Hercynite – A ferro spinel

Hercynite

• Named after the latin name Silva Hercynia of the Bohemian Forest, where this mineral was first found
• it is a ferro spinel
• Formula: FeAl₂O₄
• Space group: Fd-3m (No. 227)
• Crystal system: cubic
• Crystal class: m-3m
• Lattice parameters: a = b = c = 8.1458 Å, α = β =  γ = 90°

Picture: CC BY-SA 3.0 nl | Fred Kruijen | http://www.mindat.org/photo-73060.html

Crystal structure (click on the picture to download the VESTA file):

(K. Momma and F. Izumi, “VESTA 3 for three-dimensional visualization of crystal, volumetric and morphology data,” J. Appl. Crystallogr., 44, 1272-1276 (2011).)

• FeO₄ tetrahedra (orange)
• Al (blue), octahedral oxide coordination environment
• Oxygen (red)

For a 3D interactive version, see here:

https://skfb.ly/66QEE

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