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Olivine

Big Photo

Puig de la Banya de Bóc volcano, Llorà, Gironès, Girona (Gerona), Catalonia, Spain
© Martins da Pedra

Show Olivine Photos (85)
Formula:
(Mg,Fe
2+
 
)
 
2
[SiO
 
4
]
System:OrthorhombicColour:Yellowish green, olive ...
Lustre:VitreousHardness:6½ - 7
Name:Named after the green color
A series between Forsterite and Fayalite

Equivalent to Fayalite-Forsterite Series; usually a more or less Fe-bearing forsterite. Very common in volcanic rocks.
See also Olivine Group.
Series Formula:
Mg
 
2
[SiO
 
4
]
-
Fe
2+
2
[SiO
 
4
]

Classification of Olivine

Hey's CIM Ref.:14.21.1

14 : Silicates not Containing Aluminum
21 : Silicates of Fe and Mg
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Physical Properties of Olivine

Lustre:Vitreous
Colour:Yellowish green, olive green, greenish black, or reddish brown
Streak:White
Hardness (Mohs):6½ - 7

Crystallography of Olivine

Crystal System:Orthorhombic
Crystal Atlas:
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Olivine no.31 - Goldschmidt (1913-1926)
Olivine no.89 - Goldschmidt (1913-1926)

About Crystal Atlas

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The mindat.org Crystal Atlas allows you to view a selection of crystal drawings of real and idealised crystal forms for this mineral and, in certain cases, 3d rotating crystal objects. You need Java to see these. You can download Java for free - click here to download Java

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Optical Data of Olivine

Type:Biaxial (+)
RI values: nα = 1.630 - 1.650 nβ = 1.650 - 1.670 nγ = 1.670 - 1.690
2V:Measured: 46° to 98°, Calculated: 88°
Maximum Birefringence:δ = 0.040

Chart shows birefringence interference colour range (at 30µm thickness) and does not take into account mineral colouration.
Surface Relief:Moderate
Dispersion:relatively weak

Chemical Properties of Olivine

Relationship of Olivine to other Species

Related to:
  • Olivine Group
    • Related Minerals - Hey's Index Grouping:

    - +
    14.21.2Ringwoodite
    (Mg,Fe
    2+
     
    		)
     
    2
    		[SiO
     
    4
    		]
    14.21.3Wadsleyite
    (Mg,Fe
    2+
     
    		)
     
    2
    		[SiO
     
    4
    		]
    14.21.4Clinoferrosilite
    Fe
    2+
     
    		(Fe
    2+
     
    		,Mg)[Si
     
    2
    		O
     
    6
    		]
    14.21.5Anthophyllite
    ☐[Mg
     
    2
    		][Mg
     
    5
    		][(OH)
     
    2
    		|Si
     
    8
    		O
     
    22
    		]
    14.21.6Cummingtonite
    [ ][Mg
     
    2
    		][Mg
     
    5
    		][(OH)
     
    2
    		|Si
     
    8
    		O
     
    22
    		]
    14.21.7 Magnesiocummingtonite
    14.21.8Grunerite
    [ ][Fe
    2+
    2
    		][Fe
    2+
    5
    		][(OH)
     
    2
    		|Si
     
    8
    		O
     
    22
    		]
    14.21.9Minnesotaite
    (Fe,Mg)
     
    3
    		Si
     
    4
    		O
     
    10
    		(OH)
     
    2
    14.21.10Chesterite
    (Mg,Fe)
     
    17
    		Si
     
    20
    		O
     
    54
    		(OH)
     
    6
    14.21.11Jimthompsonite
    (Mg,Fe)
     
    5
    		Si
     
    6
    		O
     
    16
    		(OH)
     
    2
    14.21.12Clinojimthompsonite
    (Mg,Fe)
     
    5
    		Si
     
    6
    		O
     
    16
    		(OH)
     
    2
    14.21.13Majorite
    Mg
     
    3
    		(Fe
    2+
     
    		,Si,Al)
     
    2
    		[SiO
     
    4
    		]
     
    3
    14.21.14Balangeroite
    (Mg,Fe,Fe,Mn)
     
    42
    		Si
     
    16
    		O
     
    54
    		(OH)
     
    40

    Other Names for Olivine

    Synonyms:
    ChrysopalGlinkiteHawaiiteVillarsite
    Other Languages:
    Basque:Olibino
    Bengali:অলিভিন
    Bosnian (Latin Script):Olivin
    Catalan:Grup de l'Olivina
    Croatian:Olivin
    Czech:Olivín
    Danish:Olivin
    Dutch:Olivijn
    Esperanto:Olivino
    Estonian:Oliviin
    Finnish:Oliviini
    French:Olivine
    Galician:Olivina
    German:Olivingruppe
    Glinkit
    Hawaiit
    Villarsit
    Hebrew:אוליבין
    Hindi:ओलीवाइन
    Hungarian:Olivin
    Icelandic:Ólivín
    Italian:Olivina
    Japanese:カンラン石
    Korean:감람석
    Lithuanian:Olivinas
    Norwegian (Bokmål):Olivin
    Polish:Oliwiny
    Portuguese:Olivina
    Romanian:Olivină
    Russian:Оливин
    Simplified Chinese:橄榄石
    Slovak:Olivín
    Slovenian:Olivin
    Spanish:Olivino
    Glinkita
    Hawaiita
    Swedish:Olivin
    Turkish:Olivin
    Varieties:
    OlivinoidPilite

    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 Olivine

    Reference List:Hawkes, Herbert Edwin, Jr. (1946), Olivine from northern California showing perfect cleavage: American Mineralogy: 31: 276-283.

    Sahama, T.G. and Hytoenen, K. (1958) Calcium-bearing magnesium-iron olivines. American Mineralogist: 43: 862-871.

    Olsen, E.J. and Grossman, L. (1974) A scanning electron microscope study of olivine crystal surfaces. Meteoritics: 9: 243-254.

    Lager, G.A. & E.P. Meagher (1978), High-temperature structural study of six olivines: American Mineralogy: 63: 365-377.

    Brown, G.E. (1982) Olivines and silicate spinels. In P.H. Ribbe, Ed., Orthosilicates, 5, p. 275-381. Reviews in Mineralogy, Mineralogical Society of America, Chantilly, Virginia.

    Beran, A. and Putnis, A. (1983) A model of the OH positions in olivine, derived from infrared-spectroscopic investigations. Physics and Chemistry of Minerals: 9: 57-60.

    Ricoult, D.L., & D.L. Kohlstedt (1985), Experimental evidence for effect of chemical environment upon the creep of olivine. In R.N. Schick, Ed., Point defects Minerals, Geophysical Monograph, 31,: 171-184. American Geophysical Union, Washington, D.C.

    Miller, G.H., Rossman, G.R., and Harlow, G.E. (1987) The natural occurrence of hydroxide in olivine. Physics and Chemistry of Minerals: 14: 461-472.

    Karato, S.-I. (1989) Grain growth kinetics in olivine aggregates. Techtonophysics: 168: 255-273.

    Kurosawa, M., Yurimoto, H., Matsumoto, K., and Sueno, S. (1992) Hydrogen analysis of mantle olivine by secondary ion mass spectrometry. In Y. Sono and M.H. Manghnani, Eds., High-pressure research: application to Earth ad planetary sciences, p. 283-287. American Geophysical Union, Washington, D.C.

    Bai, Q. and Kohlstedt, D.L. (1993) Effects of chemical environment on the solubility and incorporation mechanism for hydrogen in olivine. Physics and Chemistry of Minerals: 19: 460-471.

    Kohlstedt, D.L., Keppler, H., and Rubie, D.C. (1996) Solubility of water in the α, β, and γ phases of (Mg,Fe)2SiO4. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology: 123: 345-357.

    Deer, et al (1997), Vol. 1A: 3-336.

    Kitamura, M., Kondoh, S., Morimoto, N., Miller, G.H., Rossman, G.R., and Putnis, A. (1987) Planar OH-bearing defects in mantle olivine. Nature: 328: 143-145.

    Morishima, H., Kato, T., Suto, M., Ohtani, E., Urakawa, S., Utsumi, W., Shimomura, O., and Kikegawa, T. (1994) The phase bondary between α-and-β Mg2SiO4 determined by in situ X-ray diffraction. Science: 265: 1202-1203.

    Kurosawa, M., Yurimoto, H. and Sueno, S. (1997) Patterns in the hydrogen and trace element compositions of mantle olivines. Physics and Chemistry of Minerals: 24: 385-395.

    Dyar, M.D., Delaney, J.S., Sutton, S.R., and Schaefer, M.W. (1998) Fe 3+ distribution in oxidized olivine: A synchrotron micro-XANES study. American Mineralogist: 83: 1361-1365.

    Kohlstedt, D.L. and Mackwell, S.J. (1998) Diffusion of hydrogen and point defects in olivine. Zeitschrift für Physikalische Chemie: 207: 147-162.

    Mei, S. & D.L. Kohlstedt (2000a), Influenceof water on plastic deformation of olivine aggregates; 1, Diffusion crep regime: Journal of Geophysical Research, B, Solid Earth and Planets: 105(9): 21, 457, 469.

    Mei, S. & D.L. Kohlstedt (2000b), Influence of water on plastic deformation of olivine aggregates; 2, Dislocation creep regime: Journal of Geophysical Research, B, Solid Earth and Planets: 105: 21471-21481.

    Goodrich, C.A., Fioretti, A.M., Tribaudino, M., and Molin, G.M. (2001) Primary trapped melt inclusions in olivine in the olivine-augite-orthopyroxene ureilites Hughes 009. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta: 65: 621-652.

    Jamtveit, B., Brooker, R., Brooks, K., Larsen, L.M., and Pedersen, T. (2001) The water content of olivines from the North Atlantic Volcanic Province. Earth and Planetary Science Letters: 186(3-4): 401-415.

    Khisina, N.R., Wirth, R., Andrut, M., and Ukhanov, A.V. (2001) Extrinsic and intrinsic mode of hydrogen occurrence in natural olivines: FTIR and TEM investigation. Physics and Chemistry of Minerals: 29: 98-111.

    Kent, A.J.R. and Rossman, G.R. (2002) Hydrogen lithium, and boron in mantle-derived olivine: the role of couple substitutions. American Mineralogist: 87: 1432-1436.

    Khisina, N.R., Wirth, R., and Andrut, M. (2002) Forms of occurrence of OH- in mantle olivines I. Structural hydroxyl. Geochemistry International (Geokhimya): 40: 332-341.

    Bell, D., Rossman, G.R., Maldener J., Endisch, D., and Rauch, F. (2003) Hydroxide in olivine: a quantitative determination of the absolute amount and calibration of the IR spectrum. Journal of Geophysical Research, 108(2105), DOI: 10.1029/2001JB000679.

    Li, L. (2003), Rheology of olivine at high temperature and high pressure, 137 p., SUNY at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, NY.

    Li, L., P. Raterron, D. Weidner, & J. Chen (2003), Olivine flow mechanisms at 8GPa: Physics of the Earth and Plaetary Interior: 138: 113-129.

    Berry, A., Hermann, J., and O'Neill, H. (2004) The water site in mantle olivine. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta: 68: A36.

    Li, L., D. Weidner, P. Raterron, J. Chen, & M. Vaughan (2004a), Stress measurements of deforming olivine at high pressure: Physics of the Earth and Plaetary Interior: 143-144, 357-367.

    Matsyuk, S.S. and Langer, K. (2004) Hydroxyl in olivines from mantle xenoliths in kimberlites from the Siberian platform Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology: 147: 413-437.

    Mosenfelder, J.L., Sharp, T.G., Asimow, P.D., and Rossman, G.R. (2004) Hydrogen in olivines from the Colorado Plateau: implications for water in the mantle and the Alpe Arami controversy. EOS Trans AGU: 85(47), Abstract T32B-07.

    Zhao, Y.-H., Ginsberg, S.B., and Kohlstedt, D.L. (2004) Solubility of hydrogen in olivine: dependence on temperature and iron content. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology: 147: 155-161.

    Li, L., D. Weidner, P. Raterron, J. Chen, M. Vaughn, S. Mei, & W. Durham (2005), Deformation of olivine at mantle pressure using D-DIA: European Journal of Mineralogy:

    Matveev, S., Portnyagin, M., Ballhaus, C., Brooker, R., and Geiger, C.A. (2005) FTIR spectrum of phenocryst olivine as an indicator of silica saturation in magmas. Journal of Petrology: 46: 603-614.

    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.

    Mosenfelder, J.L., Deligne, N.I., Asimow, P.D., and Rossman, G.R. (2006) Hydrogen incorporation in olivine from 2-12 GPa. American Mineralogist: 91: 285-294.

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    Localities for Olivine

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