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Volume17, pages 362-363, 1932
THE LARGEST CRYSTAL
CHARLES PALACHE
How large can crystals grow? What teacher of mineralogy but has been asked this
question many times. He would probably reply that there is no limit but if he tried
to tell of the biggest that had been found he would find it difficult to give an exact
answer.
This is not an idle question. Large crystals of any substance imply not only
abundance of their constituents but extraordinary concentration at one place and
unusual constancy of conditions during long periods. The minerals that are often
found in large crystals are at least in part composed of the less common elements
so that the problem of concentration in time and place is doubly interesting and
difficult. How do they support their own weight during growth and how maintain
form and outline? Why is there such a varying maximum of size in different
mineral species?
Whatever their interest and significance, large crystals would be more intelligible if
we had more exact data as to their actual limits of size. I have myself made a very
few observations of actual dimensions of crystal giants and would like to collect
others. Will not every reader of this magazine supply such data as he possesses? I
will make it a welcome duty to collate and publish the information. The more
various the range of minerals included may prove to be the more valuable will be
the information. Each case should carry with it such data as are available as to the
place and kind of deposit where it was found. The information given below is in
part derived from various publications. Where no author is quoted the data are
from specimens in the Harvard Mineralogical Collection.
| Stibnite |
Japan |
Crystals up to 60x5cm. |
Wada |
| Galena |
Isle of Man |
Cubes of 25 cm. |
Greg and Lettsom |
|
Miss. Valley |
Cube of 16 cm. |
|
| Pyrite |
Alaska |
Cube of 13 cm. |
|
|
Colorado |
Cube 12½x10x14 cm. |
|
|
Elba |
Octahedron 15 x 15 x 23 cm. |
|
| Fluorite |
Cornwall |
Cleavage octahedron 14 cm. on edge |
|
|
Cumberland |
Cube 13 cm. on edge |
|
|
Jefferson Co., N.Y |
Cubes more than 30 cm. |
Beck |
| Calcite |
Iceland |
Rhombohedron 6x2 meters |
Des Cloizeaux |
|
Sterling Bush, N.Y |
Rhombohedron 109x95x46cm. Weight about 1000 pounds |
Whitlock |
|
Missouri |
Scalenohedron 76 cm. long |
Farrington |
| Quartz |
Switzerland |
Weight about 1400 pounds |
Hintze |
| Corundum |
Transvaal |
61 x 30 cm. Weight 335 pounds |
Hall |
| Gahnite |
Sterling Hill, NJ |
Octahedron 12.5 cm. on edge |
Canfield |
| Franklinite |
Sterling Hill, NJ |
Octahedron 17.5 cm. on edge |
Canfield |
| Microcline |
Maine |
No definite data
"up to 20 feet across" (6 meters) |
Bastin |
| Pyroxene |
Hybla-Ontario |
Cleavage 16x16x40 cm. |
|
| Hornblende |
Sterling Hill, NJ |
15x15x46 cm. |
|
| Spodumene |
Etta Mine |
42 feet by 5 feet 4 in. (12.7x1.7 meters) Weight 90 tons |
Ziegler |
| Beryl |
Albany, Maine |
18x4 feet (5.5x1.2 meters) Weight 18 tons |
Gedney and Berman |
| Garnet |
Rogers Mine, North Creek, N.Y. |
Dodecahedrons up to 2 ft. (61cm.) diameter |
Miller |
| Scapolite |
Templeton Tp., Quebec |
23x25.5x35 cm. Weight 75 pounds |
Parsons |
| Zircon |
Brudenell Tp., Ontario |
10x10x30 cm. Weight of 15 pounds |
Parsons, Kunz |
| Titanite |
Renfrew Co., Ont |
10x12x5 cm. twin |
|
Mica
Phlogopite |
Lacy Mine, Ontario |
14 feet diam. 33 ft. long (4.2 x 9 meters) yielded 60 tons trimmed mica. (Estimated total weight not less than 90 tons) |
Ellsworth |
| Barite |
Dufton, England |
Weight 100 pounds |
Greg and Lettsom |
| Gypsum |
Chile, Braden Mine |
l0ft.x3 in. (3 meters x 8 cm.) |
Lindgren |
|
Utah, Wayne Co. |
4 feet by 6 inches (1.2x0.15 meters) |
Talmage |
|
Mexico, Naica |
5.5 feet by 5 inches (1.67 x 0.13 meters) |
Foshag |
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