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Cordierite
A valid IMA mineral species
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Also given as (Mg,Fe)2Al3(AlSi5O18).n(H2O,CO2,Na+,K+);
X0-1(Mg,Fe,Li)2(Al,Si,Be)9O18 (X = H2O, CO2, Ar, Xe, Na, K); (Mg,Fe)2Al3(AlSi5O18).[Ch]X
X0-1(Mg,Fe,Li)2(Al,Si,Be)9O18 (X = H2O, CO2, Ar, Xe, Na, K); (Mg,Fe)2Al3(AlSi5O18).[Ch]X
Colour:
Grey, blue, blue-violet, greenish, yellowish brown; colourless to very light blue in transmitted light.
Lustre:
Vitreous
Hardness:
7 - 7½
Specific Gravity:
2.6 - 2.66
Crystal System:
Orthorhombic
Member of:
Name:
After Pierre Louis Antoine Cordier (Abbeville, France 31 March 1777 - Paris, France 30 March 1861), French mining engineer and geologist, who first studied this species. He founded microscopic mineralogy and was head of the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle.
Dimorph of:
The Mg analogue ofsekaninaite.Cordierite-Sekaninaite Series.
The hexagonal high-temperature dimorph of cordierite isindialite.
Cordierite is a high- to ultra-high-temperature species.
It is often found altered topinite.
May be confused with members of theOsumilite Group.
The structure of cordierite and indialite is somewhat similar to that ofberyl. As of April 2023 there's a new link between the two, in the form ofberyllocordierite-Na andberyllosachanbińskiite-Na, which suggests a possible merge of the two "families" of compounds.
Microporous cordierite (and beryl) may contain some molecular N2 (Bebout et al., 2016). CO2, H2O, argon, and hydrocarbon (e.g., butane) guest-molecules are also found in the mineral's structural channels.
High temperature, low pressure cordierite in pyrometamorphic rocks is characterised by potassium enrichment and abnormal Al/Si ratios (e.g., Schreyer et al., 1990). Potassium is localized in structural channels (e.g., Daniels, 1992).
Presence of argon ("at the centre of large holes") and water (likely attached to walls of large cavities) is described, e.g., by Smith & Schreyer (1962), while aliphatic hydrocarbons (likely dominated by butane, also localized in channels, with molecular axes ||b) are reported to occur (in pegmatitic material) by Khomenko and Langer (1999).
Visit gemdat.org forgemological information about Cordierite.
The hexagonal high-temperature dimorph of cordierite isindialite.
Cordierite is a high- to ultra-high-temperature species.
It is often found altered topinite.
May be confused with members of theOsumilite Group.
The structure of cordierite and indialite is somewhat similar to that ofberyl. As of April 2023 there's a new link between the two, in the form ofberyllocordierite-Na andberyllosachanbińskiite-Na, which suggests a possible merge of the two "families" of compounds.
Microporous cordierite (and beryl) may contain some molecular N2 (Bebout et al., 2016). CO2, H2O, argon, and hydrocarbon (e.g., butane) guest-molecules are also found in the mineral's structural channels.
High temperature, low pressure cordierite in pyrometamorphic rocks is characterised by potassium enrichment and abnormal Al/Si ratios (e.g., Schreyer et al., 1990). Potassium is localized in structural channels (e.g., Daniels, 1992).
Presence of argon ("at the centre of large holes") and water (likely attached to walls of large cavities) is described, e.g., by Smith & Schreyer (1962), while aliphatic hydrocarbons (likely dominated by butane, also localized in channels, with molecular axes ||b) are reported to occur (in pegmatitic material) by Khomenko and Langer (1999).
Visit gemdat.org forgemological information about Cordierite.
![Mg2Al4Si5O18](#"/photo-256688.html"><img src="/image.pl?url=https%3a%2f%2fwww.mindat.org%2fimagecache%2fcf%2f87%2f06734620017271922337147.jpg&f=jpg&w=240" alt="06734620017271922337147.jpg" /></a><div><b>Louis Cordier</b></div></div></div><div><div><span>Formula:</span><div class=){kind=link}