Saliotite

Saliotite is a rare colorless to pearl white phyllosilicate mineral in the smectite group with formula (Li,Na)Al₃ (AlSi₃O₁₀)(OH)₅.^[1] It is an ordered 1:1 interstratification of cookeite and paragonite. It has perfect cleavage, a pearly luster and leaves a white streak. Its crystal structure is monoclinic, and it is a soft mineral with a hardness rated 2-3 on the Mohs scale.^[1][2]

Saliotite
General
Category	Silicate mineral
Formula (repeating unit)	(Li,Na)Al3 (AlSi3O10)(OH)5
Strunz classification	9.EC.60
Crystal system	Monoclinic
Crystal class	Prismatic (2/m) (same H-M symbol)
Space group	C2/m
Unit cell	a = 5.15 Å, b = 8.91 Å c = 23.83 Å; β = 94.23°; Z = 4
Identification
Color	Colorless to white
Cleavage	Perfect on {001}
Mohs scale hardness	2 - 3
Luster	Pearly
Streak	White
Diaphaneity	Transparent
Specific gravity	2.75
Optical properties	Biaxial (-)
Refractive index	nα = 1.580 - 1.590 nβ = 1.580 - 1.590 nγ = 1.590 - 1.600
Birefringence	δ = 0.010
2V angle	30° to 50°
References	[1][2]

Saliotite was first described in 1994 for an occurrence in an outcrop of high grade schist north of Almeria, Andalusia, Spain. It was named for French geologist Pierre Saliot. 

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article  Metasyntactic variable, which is released under the  Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.