Lonsdaleite
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Kathleen Lonsdale
Formula:
C
Colour:
Transparent brownish-yellow, grayish
Lustre:
Adamantine
Hardness:
7 - 8
Specific Gravity:
3.2
Crystal System:
Hexagonal
Name:
For Dame Kathleen Lonsdale (1903-1971), Irish crystallographer who established the structure of benzene by X-ray diffraction methods in 1929. She also worked on the synthesis of diamonds, and was a pioneer in the use of X-rays to study crystals.
Type Locality:
Originally described as an allotrope of carbon based on a hexagonal lattice (Bundy & Kasper, 1967).
Németh et al. (2014) demonstrated "lonsdaleite" to be a faulted and twinned cubic diamond. He also showed that other reported carbon polymorphs can be explained by twinning and stacking faults.
Németh et al. (2014) demonstrated "lonsdaleite" to be a faulted and twinned cubic diamond. He also showed that other reported carbon polymorphs can be explained by twinning and stacking faults.
Classification of Lonsdaleite
Approved
First Published:
1967
1/B.02-50
1.CB.10b
1 : ELEMENTS (Metals and intermetallic alloys; metalloids and nonmetals; carbides, silicides, nitrides, phosphides)
C : Metalloids and Nonmetals
B : Carbon-silicon family
1 : ELEMENTS (Metals and intermetallic alloys; metalloids and nonmetals; carbides, silicides, nitrides, phosphides)
C : Metalloids and Nonmetals
B : Carbon-silicon family
Dana 7th ed.:
1.3.5.3
1.3.6.3
1 : NATIVE ELEMENTS AND ALLOYS
3 : Semi-metals and non-metals
1 : NATIVE ELEMENTS AND ALLOYS
3 : Semi-metals and non-metals
1.27
1 : Elements and Alloys (including the arsenides, antimonides and bismuthides of Cu, Ag and Au)
1 : Elements and Alloys (including the arsenides, antimonides and bismuthides of Cu, Ag and Au)
Physical Properties of Lonsdaleite
Adamantine
Transparency:
Transparent
Colour:
Transparent brownish-yellow, grayish
Hardness:
7 - 8 on Mohs scale
Hardness Data:
Measured
Comment:
imperfections in natural Lonsdaleite reduce hardness, artificial material has tested harder than diamond (>10) , See Physical Review letters (2009)
Density:
3.2 g/cm3 (Measured) 3.51 g/cm3 (Calculated)
Optical Data of Lonsdaleite
Type:
Uniaxial (+/-)
RI values:
nα = 2.404 nβ = 2.404
Max Birefringence:
δ = 2.404
Image shows birefringence interference colour range (at 30µm thickness)
and does not take into account mineral colouration.
and does not take into account mineral colouration.
Surface Relief:
Very High
Chemical Properties of Lonsdaleite
Formula:
C
Elements listed:
Crystallography of Lonsdaleite
Crystal System:
Hexagonal
Class (H-M):
6/mmm (6/m 2/m 2/m) - Dihexagonal Dipyramidal
Space Group:
P63/mmc
Cell Parameters:
a = 2.51 Å, c = 4.12 Å
Ratio:
a:c = 1 : 1.641
Unit Cell V:
22.48 ų (Calculated from Unit Cell)
Z:
4
Morphology:
Fine grained aggregates
Type Occurrence of Lonsdaleite
Geological Setting of Type Material:
Meteorite
Synonyms of Lonsdaleite
Other Language Names for Lonsdaleite
Related Minerals - Nickel-Strunz Grouping
Related Minerals - Hey's Chemical Index of Minerals Grouping
Related Minerals - Dana Grouping (8th Ed.)
Other Information
Health Risks:
No information on health risks for this material has been entered into the database. You should always treat mineral specimens with care.
References for Lonsdaleite
Reference List:
Sort by Year (asc) | by Year (desc) | by Author (A-Z) | by Author (Z-A)
Frondel, C. & Marvin, U.B. (1967): Lonsdaleite, a new hexagonal polymorph of diamond. Nature 214, 587-589.
Frondel, C. & Marvin, U.B. (1967): Lonsdaleite, a hexagonal polymorph of diamond. American Mineralogist 52, 1579-xx.
Hanneman RE, Strong HM, Bundy FP (1967): Hexagonal diamonds in meteorites: implications. Science 155, 995-997.
Bundy, F. P., Kasper, J. S. (1967): Hexagonal Diamond—A New Form of Carbon. Journal of Chemical Physics 46 (9), 3437-3446.
Kaminskii, F.V., G.K. Blinova, E.M. Galimov, G.A. Gurkina, Y.A. Klyuev, L.A. Kodina, V.I. Koptil, V.F. Krivonos, L.N. Frolova, and A.Y. Khrenov (1985): Polycrystalline aggregates of diamond with lonsdaleite from Yakutian [Sakhan] placers. Mineral. Zhurnal 7, 27-36.
He, Hongliang, Sekine, T. & Kobayashi, T. (2002): Direct transformation of cubic diamond to hexagonal diamond. Applied Physics Letters 81 (4), 610.
Physical Review letters (2009) 102, 055503 DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.102.055503
Péter Németh, Laurence A. J. Garvie, Toshihiro Aoki, Natalia Dubrovinskaia, Leonid Dubrovinsky & Peter R. Buseck (2014): Lonsdaleite is faulted and twinned cubic diamond and does not exist as a discrete material. Nature Communications, 5, article 5447.
Internet Links for Lonsdaleite
mindat.org URL:
https://www.mindat.org/min-2431.html
Please feel free to link to this page.
Please feel free to link to this page.
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Localities for Lonsdaleite
This map shows a selection of localities that have latitude and longitude coordinates recorded. Click on the 
symbol to view information about a locality.
The symbol next to localities in the list
can be used to jump to that position on the map.
symbol to view information about a locality.
The symbol next to localities in the list
can be used to jump to that position on the map.
(TL) indicates type locality for a valid mineral species. (FRL) indicates first recorded locality for everything else. ? indicates mineral may be doubtful at this locality. All other localities listed without reference should be considered as uncertain and unproven until references can be found.
Antarctica | |
| Nature 291:396-398 (1981) |
Australia | |
| Gennady P. Vdovykin (1970). Ureilites. Space Science Reviews 10, #4, 483-510. |
| Vdovykin, G. P. (1970) Ureilites: Space Science Reviews 10(4): 483-510. (Feb 1970). | |
China | |
| I. Leung and R. Winston, Eos. Trans. AGU, 83(47), Fall Meet. Suppl., Abstract #####-##, 2002, MR61A-1028 0830h POSTER |
Finland | |
| Vdovykin, G.P. 1972. Forms of carbon in the new Haverö ureilite of Finland. Meteoritics 7 (4) 547-552. |
India | |
| Gennady P. Vdovykin (1970). Ureilites. Space Science Reviews 10, #4, 483-510. |
| Gennady P. Vdovykin (1970). Ureilites. Space Science Reviews 10, #4, 483-510. |
Russia | |
| P.H. Nixon, (1995) The morphology and nature of primary diamondiferous occurrences, Journal of Geochemical Exploration, Volume 53, Issues 1–3, March 1995, Pages 41-71 |
| Kvasnytsya, V., Wirth, R., Dobrzhinetskaya, L., Matzel, J., Jacobsen, B., Hutcheon, I., ... & Kovalyukh, M. (2013). New evidence of meteoritic origin of the Tunguska cosmic body. Planetary and Space Science, 84, 131-140. |
| Gennady P. Vdovykin (1970). Ureilites. Space Science Reviews 10, #4, 483-510. |
USA (TL) | |
| Anthony, J.W., et al (1995), Mineralogy of Arizona, 3rd.ed.: 203, 280; Frondel, C. & U.B. Marvin (1967a), Lonsdaleite, a new hexagonal polymorph of diamond. Nature: 214: 587-589; Frondel, C. & U.B. Marvin (1967b), Lonsdaleite, a hexagonal polymorph of diamond, Am.Min.: 52: 1576. |
| Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, vol. 40, Dec. 1976, p. 1429-1437. |