Metacinnabar is the cubic form of mercury sulfide (HgS). It is the high temperature form and trimorphous with cinnabar (trigonal structure) and the higher temperature hypercinnabar (hexagonal structure). It occurs with cinnabar in mercury deposits and is associated with native mercury, wurtzite, stibnite, marcasite, realgar, calcite, barite, chalcedony and hydrocarbons.[2]
| Metacinnabar | |
|---|---|
 | |
| General | |
| Category | Sulfide mineral |
| Formula (repeating unit) | HgS |
| IMA symbol | Mcin[1] |
| Strunz classification | 2.CB.05a |
| Crystal system | Cubic |
| Crystal class | Hextetrahedral (43m) H-M symbol: (4 3m) |
| Space group | F43m |
| Unit cell | a = 5.8717(5) Å; Z = 4 |
| Structure | |
| Jmol (3D) | Interactive image |
| Identification | |
| Color | Grayish black |
| Crystal habit | Massive, rarely as tetrahedral crystals, as incrustations |
| Twinning | Common as lamellae on {111} |
| Cleavage | None |
| Fracture | Subconchoidal |
| Tenacity | Brittle |
| Mohs scale hardness | 3 |
| Luster | Metallic |
| Streak | Black |
| Diaphaneity | Opaque |
| Specific gravity | 7.7–7.8 |
| References | [2][3][4] |
It was first described in 1870 for an occurrence in the Redington mine, Knoxville, Napa County, California.[3][4]
References
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Metacinnabar.
- ^ Warr, L.N. (2021). "IMA–CNMNC approved mineral symbols". Mineralogical Magazine. 85 (3): 291–320. Bibcode:2021MinM...85..291W. doi:10.1180/mgm.2021.43. S2CID 235729616.
- ^ a b Metacinnabar in the Handbook of Mineralogy
- ^ a b Metacinnabar on Mindat.org
- ^ a b Metacinnabar data on Webmineral
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