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The chain silicate structure of the pyroxenes offers much flexibility in the incorporation of various cations and the names of the pyroxene minerals are primarily defined by their chemical composition. Pyroxene minerals are named according to the chemical species occupying the X (or M2) site, the Y (or M1) site, and the tetrahedral T site.
Clinopyroxene thermobarometry is a scientific method that uses the mineral clinopyroxene to determine the temperature and pressure of the magma when the mineral crystalized. Clinopyroxene is found in many igneous rocks , so the method can be used to determine information about the entire rock.
Diopside is a monoclinic pyroxene mineral with composition MgCaSi 2 O 6. It forms complete solid solution series with hedenbergite (FeCaSi 2 O 6) and augite, and partial solid solutions with orthopyroxene and pigeonite. It forms variably colored, but typically dull green crystals in the monoclinic prismatic class.
Jadeite is a pyroxene mineral with composition Na Al Si 2 O 6.It is hard (Mohs hardness of about 6.5 to 7.0), very tough, and dense, with a specific gravity of about 3.4.It is found in a wide range of colors, but is most often found in shades of green or white.
The word pyroxene, in turn comes from the Greek words for fire (πυρ) and stranger (ξένος). Pyroxenes were named this way because of their presence in volcanic lavas, where they are sometimes seen as crystals embedded in volcanic glass ; it was assumed they were impurities in the glass, hence the name "fire strangers".
Purely pyroxene-bearing volcanic rocks are rare, restricted to spinifex-textured sills, lava tubes and thick flows in the Archaean greenstone belts.Here, the pyroxenite lavas are created by in-situ crystallisation and accumulation of pyroxene at the base of a lava flow, creating the distinctive spinifex texture, but also occasionally mesocumulate and orthocumulate segregations.
Spodumene is a pyroxene mineral consisting of lithium aluminium inosilicate, Li Al(Si O 3) 2, and is a commercially important source of lithium.It occurs as colorless to yellowish, purplish, or lilac kunzite (see below), yellowish-green or emerald-green hiddenite, prismatic crystals, often of great size.