Sylvite
Potassium chloride, found with halite in the Monahans and Zag chondrites.
Key facts
- Formula
- KCl
- Family
- Carbonates, sulphates, salts and weathering products
- Crystal system
- Cubic
What it is
Sylvite is potassium chloride, a salt that crystallises from brine after halite. It contains radioactive potassium-40.
Where it is found
It occurs as small grains with halite in the Monahans and Zag H chondrites. Radiation from its potassium-40 is thought to have given the neighbouring halite its purple and blue colours.
How it is recognised
It is colourless and dissolves easily in water; it is identified by its chemistry.
Did you know?
Did you know?
Sylvite is mined on Earth for potash fertiliser.
Did you know?
Its name honours Franciscus Sylvius, a seventeenth-century Dutch chemist.