Database of luminescent minerals 

CARPATHITE

Chemical formula: C₂₄H₁₂

Family: Organic

Status: IMA-GP

Display mineral: OUI

Associated names (luminescent varieties, discredited names, synonyms, etc.): karpatite,  pendletonite, 

Luminescence:

Daylight picture

carpathite (KARPATITE)
Picacho Mine, New Idria District, San Benito Co., California, USA;
Col. G.Barmarin; Photo: G. Barmarin

Shortwave (254nm) picture

carpathite (KARPATITE), UVSW
Picacho Mine, New Idria District, San Benito Co., California, USA;
Col. G.Barmarin; Photo: G. Barmarin

Pictures Galery:

  
  Go to the galery (3 pictures)

Do you have a photo of this mineral you would like to see in the gallery? Contact us!

Phosphorescence (in the common sense of the term) observable with the naked eye:

No data

Comments:

Chemically identical to Coronene (Hexabenzobenzene), a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon used to produce Organic Electroluminescent Material.

The name replaces pendletonite (CNMMN, 1971), karpatite and coronene.

Karpathite is composed of flakes of pure coronene embedded in sedimentary rock. This mineral may result from ancient hydrothermal vent activity. See gallery for a scheme of the chemical structure of coronene.

Beware when manipulating, coronene is toxic and carcinogen:

• toxic, Carc. cat. 2
• Principal way of exposition to coronene : skin
• Inhalation: toxic: possibility irreversible effects if inhaled.
• Ingestion: Toxic: danger of very serious irreversible effects if swallowed.
• Skin Contact : Harmful: danger of serious damage to health by prolonged skin contact.
• Eyes Contact : Risk of serious eyes damages

Activator(s) and spectrum:

Activator(s): Matière organique intrinsèque,

Peaks in the spectrum (nm):

462nm, (482), (493), (503), (515)

KARPATITE, Picacho Mine, California, USA. Excitation: laser 405nm. Col. G. Barmarin; Spectre: G. Barmarin

Spectrum Galery:

  
  Go to the galery (1 spectra)

Comments on spectrum and activators:

Blue luminescence due to the two linearly annelated benzene rings characteristic of aromatic compound (singlet-singlet electron transition within the benzene rings).

Spectral lines (cm^-1): 208, 192, 178, 164.

Best localities for fluorescence (*):

• Picacho Mine, Picacho Peak, New Idria District, Diablo Range, San Benito Co., California, USA ;
• 4th of July Mine, Flint group, Hernandez, Clear Creek area, Picacho Peak, New Idria District, Diablo Range, San Benito Co., California, USA ;
• Alpine Mine, Picacho Peak, New Idria District, Diablo Range, San Benito Co., California, USA ;
• Tamvatnei Hg deposit, Tamvatnei massif, Koryakskoe plateau, Chukotskii Autonomous Okrug, Far-Eastern Region, Russia ;
• Olenevo, Svalyavskyi Raion, Zakarpats'ka Oblast', Ukraine ;

(*)The data are not exhaustive and are limited to a few remarkable localities for fluorescence

Bibliographic reference for luminescence:

• The Henkel Glossary of Fluorescent Minerals, Dr. Gerhard Henkel, Published by the FMS, 1989 ,
• Fluorescence: Gems and Minerals Under Ultraviolet Light, Manuel Robbins, 1994, Geoscience Press, ISBN 0-945005-13-X ,
• The World of Fluorescent Minerals, Stuart Schneider, Schiffer Publishing, 2006, ISBN 0-7643-2544-2 ,
• Luminescent Spectra of Minerals, Boris S. Gorobets and Alexandre A. Rogojine, Moscow, 2002 ,

Reference for luminescence on the Internet:

Mineralogical reference on the Internet:

  http://www.mindat.org/show.php?name=Carpathite

  http://webmineral.com/data/Carpathite.shtml

Internet Search:

  Image search on 'Google Images'

  Search for documents in all languages on Google

  Search on Wikipedia