SHORTITE: Wyoming (0.5)
Shortite is an exceedingly rare, not overly attractive mineral. Cut gems are among the rarest of all faceted stones. The material is a carbonate and is therefore fragile and soft.
Shortite Value
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Shortite Information
| Data | Value |
| Name | Shortite |
| Crystallography | Orthorhombic. Crystals wedge-shaped, to maximum size of 155 mm. |
| Colors | Colorless to pale yellow. |
| Luster | Vitreous. |
| Hardness | 3. |
| Specific Gravity | Not diagnostic. Pyroelectric. |
| Density | 2.60. |
| Birefringence | 0.039. |
| Cleavage | Distinct 1 direction. Fracture conchoidal. Brittle. |
| Stone Sizes | Very small, less than 1 carat. |
| Luminescence | Pinkish orange to orange-brown in SW (Green River, Wyoming). |
| Formula | Na2Ca2(CO3)3 |
Optics: a=1.531; β=1.555; γ=1.570.
Biaxial (+),2V = 75°.
Occurrence: Occurs in clays from an oil well, 20 miles west of Green River, Wyoming: also in clay from an oil well in Uintah County, Utah.
Comments: Shortite is an exceedingly rare, not overly attractive mineral. Cut gems are among the rarest of all faceted stones. The material is a carbonate and is therefore fragile and soft.
Name: After Maxwell N. Short, professor of mineralogy at the University of Arizona.
