Trabzonite is a rare calcium silicate mineral typically found in high-temperature skarn environments. It usually appears as small, colorless to white bladed or platy crystals often associated with other calc-silicates and carbonates.
Is this trabzonite?
5-step field checkRun through these checks against the specimen in your hand. The more boxes tick, the more confident the ID.
- 1Test the hardnessTry to scratch trabzonite with a known reference. Trabzonite sits at Mohs 5-6, softer than the next harder reference, harder than the previous one.
- 2Check the streakDrag the specimen across an unglazed porcelain plate. Streak: white.
- 3Read the lusterHold the specimen under a strong light. Luster: vitreous.
- 4Match the color rangeCompare against the expected color range: colorless.
- 5Look at form & habitCrystal system: monoclinic. Typical habit: granular.
Often confused with
Trabzonite vs. its common look-alikes, and how to tell them apart in the field.
Often found alongside trabzonite
Minerals reported to co-occur with trabzonite. Spotting these in float or country rock is a strong cue you are in the right ground.
All properties
- Chemical formula
- Ca₄Si₃O₉(OH)₂
- Mohs hardness
- 5-6
- Density
- 2.9 g/cm³
- Colors
- Streak
- White
- Luster
- Vitreous
- Transparency
- Transparent
- Crystal system
- Monoclinic
- Crystal habit
- Granular
- Cleavage
- None
- Rarity
- Rare
- Uses
- Collector, Scientific research
- Host rock
- A product of retrograde alteration, in a skarn produced by intrusion of a granite into sediments
Where rockhounds find trabzonite
Classic worldwide localities
- Yarda Yaylasi, near Trabzon, Turkey (type locality)
Field-hunting tip
Where it forms: A product of retrograde alteration, in a skarn produced by intrusion of a granite into sediments. If you start seeing spurrite, rustumite, calcite in float, you are in the right ground. Typical habit: granular. Train your eye for that shape before scanning the outcrop.
Common questions
How do you identify trabzonite?+
Where is trabzonite found?+
What rocks look like trabzonite?+
What minerals are found with trabzonite?+
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Find trabzonite on the map
RockHoundR shows mapped rockhounding spots, access rules, and lets you log every find.
