Shepard C U (1835) Nitro-magnesite. Magnesian earthy-salt. in Treatise on Mineralogy: Second Part, Volume II, Hezekiah Howe & Co. (New Haven) 85-85

Classification of NitromagnesiteHide

Strunz-mindat (2024):

5.NC.05

5 : CARBONATES (NITRATES)
N : NITRATES
C : With H₂O

Dana 7th ed.:

18.2.3.1

Dana 8th ed.:

18.2.3.1

18 : NORMAL NITRATES
2 : A(XO₃)₂·xH₂O, where x can equal zero

Hey's CIM Ref.:

13.4

13 : Nitrates

Mineral SymbolsHide

As of 2021 there are now IMA–CNMNC approved mineral symbols (abbreviations) for each mineral species, useful for tables and diagrams.

Symbol	Source	Reference
Nmgs	IMA–CNMNC	Warr, L.N. (2021). IMA–CNMNC approved mineral symbols. Mineralogical Magazine, 85(3), 291-320. doi:10.1180/mgm.2021.43

Physical Properties of NitromagnesiteHide

Lustre:

Vitreous

Transparency:

Transparent

Colour:

Colourless to white

Comment:

may be yellow from contained bat urine

Cleavage:

Perfect
On {110}.

Density:

1.46 - 1.58 g/cm³ (Measured) 1.64 g/cm³ (Calculated)

Optical Data of NitromagnesiteHide

Type:

Biaxial (-)

RI values:

n_α = 1.340(1) n_β = 1.506(3) n_γ = 1.506(3)

2V:

Measured: 4° to 6°

Max Birefringence:

δ = 0.166

Image shows birefringence interference colour range (at 30µm thickness)
and does not take into account mineral colouration.

Surface Relief:

Low

Dispersion:

none

Chemistry of NitromagnesiteHide

Mindat Formula:

Mg(NO₃)₂ · 6H₂O

Elements listed:

H, Mg, N, O - search for minerals with similar chemistry

Crystallography of NitromagnesiteHide

Crystal System:

Monoclinic

Class (H-M):

2/m - Prismatic

Space Group:

P2₁/b

Setting:

P2₁/c

Cell Parameters:

a = 6.194(2) Å, b = 12.71(3) Å, c = 6.600(2) Å
β = 92.99°

Ratio:

a:b:c = 0.487 : 1 : 0.519

Unit Cell V:

518.88 Å³ (Calculated from Unit Cell)

Morphology:

Flocculent to earthy efflorescences. Artificial crystals long prismatic [001] with {001} and {110} dominant.

Crystal StructureHide

Load
Unit Cell | Unit Cell Packed
2x2x2 | 3x3x3 | 4x4x4

View
CIF File Best | x | y | z | a | b | c

Rotation
Stop | Start

Labels
Console Off | On | Grey | Yellow

Data courtesy of the American Mineralogist Crystal Structure Database. Click on an AMCSD ID to view structure

ID	Species	Reference	Link	Year	Locality	Pressure (GPa)	Temp (K)
0009664	Nitromagnesite	Braibanti A, Tiripicchio A, Lanfredi A M M, Bigoli F (1979) The crystal structures of nitrates of divalent hexaquocations. II. Hexaquomagnesium nitrate Acta Crystallographica B35 354-361		1979	synthetic	0	293

CIF Raw Data - click here to close

data_global
_chemical_name_mineral 'Nitromagnesite'
loop_
_publ_author_name
'Braibanti A'
'Tiripicchio A'
'Lanfredi A M M'
'Bigoli F'
_journal_name_full 'Acta Crystallographica, Section B'
_journal_volume 35 
_journal_year 1979
_journal_page_first 354
_journal_page_last 361
_publ_section_title
;
 The crystal structures of nitrates of divalent hexaquocations. II.
 Hexaquomagnesium nitrate
 Note: z(Wat2) corrected
;
_database_code_amcsd 0009664
_chemical_compound_source 'Synthetic'
_chemical_formula_sum 'Mg N2 O12 H12'
_cell_length_a 6.194
_cell_length_b 12.707
_cell_length_c 6.600
_cell_angle_alpha 90
_cell_angle_beta 92.99
_cell_angle_gamma 90
_cell_volume 518.760
_exptl_crystal_density_diffrn      1.642
_symmetry_space_group_name_H-M 'P 1 21/c 1'
loop_
_space_group_symop_operation_xyz
  'x,y,z'
  'x,1/2-y,1/2+z'
  '-x,1/2+y,1/2-z'
  '-x,-y,-z'
loop_
_atom_site_label
_atom_site_fract_x
_atom_site_fract_y
_atom_site_fract_z
Mg   0.00000   0.50000   0.50000
N4   0.46680   0.20400   0.53620
O5   0.60310   0.13010   0.53300
O6   0.28140   0.18810   0.56850
O7   0.53390   0.29620   0.51720
Wat1  -0.03580   0.33980   0.47640
Wat2   0.30220   0.48050   0.64160
Wat3  -0.14320   0.49930   0.77500
loop_
_atom_site_aniso_label
_atom_site_aniso_U_11
_atom_site_aniso_U_22
_atom_site_aniso_U_33
_atom_site_aniso_U_12
_atom_site_aniso_U_13
_atom_site_aniso_U_23
Mg 0.04293 0.03643 0.04497 -0.00157 -0.00529 0.00058
N4 0.04416 0.04102 0.05203 0.00328 0.00005 0.00745
O5 0.07322 0.06290 0.08070 0.02062 -0.00085 0.00617
O6 0.05932 0.05705 0.10183 0.00595 0.00702 0.01958
O7 0.06612 0.05525 0.11030 0.00135 0.00125 0.00576
Wat1 0.05913 0.04502 0.08120 -0.00023 -0.00935 -0.00033
Wat2 0.04951 0.05452 0.07119 0.00286 -0.01579 -0.00366
Wat3 0.07391 0.05553 0.06269 -0.00009 0.00444 -0.00191

X-Ray Powder DiffractionHide

Powder Diffraction Data:

d-spacing	Intensity
3.295 Å	(100)
2.925 Å	(75)
4.433 Å	(55)
5.840 Å	(45)
4.154 Å	(35)
3.190 Å	(35)
2.688 Å	(35)

Geological EnvironmentHide

Paragenetic Mode(s):

Paragenetic Mode	Earliest Age (Ga)
Stage 10a: Neoproterozoic oxygenation/terrestrial biosphere	<0.6
52 : Guano- and urine-derived minerals	<0.4

Type Occurrence of NitromagnesiteHide

Type Locality:

ⓘ Nicajack Cave (Nicojack Cave), Marion County, Tennessee, USA

Place of Conservation of Type Material:

National Museum of Natural History, Washington, D.C., USA, 128717

Associated Minerals at Type Locality:

Nitrocalcite

Reference:

Shepard C U (1835) Nitro-magnesite. Magnesian earthy-salt. in Treatise on Mineralogy: Second Part, Volume II, Hezekiah Howe & Co. (New Haven) 85-85

Synonyms of NitromagnesiteHide

Magnesium nitrate

Other Language Names for NitromagnesiteHide

French:Magnésie nitratée
Magnesinitre
Nitrate de magnésie

German:Magnesiasalpeter
Nitromagnesit

Spanish:Nitromagnesita

Related Minerals - Strunz-mindat Grouping Hide

5.NC.10

Nitrocalcite

Ca(NO₃)₂ · 4H₂O

Mon. 2/m

Other InformationHide

Thermal Behaviour:

Melting Point = 90°.

Notes:

Readily soluble in water.

Health Risks:

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

Internet Links for NitromagnesiteHide

mindat.org URL:

https://www.mindat.org/min-2920.html
Please feel free to link to this page.

Search Engines:

Look for Nitromagnesite on Google

Look for Nitromagnesite images on Google

Look for Nitromagnesite on Bing

Look for Nitromagnesite images on Bing

Look for Nitromagnesite on DuckDuckGo

Look for Nitromagnesite images on DuckDuckGo

Look for Nitromagnesite in the Rock H. Currier Digital Library

External Links:

Look for Nitromagnesite on Webmineral

Look for Nitromagnesite on Wikipedia

Look for Nitromagnesite on Mineralien Atlas

Raman and XRD data at RRUFF project

References and PDF downloads at RRUFF project

American Mineralogist Crystal Structure Database

Handbook of Mineralogy page PDF

Mineral Dealers:

The Arkenstone - Fine Minerals

Buy from David K Joyce minerals

Wilensky Exquisite Minerals

High-end worldwide specimens & outstanding customer service

Blue Gems Australian & International

Buy rare minerals from Excalibur Minerals

Buy from McDougall Minerals

References for NitromagnesiteHide

Reference List:

Rome de l'Isle J B L (1783) Nitre de magnésie. in Cristallographie, ou Description des Formes a Tous les Corps du Regne Minéral, Volume 1, (Paris) 361-362

Naumann, C.F. (1828) Lehrbuch der Mineralogie, Berlin: 263 (as Magnesiasalpeter).

Beudant, F.S. (1832), Trailé élémentaire de Minéralogie, second edition, 2 volumes: 2: 384 (as Nitrate de magnésie)

Shepard C.U. (1832) Treatise on Mineralogy. First edition, vol. 2: 85.

Shepard C U (1835) Nitro-magnesite. Magnesian earthy-salt. in Treatise on Mineralogy: Second Part, Volume II, Hezekiah Howe & Co. (New Haven) 85-85

Huot, J.J. (1841) Manuel de Minéralogie. 2 volumes, Paris: 2: 431 (as Magnesinitre).

Marignac (1856) Annales des mines: 9: 31.

Ogérien in: Lacroix, A. (1901) Minéralogie de la France et des ses colonies, Paris. 5 volumes: vol. 3: 414 (French localities).

Larsen, Esper S. (1921) The microscopic determination of the nonopaque minerals. Bulletin Vol. 679. US Geological Survey doi:10.3133/b679 p.116

Palache, Charles, Berman, Harry, Frondel, Clifford (1951) The System of Mineralogy (7th ed.) Vol. 2 - Halides, Nitrates, Borates, Carbonates, Sulfates, Phosphates, Arsenates, Tungstates, Molybdates, Ect. John Wiley and Sons, New York.p.307

Braibanti A, Tiripicchio A, Lanfredi A M M, Bigoli F (1969) The crystal structures of nitrates of divalent hexaquocations. II. Hexaquomagnesium nitrate. Acta Crystallographica B25, 354-361

(2023) Nitromagnesite. Handbook of Mineralogy. Mineralogical Society of America

Localities for NitromagnesiteHide

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.

Locality ListHide

- This locality has map coordinates listed.

- This locality has estimated coordinates. ⓘ - Click for references and further information on this occurrence. ? - Indicates mineral may be doubtful at this locality.

- Good crystals or important locality for species.

- World class for species or very significant. (TL) - Type Locality for a valid mineral species. (FRL) - First Recorded Locality for everything else (eg varieties). ~~Struck out~~ - Mineral was erroneously reported from this locality. Faded * - Never found at this locality but inferred to have existed at some point in the past (e.g. from pseudomorphs).

All localities listed without proper references should be considered as questionable.


Australia
Queensland Cloncurry Shire Cloncurry ⓘ Great Australia Mine

France
Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Jura Lons-le-Saunier ⓘ Baume-les-Messieurs	Palache et al. (1951)

Italy
Apulia Metropolitan City of Bari Molfetta Pulo di Molfetta ⓘ Ferdinando and Carolina Caves	Zimmerman E.A.G. (1789) +2 other references

Kenya
Trans-Nzoia County Mount Elgon ⓘ Kitum Cave	Bowell et al. (1996)

Poland
Silesian Voivodeship Wodzisław County Wodzisław Śląski ⓘ Pszów ?	Kruszewski et al. (2019)

South Africa

Gauteng City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality Johannesburg ⓘ Chaos Cave	Martini (1978)
West Rand District Municipality Far West Rand Western Sector Carletonville ⓘ West Driefontein cave	Martini (1978)
Mogale City Local Municipality Krugersdorp ⓘ Torch Cave	Martini (1978)
Limpopo Capricorn District Municipality Lepelle-Nkumpi Local Municipality ⓘ Wolkberg Cave	Martini (1978)

Spain
Basque Country Biscay Karrantza Harana/Valle de Carranza ⓘ Pozalagua Cave	Martínez-Arkarazo et al. (2007)

Ukraine
Crimea Bakhchysarai Skalistoye ⓘ Bakla Mountain	Dvoichenko P.A. The minerals of Crimea (1914)

USA (TL)
Tennessee Marion County ⓘ Nicajack Cave (Nicojack Cave) (TL)	Acta Cryst. 14 (1961)
Virginia Botetourt County ⓘ Peary Salt Peter Cave (Perry Saltpeter Cave)	Dietrich (1990)

Nitromagnesite

About NitromagnesiteHide

Unique IdentifiersHide

IMA Classification of NitromagnesiteHide