Mica

Mica in sheet form.

Mica flakes.

Mica is an important group of rock-forming silicate minerals, belonging to the subgroup called phyllosilicates. The group consists of more than 30 members, the most common among them being biotite, lepidolite, and muscovite.

The word "mica" is thought to be derived from the Latin word micare, meaning to shine, in reference to the brilliant appearance of this mineral (especially when observed in small scales).

Mica in ancient times

The shape of a hand carved from mica, from the Hopewell culture.

Mica was known to ancient Egyptian, Greek and Roman civilizations, as well as the Aztec civilization of the New World. Yet, the earliest use of mica has been found in cave paintings created during the Upper Paleolithic period (40,000 to 10,000 B.C.E.). The first colors were red (from iron oxide, hematite, a form of red ochre) and black (manganese dioxide), though black was also produced from bridget or pine carbons. White from kaolin or mica was used occasionally.

A few kilometers (km) northeast of Mexico City stands the ancient site of Teotihuacan. The most striking structure here is the towering pyramid of the Sun. This pyramid contained considerable amounts of locally mined mica, in layers up to one-foot thick.

Throughout the ages, fine powders of mica have been used for various purposes, including decorative purposes. The colored Gulal and Abeer used by Hindus of north India during holi festival contain fine crystals of mica. The majestic Padmanabhapuram palace, 65 km from Trivandrum, India, has colored mica windows.

Occurrence

A rock with mica.

Micas are widely distributed and occur in igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary regimes. Large crystals of mica used for various applications are typically mined from granitic pegmatites.

Until the nineteenth century, large crystals of mica were quite rare and expensive as a result of the limited supply in Europe. However, its price dramatically dropped when large reserves were found and mined in Africa and South America after the early nineteenth century.

Scrap and flake mica is produced all over the world. The flake mica comes from several sources: the metamorphic rock called schist as a by-product of processing feldspar and kaolin resources, from placer deposits, and from pegmatites. Major producers of flake mica are Canada, India, Finland, and Japan. Sheet mica is considerably less abundant than flake and scrap mica. Sheet mica is occasionally recovered from mining scrap and flake mica. The most important sources of sheet mica are the pegmatite deposits. Major sheet mica mining countries are India, Belgium, Germany and China.

Characteristics

The mica group of minerals includes several closely related materials consisting of sheets of silicate tetrahedra. Their nearly perfect basal cleavage is explained by the arrangement of atoms in sheets of hexagonal rings. The micas are monoclinic or triclinic crystals, but the ringlike arrangement of atoms produces pseudo-hexagonal symmetry.

Chemically, micas can be given the general formula:

X₂Y_4-6Z₈O₂₀(OH,F)₄

where X is K, Na, or Ca or less commonly Ba, Rb, or Cs ions;

Y is Al, Mg or Fe, or less commonly Mn, Cr, Ti, Li, or other metal ions;

Z is chiefly Si or Al but also may include ions of Fe or Ti.

The arrangement of atoms in the different layers of mica can be described as follows. Two layers of tetrahedrally arranged atoms form a sandwich that encloses an octahedral layer of aluminum ions (or other small metal ions). This type of sandwich is then stacked in layers that are separated by "interlayers" of large cations, particularly Na, K, or Ca.

Micas have excellent chemical stability, high dielectric strength, and birefringence. The presence of K⁺ ions between layers of mica prevent swelling by blocking water molecules.

Classification

As noted above, the general formula may be written as X₂Y_4-6Z₈O₂₀(OH,F)₄. Based on the nature of the X and Y ions, micas can be classified as di-octahedral (when Y = 4) or tri-octahedral (when Y = 6). Also, if X corresponds to an ion of K⁺ or Na⁺ (or other ion of +1 charge), the mica is called a common (or "true") mica. If X is an ion of Ca²⁺ or Ba²⁺, the mica is known as a brittle mica. In addition, some micas are grouped as interlayer-deficient forms, when their interlayer contains fewer cations than the other micas.

Di-octahedral micas

Common micas:

• Muscovite
• Paragonite
• Glauconite

Brittle micas:

• Margarite

Tri-octahedral micas

Common micas:

• Phlogopite
• Biotite
• Zinnwaldite
• Lepidolite

Brittle micas:

• Clintonite

Interlayer-deficient micas

Very fine-grained micas with typically greater variation in ion and water content are informally termed clay micas. They include:

• Hydro-muscovite, with H₃⁺ along with K in the X site.
• Illite, with a K⁺ deficiency in the X site and correspondingly more Si in the Z site.
• Phengite, with Mg²⁺ or Fe²⁺ substituting for Al in the Y site and a corresponding increase in Si in the Z site.

Uses

• As chemically stable materials with high dielectric strength, micas are favored for manufacturing capacitors for radio-frequency applications. In addition, they have been used as insulators in high-voltage electrical equipment.

• Given their heat resistance, micas are used instead of glass in windows for stoves and kerosene heaters.

• Given their birefringence, micas are commonly used to make quarter-and-half wave plates.

• Pressed mica sheets are often used in place of glass in greenhouses.

• Muscovite mica is the most common substrate for sample preparation for the atomic force microscope.

• Aventurine, a variety of quartz with mica inclusions, is used as a gemstone.

See also

• Capacitor
• Dielectric
• Mineral
• Silicate

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Deer, W.A., R.A. Howie, and J. Zussman. 1996. An Introduction to the Rock-Forming Minerals. 2nd ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. ISBN 0582300940.

• Farndon, John. 2006. The Practical Encyclopedia of Rocks & Minerals: How to Find, Identify, Collect and Maintain the World's best Specimens, with over 1000 Photographs and Artworks. London: Lorenz Books. ISBN 0754815412.

• Klein, Cornelis, and Barbara Dutrow. 2007. Manual of Mineral Science. 23rd ed. New York: John Wiley. ISBN 978-0471721574.

• Pellant, Chris. 2002. Rocks and Minerals. Smithsonian Handbooks. New York: Dorling Kindersley. ISBN 0789491060.

• Shaffer, Paul R., Herbert S. Zim, and Raymond Perlman. 2001. Rocks, Gems and Minerals. Rev. ed. New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 1582381321.

• Mineral Gallery. 2006. The Mica Group of Minerals. Amethyst Galleries. Retrieved April 11, 2007.

External links

• Mica Group Mindat.org. Retrieved April 11, 2007.

• The Mica Group of Minerals. minerals-n-more.com. Retrieved April 11, 2007.

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