Witherite 1089340 187971951 2008-01-30T18:59:38Z Rhanyeia 4370225 pictures, wikilinked chemical formula [[Image:Witherite Barium carbonate South Moor Colliery Durham England.jpg|thumb|right|180px|Witherite from [[England]]]] [[Image:Witherite Barium carbonate Cumberland England 1920.jpg|thumb|right|180px|Witherite from [[England]]]] '''Witherite''' is a [[barium]] [[carbonate]] mineral, [[barium|Ba]][[carbon|C]][[oxygen|O]]<sub>3</sub>, in the [[aragonite]] group.<ref name=mindat>[http://www.mindat.org/min-4299.html Witherite] mindat.org</ref> Witherite crystallizes in the [[orthorhombic]] system and virtually always is [[Crystal twinning|twinned]].<ref name=mindat/> The mineral is colorless, milky white, grey, pale yellow, green, to pale brown. The [[specific gravity]] is 4.3, which is high for a non-metallic mineral. It [[fluorescence|fluoresces]] light blue under both long and short-wave [[Ultraviolet|UV]] and is [[Phosphorescence|phosphorescent]] under short-wave UV light.<ref name=mineralgalleries>[http://mineral.galleries.com/minerals/carbonat/witherit/witherit.htm The Mineral Witherite] Mineral Galleries</ref> Witherite forms in low temperature [[hydrothermal]] environments. It is commonly associated with [[fluorite]], [[Celestine (mineral)|celestine]], [[galena]], [[barite]], [[calcite]] and [[aragonite]]. Witherite occurrences include: [[Cave-in-Rock, Illinois]], USA; [[Alston Moor]], [[Anglezarke]], [[Cumberland, England|Cumberland]] and [[Durham]], [[England]]; [[Thunder Bay, Ontario|Thunder Bay]] area, [[Ontario]], [[Canada]] and [[Germany]]. Witherite was named for [[William Withering]] (1741-1799) an [[England|English]] physician and naturalist.<ref name=webmineral>[http://webmineral.com/data/Witherite.shtml General Witherite Information] Webmineral.com</ref> ==See also== *[[List of minerals]] *[[List of minerals named after people]] ==References== <references/> {{mineral-stub}} [[Category:Barium minerals]] [[Category:Carbonate minerals]] [[ca:Witherita]] [[fr:Withérite]] [[it:Witherite]] [[hu:Witherit]] [[pt:Witherita]]