I am doing a lab in a college chemistry class in which we must
determine the composition of some colorless, crystalline needles that
were found in the crater of Mt. Cameroon in Africa. Any information you
could give me concerning what these crystals might consist of would be
greatly appreciated... what sort of crystals could form from volcanic
gases? It would be good to get some ideas as a starting point so that I
don't wind up jumping to conclusion as to what the material may be.
Marty Woodlee
Hi Marty,
The first thing you should do is to go pester some second year Geology
major who's taking mineralogy. They are probably suffering through
having to do just such determinations on various "unknowns". There are a
number of basic tests that can narrow down your search a great deal. You
can quickly determine how hard the mineral is, what is its form, does it
have cleavage (meaning does it break easily along definite planes?), what
is its density? what is its index of refraction? All these tests are
listed in introductory mineralogy books. I would suggest the latest
edition of Mineralogy by Hurlbut and Klein, and perhaps an Optical
Mineralogy book by Phillips and Griffen.
You may be out of luck if it is some really obscure mineral, but probably
it is something relatively common.
Happy Sleuthing!!
Scott Rowland
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