Jerrygibbsite is a rare silicate mineral with the chemical formula . Jerrygibbsite was originally discovered by Pete J. Dunn in 1984, who named it after mineralogist Gerald V. Gibbs (born 1929). It has only been reported from the type locality of Franklin Furnace, New Jersey, United States, and in Namibia's Otjozondjupa region. Jerrygibbsite is member of the leucophoenite family of the humite group. It is always found with these two minerals. It is a dimorph of sonolite.
Discovery
The mineral jerrygibbsite was discovered in 1984 by Pete Dunn while conducting an X-ray spectrographic analysis of a sample previously assumed to be leucophoenicite.
All samples found of jerrygibbsite are impure. All are incorporated within leucophoenicite, many by mixed layering, and tend to be found with many
manganese humites such as
sonolite. Physical properties are similar to those of leucophoenicite and sonolite, including hardness, coloring, and density.
Composition
The formula for jerrygibbsite is (, although it often contains impurities of
iron,
magnesium,
calcium or
water.
[ Webmineral- Jerrygibbsite. Referenced November 4, 2007] The idealized formula is Mn
9(SiO
4)
4(OH)
2 which is the same ideal formula as sonolite, a member of the humite group.
[Dunn, Pete J. (1984). "Jerrygibbsite, a new polymorph of (Mn,Zn)9(SiO4)4(OH)2 from Franklin, New Jersey, with new data on leucophoenicite". American Mineralogist 69: 546–552.] Jerrygibbsite has been found to be dimorphous with sonolite.
Geologic occurrence
Jerrygibbsite has been found only in the
Franklin Furnace mine in Franklin, New Jersey, and in the Kombat Mines in
Namibia.
Most of the minerals in the humite group have been found only here, as well as leucophoenicite. Jerrygibbsite has been found to occur in contact with
willemite, zincite, and sonolite in an uncommon assemblage.
Jerrygibbsite typically occurs as a massive mineral in interlocking anhedral crystals, up to 0.5 mm × 2.0 mm, which display a typical metamorphic texture.
Subsequent finds from the Namibia mines were of two different textures.
Physical properties
Jerrygibbsite, in pure form, is a violet-pink mineral with a light pink streak. It has a calculated density of 4.045 g/cm
3, and a tested density of 4.00 g/cm
3, agreeing favorably, since measurements used to test density have few significant figures. It has a hardness of about 5.5, that of a knife blade.
The general luster is vitreous, or shiny. Crystals are generally transparent to translucent. Crystals are not
luminescent or
fluorescent.
Jerrygibbsite forms orthorhombic crystals with an imperfect cleavage along the {001} plane, which can be seen by opaque lamellae alternating with the transparent jerrygibbsite. Optically, jerrygibbsite is negative biaxial with 2
V = 72˚ and a maximum
birefringence of 0.017.
In
thin section, jerrygibbsite appears light pink. The crystal structure described by Kato is the equivalent of a unit-cell-twinned sonolite in which the cells are related by a
b/4 glide plane.
See also
