Database of luminescent minerals 

MEIONITE

Chemical formula: 3CaAl₂Si₂O₈CaCO₃

Family: Silicates

Status: IMA-GP

Crystal system : Tetragonal

Display mineral: NON

Associated names (luminescent varieties, discredited names, synonyms, etc.): mizzonite,  scapolite,  stroganovite,  wernerite, 

Luminescence:

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

Comments:

SCAPOLITE Group see also MARIALITE and WERNERITE
Mizzonite = variety of MEIONITE (intermediate with MARIALITE and MEIONITE but with predominantly the last one.

Activator(s) and spectrum:

Activator(s): S₂^-, Fe³⁺,  Eu²⁺,  O^-₂,  

Peaks in the spectrum (nm):

Eu²⁺ repl. Ca²⁺  : 440nm

Fe³⁺ repl. Al³⁺ : red band (band at 710 - 720nm?)

Mn²⁺ : broad band at 630 - 690nm ?

No spectrum yet

Comments on spectrum and activators:

Activator: O^-₂ (Gorobets);

The emission spectrum is dependent upon excitation wavelength, indicating that S₂^- occupies several different sites.

Gaft reported that the relative efficiency of yellow luminescence from one scapolite sample was increased up to 117 times by heat treatment at 1000 °C for 2 h in air.

The enhancement of yellow luminescence by heat treatment was ascribed to the alteration of SO₃^2- and SO₄^2- to S₂^-  in scapolite.

Excitation by CW laser at 532 nm revealed several luminescence bands which may be supposedly connected to Mn²⁺ and Fe³⁺ centers (Gaft).

Best localities for fluorescence (*):

• Poudrette quarry, Mont Saint-Hilaire, La Vallée-du-Richelieu RCM, Montérégie, Québec, Canada;
• Old Mill Site, Franklin, New jersey, USA (orange SW associated with amazonite);
• Skräbböle quarry, Pargas, Southwestern Finland Region, Finland (dim white-blue SW);
• Ahvensaari, Pargas, Southwestern Finland Region, Finland (red SW);
• Webster prospects, Sanford, York Co., Maine, USA (red SW);
• Otter Lake, Pontiac RCM, Outaouais, Québec, Canada (var. wernerite orange-yellow LW);
• Marble Quarry, Grand Forks, Greenwood Mining Division, British Columbia, Canada (strong orange SW);
• Six Hundred Meter Locality, Sanford, York Co., Maine, USA (microxls, dim orange SW);
• Passaic pit, Sterling Hill, Ogdensburg, Franklin Mining District, Sussex Co., New Jersey, USA (red SW);
• Lead Hill Mines, Ticonderoga, Ticonderoga Township, Essex Co., New York, USA (deep dark magenta-red SW);
• Hazen quarry, Haddam, Middlesex Co., Connecticut, USA (pink SW);

(*)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 ,
• 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 ,
• Mt St Hilaire Website: http://www.saint-hilaire.ca ,

Reference for luminescence on the Internet:

Mineralogical reference on the Internet:

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

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

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