Pyroxene Group

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Bronzite
Summit Rock, Klamath Co., Oregon, USA
© Saul Krotki 2003

Name:	The name pyroxene comes from the Greek words for fire (πυρ) and stranger (ξένος). Pyroxenes were named this way because of their presence in volcanic lavas, where they are sometimes seen as crystals embedded in volcanic glass; it was assumed they were impurities in the glass, hence the name "fire strangers". However, they are simply early-forming minerals that crystallized before the lava erupted. (Wikipedia)

A large group of inosilicate (chain silicate) minerals with the general formula ABSi₂O₆.
It is divided into the Clinopyroxene Subgroup (monoclinic) and the Orthopyroxene Subgroup (orthorhombic).

The most recent nomenclature is given by Morimoto (1988, 1989).

Classification of Pyroxene Group

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Relationship of Pyroxene Group to other Species

Group Members:

Canaanite
Clinopyroxene Subgroup
Orthopyroxene Subgroup

Other Names for Pyroxene Group

Synonyms:

Pyroxene

Pyroxene Family

Other Languages:

German:	Pyroxen
Simplified Chinese:	辉石族

Varieties:

Al-pyroxene

Other Information

Health Warning:

No information on health risks for this material has been entered into the database. You should always treat mineral specimens with care.

References for Pyroxene Group

Reference List:

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Wyckoff, R.W.G., Merwin, H.E., and Washington, H.S. (1925) X-ray diffraction measurements upon the pyroxenes. American Journal of Science, 5th. Series: 10: 383-397.

Edgar, A.D., A. Mottana & N.D. MacRae (1969), The chemistry and cell parameters of omphacite and related pyroxenes: Mineralogical Magazine: 37: 61-74.

Fleet, M.E. (1974b) Mg,Fe 2+ site occupancies in coexisting pyroxenes. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology: 47: 207-214.

Reid, A.M., Brown, R.W., Dawson, J.B., Whitfield, G.G., and Siebert, J.C. (1976) Garnet and pyroxene compositions in some diamondiferous eclogites. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology: 58: 203-220.

Arndt, N.T. and Fleet, M.E. (1979): Stable and metastable pyroxene crystallization in layered komatiite lava flows. American Mineralogist: 64: 856-864.

Cameron, M. and Papike, J.J. (1981) Structural and chemical variations in pyroxenes. American Mineralogist: 66: 1-50.

Watanabe, S., M. Kitamura, & N. Morimoto (1985), A transmission electron microscope study of pyroxene chondrules in equilibrated L-group chondrites: Earth and Planetary Science Letters: 72: 87-98.

Morimoto, N. (1988): Nomenclature of Pyroxenes. Am. Mineral. 73, 1123-1133.

Morimoto, N. (1989) Nomenclature of pyroxenes. Canadian Mineralogist: 27: 143-156.

Brizi, E., & M. Mellini (1992), Kinetical modelling of exsolution textures in igneous pyroxenes: Acta Vulcanologica: 2: 87-93.

Bell, D.R., Ihinger, P.D., and Rossman, G.R. (1995) Quantitative analysis of trace OH in garnet and pyroxenes. American Mineralogist: 80: 465-474.

Wodland, A.B. (1998) The orthorhombic to high-P monoclinic phase transition in Mg-Fe pyroxenes. Can it produce a seismic discontinuity? Geophysical Research Letters: 25: 1241-1244.

Papike, J.J., Karner, J.M., and Shearer, C.K. (2005) Comparative planetary mineralogy: Valence-state partitioning of Cr, Fe, Ti and V among crystallographic sites in olivine, pyroxene, and spinel from planetary basalts. American Mineralogist: 90: 277-290.