HEULANDITE, a mineral of the zeolite group, consisting of hydrous
calcium and aluminium silicate, H4CaAl2(SiO3)6 + 3H20. Small amounts of
sodium and potassium are usually present replacing part of the calcium.
Crystals are monoclinic, and have a characteristic coffin-shaped habit.
They have a perfect cleavage parallel to the plane of symmetry (M in the
figure), on which the lustre is markedly pearly; on other faces the
lustre is of the vitreous type. The mineral is usually colourless or
white, sometimes brick-red, and varies from transparent to translucent.
The hardness is 3(1/2)-4, and the specific gravity 2.2.
[Illustration]
Heulandite closely resembles stilbite (q.v.) in appearance, and differs
from it chemically only in containing rather less water of
crystallization. The two minerals may, however, be readily distinguished
by the fact that in heulandite the acute positive bisectrix of the optic
axes emerges perpendicular to the cleavage. Heulandite was first
separated from stilbite by A. Breithaupt in 1818, and named by him
euzeolite (meaning beautiful zeolite); independently, in 1822, H. J.
Brooke arrived at the same result, giving the name heulandite, after the
mineral collector, Henry Heuland.
Heulandite occurs with stilbite and other zeolites in the amygdaloidal
cavities of basaltic volcanic rocks, and occasionally in gneiss and
metalliferous veins. The best specimens are from the basalts of
Berufjord, near Djupivogr, in Iceland and the Faroe Islands, and the
Deccan traps of the Sahyadri mountains near Bombay. Crystals of a
brick-red colour are from Campsie Fells in Stirlingshire and the
Fassathal in Tirol. A variety known as beaumontite occurs as small
yellow crystals on syenitic schist near Baltimore in Maryland.
Isomorphous with heulandite is the strontium and barium zeolite
brewsterite, named after Sir David Brewster. The greyish monoclinic
crystals have the composition H4(Sr, Ba, Ca)Al2(SiO3)6 + 3H2O, and are
found in the basalt of the Giant's Causeway in Co. Antrim, and with
harmotome in the lead mines at Strontian in Argyllshire. (L. J. S.)
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