dihydrate of calcium chloride, crystallizes in the tetragonal system. Sinjarite on Mindat Sinjarite is semitransparent, with pale pink color. Hydrophilite is a now discredited calcium chloride mineral that is considered to be either antarcticite or sinjarite. Hydrophylite on Mindat
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