Menu
Home
People
Places
Arts
History
Plants & Animals
Science
Life & Culture
Technology
Reference.org
Diaboleite
open-in-new
<h2 id="description">Description</h2> <p>Diaboleite is deep blue in color and pale blue in transmitted light. The mineral occurs as tabular crystals up to 2 cm (0.8 in) in size, as subparallel aggregates, or it has massive <a href="/facts/Crystal_habit/x2S1HVVY">habit</a>. Vicinal forms of the tabular crystals have a square or octagonal outline and rarely exhibit pyramidal hemihedralism.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="formation">Formation</h2> <p>Diaboleite occurs in <a href="/facts/Manganese_oxide/JVJzfrjn">manganese oxide</a> ores, as a secondary mineral in <a href="/facts/Lead_oxide_(disambiguation)/NT1AxDpu">lead</a> and <a href="/facts/Copper_oxide_(disambiguation)/zkwqCeLG">copper oxide</a> ores, and in seawater-exposed <a href="/facts/Slag/LD3qEAlV">slag</a>. Diaboleite has been found in association with <a href="/facts/Atacamite/G0UE1crT">atacamite</a>, <a href="/facts/Boleite/G0Sg29Pk">boleite</a>, <a href="/facts/Caledonite/TJAFclBo">caledonite</a>, <a href="/facts/Cerussite/zutKQG6A">cerussite</a>, <a href="/facts/Chloroxiphite/UV6KtIH8">chloroxiphite</a>, <a href="/facts/Hydrocerussite/MoKMLsH9">hydrocerussite</a>, <a href="/facts/Leadhillite/NmNpeAJC">leadhillite</a>, <a href="/facts/Mendipite/ea7G3XxW">mendipite</a>, <a href="/facts/Paratacamite/LFSeDd0S">paratacamite</a>, <a href="/facts/Phosgenite/pAweHuKq">phosgenite</a>, and wherryite.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a> </p><p>A study in 1986 synthesized diaboleite crystals up to 0.18 mm (0.0071 in) in size using two different methods. The study demonstrated that diaboleite is a low-temperature phase, that is stable under <a href="/facts/Hydrothermal/hqwwksSm">hydrothermal</a> conditions at temperatures less than 100 to 170 °C (212 to 338 °F). At higher temperatures, the first stable mineral to form is <a href="/facts/Cumengeite/o4GpHAR9">cumengeite</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="history">History</h2> <p>In 1923, diaboleite was discovered at Higher Pitts Mine in the <a href="/facts/Mendip_Hills/Lqy4K3v0">Mendip Hills</a> of <a href="/facts/Somerset/gjVyBFVX">Somerset</a>, England,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a> and described by L. J. Spencer and E.D. Mountain.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a> The study of the similar mineral <a href="/facts/Boleite/G0Sg29Pk">boleite</a> was perplexing at the time and this new mineral only compounded the difficulty. As insufficient material was available for a full investigation, Spencer and Mountain named it <i>diaboleite</i>, meaning "distinct from boleite", out of "desperation".<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a> </p><p>The mineral was <a href="/facts/Grandfathered/M4Sh8KI8">grandfathered</a> as a valid mineral by the <a href="/facts/International_Mineralogical_Association/BzSmsAYQ">International Mineralogical Association</a> as it was described prior to 1959.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="distribution">Distribution</h2> <p>As of 2012<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Diaboleite&action=edit">[update]</a>, diaboleite has been found in Australia, Austria, Chile, France, Germany, Greece, Iran, Italy, Russia, South Africa, the UK and the US.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9"><sup>9</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10"><sup>10</sup></a> The <a href="/facts/Type_material_(mineralogy)/XMYf2tSg">type material</a> is held at the <a href="/facts/Natural_History_Museum%2c_London/SWrrNn0K">Natural History Museum</a> in London and the <a href="/facts/National_Museum_of_Natural_History/nn6mUbfE">National Museum of Natural History</a> in Washington, D.C.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:11" href="#fn:11"><sup>11</sup></a> </p> Citations Bibliography <ul><li>Spencer, L. J.; Mountain, E. D. (September 1923). <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20160304191337/http://www.minersoc.org/pages/Archive-MM/Volume_20/20-102-67.pdf">"Diaboleite"</a> (PDF). <i>Mineralogical Magazine</i>. 20 (102). Mineralogical Society: 78–80. <a href="/facts/Doi_(identifier)/muM9Etpq">doi</a>:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1180%2Fminmag.1923.020.102.01">10.1180/minmag.1923.020.102.01</a>. Archived from <a href="http://www.minersoc.org/pages/Archive-MM/Volume_20/20-102-67.pdf">the original</a> (PDF) on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2012-06-12.</li> <li>Winchell, R. E.; Wenden, H. E. (November 1968). <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140514034201/http://www.minersoc.org/pages/Archive-MM/Volume_36/36-283-933.pdf">"Synthesis and Study of Diaboleïte"</a> (PDF). <i>Mineralogical Magazine</i>. 36 (283). Mineralogical Society: 933–939. <a href="/facts/Bibcode_(identifier)/9HtdQSGB">Bibcode</a>:<a href="https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1968MinM...36..933W">1968MinM...36..933W</a>. <a href="/facts/Doi_(identifier)/muM9Etpq">doi</a>:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1180%2Fminmag.1968.283.036.03">10.1180/minmag.1968.283.036.03</a>. Archived from <a href="http://www.minersoc.org/pages/Archive-MM/Volume_36/36-283-933.pdf">the original</a> (PDF) on 2014-05-14. Retrieved 2012-06-12.</li></ul> <h2 id="further-reading">Further reading</h2> <ul><li>Cooper, Mark A.; Hawthorne, Frank C. (October 1995). <a href="http://www.canmin.org/content/33/5/1125">"Diaboleite, Pb2Cu(OH)4Cl2, a defect perovskite structure with stereoactive long-pair behavior of Pb (super 2+)"</a>. <i>Canadian Mineralogist</i>. 33 (5): 1125–1129. (subscription required)</li> <li>Palache, Charles (October 1941). <a href="http://www.minsocam.org/ammin/AM26/AM26_605.pdf">"Diabloeite from Mammoth Mine, Tiger, Arizona"</a> (PDF). <i>American Mineralogist</i>. 26 (10). Mineralogical Society of America: 605–612.</li></ul> <h2 id="external-links">External links</h2> <ul><li> Media related to Diaboleite at Wikimedia Commons</li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>"Diaboleite". Mindat. Retrieved June 11, 2012. <a href="http://www.mindat.org/min-1276.html" target="_blank">http://www.mindat.org/min-1276.html</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>"Diaboleite" (PDF). Handbook of Mineralogy. Retrieved June 11, 2012. <a href="http://www.handbookofmineralogy.org/pdfs/diaboleite.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.handbookofmineralogy.org/pdfs/diaboleite.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>"Diaboleite" (PDF). Handbook of Mineralogy. Retrieved June 11, 2012. <a href="http://www.handbookofmineralogy.org/pdfs/diaboleite.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.handbookofmineralogy.org/pdfs/diaboleite.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>Winchell, p. 934. <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>"Diaboleite". Mindat. Retrieved June 11, 2012. <a href="http://www.mindat.org/min-1276.html" target="_blank">http://www.mindat.org/min-1276.html</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>Spencer, p. 78. <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>Spencer, p. 79. <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:8"><p>"Diaboleite". Mindat. Retrieved June 11, 2012. <a href="http://www.mindat.org/min-1276.html" target="_blank">http://www.mindat.org/min-1276.html</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:9"><p>"Diaboleite" (PDF). Handbook of Mineralogy. Retrieved June 11, 2012. <a href="http://www.handbookofmineralogy.org/pdfs/diaboleite.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.handbookofmineralogy.org/pdfs/diaboleite.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:10"><p>"Diaboleite". Mindat. Retrieved June 11, 2012. <a href="http://www.mindat.org/min-1276.html" target="_blank">http://www.mindat.org/min-1276.html</a> <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:11"><p>"Diaboleite" (PDF). Handbook of Mineralogy. Retrieved June 11, 2012. <a href="http://www.handbookofmineralogy.org/pdfs/diaboleite.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.handbookofmineralogy.org/pdfs/diaboleite.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:11" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>