Dolomite

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Other names: Dolostone
Mineral class: Carbonate
Composition: Calcium magnesium carbonate, CaMg(CO₃)₂
Hardness: 3.5 - 4
Luster: Pearly, Vitreous
Color: Colorless, Pink, White, Yellow
Streak: White to pale grey
Cleavage: Perfect in 3 directions, not at right angles
Specific Gravity: 2.85-2.95
Crystal form: Hexagonal Rhombohedral. Crystal faces are usually curved.
Environment: Dolomite is a common constituent of sedimentary carbonate rocks (dolomitic limestones or dolostones). Dolomite also occurs in hydrothermal veins and in metamorphic rocks such as dolomitic marbles.
Uses: Building; metallurgy; chemical industries. Dolomitic rocks often are reservoir rocks for petroleum.
Comments:
Scratched by knife but not penny.
Common; large crystals found in Piedmont, Italy; Freiberg, Germany; and Joplin, Missouri. Infusible.
Dissolves in hot HCl; does not react with unheated HCl unless powdered.
Dolomitic limestone often includes fossils; has little stratification.
Dolomitic limestone may smell fetid when struck.
Weathered dolomitic limestone has a vacuolar porous structure due to nodules of gypsum or anhydrite that have been dissolved.
Dolomite takes its name from the dolomitic limestones of the Dolomite mountains in northeast Italy, which formed as coral reefs.
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Other names:	Dolostone
Mineral class:	Carbonate
Composition:	Calcium magnesium carbonate, CaMg(CO₃)₂
Hardness:	3.5 - 4
Luster:	Pearly, Vitreous
Color:	Colorless, Pink, White, Yellow
Streak:	White to pale grey
Cleavage:	Perfect in 3 directions, not at right angles
Specific Gravity:	2.85-2.95
Crystal form:	Hexagonal Rhombohedral. Crystal faces are usually curved.
Environment:	Dolomite is a common constituent of sedimentary carbonate rocks (dolomitic limestones or dolostones). Dolomite also occurs in hydrothermal veins and in metamorphic rocks such as dolomitic marbles.
Uses:	Building; metallurgy; chemical industries. Dolomitic rocks often are reservoir rocks for petroleum.
Comments:	Scratched by knife but not penny. Common; large crystals found in Piedmont, Italy; Freiberg, Germany; and Joplin, Missouri. Infusible. Dissolves in hot HCl; does not react with unheated HCl unless powdered. Dolomitic limestone often includes fossils; has little stratification. Dolomitic limestone may smell fetid when struck. Weathered dolomitic limestone has a vacuolar porous structure due to nodules of gypsum or anhydrite that have been dissolved. Dolomite takes its name from the dolomitic limestones of the Dolomite mountains in northeast Italy, which formed as coral reefs.