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Aragonite

Carbonate Minerals

Aragonite is a carbonate mineral and one of the three most common naturally occurring crystal forms of calcium carbonate, the others being calcite and vaterite. It is formed by biological and physical processes, including precipitation from marine and freshwater environments. Its crystal lattice differs from that of calcite, giving an orthorhombic crystal system with acicular crystals, and repeated twinning produces pseudo-hexagonal forms. In this atlas it is the mineral species behind aragonite gemstones and ornamental stones, kept apart from calcite because the two share a formula but not a structure.

Facts
Kind
Mineral 1
Chemical Formula
CaCO3 1
Hardness (Mohs)
3.75 1
Commonly cited range is 3.5 to 4 on the Mohs scale; 3.75, the midpoint, is used here.
Classification
Crystal System
Orthorhombic 1
Classification
Carbonate Mineral 1
Connections

Classified As

Entity-backed identity for the material classification this material already carries as an enum fact, pointing at the class subcategory of the same name. The enum fact itself stays on the entity unchanged.

Crystallizes In System

Entity-backed identity for the crystal system this mineral already carries as an enum fact, phase 3 bucket conversion (docs\design_entity_backed_browse_buckets_20260928.md, w-bucketconv-divmore2-0929). The original fact stays on the entry unchanged.

In Discipline

In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. Aragonite (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia Foundation
  • Aragonite, lead paragraph
    Aragonite is a carbonate mineral and one of the three most common naturally occurring crystal forms of calcium carbonate (CaCO3), the others being calcite and vaterite.
  • Aragonite, article text
    an orthorhombic crystal system with acicular crystal
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