Where it forms, where it's found
- Geological setting
Secondary mineral from marine salt deposit
- Type locality
- Chelkar salt dome
- Aksai Valley
- Terekti District
- West Kazakhstan Region
- Kazakhstan
50.4667°, 51.6833°
2recorded occurrences
Physical
- Hardness
- 1Talc
- 2Gypsum
- 3Calcite
- 4Fluorite
- 5Apatite
- 6Orthoclase
- 7Quartz
- 8Topaz
- 9Corundum
- 10Diamond
- Transparency
- Transparent
- Colour
- Colourless to very pale yellow.
- Cleavage
- Distinct/Good
Two sets of distinct pinacoidal cleavages
- Density
- 2.341 g/cm³
Optical
- Optical type
- Biaxial (-) · 2V measured = 83° · 2V calc = 83°
- Refractive index
- 1.567 – 1.722
- Surface relief
- Moderate
- Principal indices
- nα 1.567 · nβ 1.654 · nγ 1.722
- Dispersion
- r > v strong
Δ = 0Δmax
PPLpleochroism per grain
XPLindependent extinctions · rotate the stage
PPLpleochroism only · colour blends on rotation
XPLinterference colour · extinct every 90°
Retardation1550 nm
Order3rd order
XPL colour
Crystallography
- Morphology
coarsely crystalline masses, to 3 cm.
- Type-locality form
coarsely crystalline masses, to 3 cm.
- Comment
Point Group: n.d.; Space Group: n.d. Z = n.d.
Chemical composition
Synonyms
- Tatarskiet
In other languages
- German
- Tatarskit
- Italian
- Tatarskite
- Chinese
- 水硫碳钙镁石
Classification
Strunz
10th ed.7.DG.25
- 7SulfatesClass
- 7.DSulfates (selenates, etc.) with additional anions, with H2ODivision
- 7.DGWith large and medium-sized cations; with NO3, CO3, B(OH)4, SiO4 or IO3Group
- 7.DG.25TatarskiteSpecies
Dana
8th ed.32.04.02.01
- 32Compound SulfatesClass
- 32.04Hydrated Compound Sulfates containing Hydroxyl or HalogenType
- 32.04.02— unnamed intermediate level —Group
- 32.04.02.01TatarskiteSpecies
CIM
—12.2.9
- 12Carbonates with other anionsClass
- 12.2Carbonates with sulphateGroup
- 12.2.9TatarskiteSpecies
Literature, links & citation
Citations
- 1963Lobanova, V.V. (1963) The new mineral tatarskite. Zapiski Vsesoyuznogo Mineralogicheskogo Obshchestva: 92(6): 697-702.
- 1964Fleischer, M. (1964) New Mineral Names. American Mineralogist, 49 (7-8) 1151-1154
- 1967IMA (1967) International Mineralogical Association: Commission on New Minerals and Mineral Names. Mineralogical Magazine and Journal of the Mineralogical Society, 36 (277) 131-136 doi:10.1180/minmag.1967.036.277.20 DOI: 10.1180/minmag.1967.036.277.20
- 2005(2005) Tatarskite. Handbook of Mineralogy. Mineralogical Society of America
Cite this entry
@misc{mineral2026,
author = {Mineral Index editorial board},
title = {Tatarskite — Mineral Index},
year = {2026},
url = {https://mineralindex.org/minerals/tatarskite-3894},
note = {Accessed 2026-05-11}
}