Jadeite
Jadeite is one of the two minerals called jade. The other is the nephrite variety of actinolite. Jade has been used for thousands of years in China and Central America as an ornamental and religious stone of deep significance. It is the jadeite stone that is rarer and considered more precious and was originally used mostly by native Central Americans. Jadeite has been a mystery to geologists for centuries. The mineral is considered rare yet it is intermediate in composition between two minerals that are relatively common. Albite, NaAlSi3O8, and nepheline, NaAlSiO4, have similar chemistries and yet are different in abundance and density. Jadeite's specific gravity of 3.3 to 3.5 is significantly higher than albite's 2.61 or nepheline's 2.60 - 2.65. This density increase can only be attributed to an unusually close packing of the structure inside the crystals. |
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Copyright ©, 2005 Three Rocks Research. Updated January 26, 2005