Becquerelite Mineral Data

General Becquerelite Information

Chemical Formula:

Ca(UO2)6O4(OH)6•8(H2O)

Composition:

Molecular Weight = 1,970.41 gm

Calcium 2.03 % Ca 2.85 % CaO

Uranium 72.48 % U 82.22 % UO₂

Hydrogen 1.13 % H 10.06 % H₂O

Oxygen 24.36 % O

______ ______

100.00 % 95.13 % = TOTAL OXIDE

Empirical Formula:

Ca(UO₂)₆O₄(OH)₆•8(H₂O)

Environment:

Sedimentary uranium deposits.

IMA Status:

Valid Species (Pre-IMA) 1922

Locality:

Kasolo, Belgian Congo. Link to MinDat.org Location Data.

Name Origin:

Named for French physicist Antoine Henri Becquerel (1852-1908), who discovered radioactivity in 1896.

Name Pronunciation:

Becquerelite + Pronunciation

Synonym:

ICSD 201364

PDF 29-389

Becquerelite Image

Images:

Becquerelite

Comments: Yellow becquerelite crystals.
Location: Shinkolobwe mine, Tantara, Shaba, Dem. Repub. Congo. Scale: Size Not Given.
© Lou Perloff / Photo Atlas of Minerals

Images:

Becquerelite Schoepite

Comments: Bright yellow crystals of schoepite on transparent yellow becquerelite.
Location: Shinkolobwe mine, Tantara, Shaba, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Scale: .
© Lou Perloff / Photo Atlas of Minerals

Becquerelite Crystallography

Axial Ratios:

a:b:c =1.1179:1:1.2056

Cell Dimensions:

a = 13.8378, b = 12.3781, c = 14.9238, Z = 4; V = 2,556.23 Den(Calc)= 5.12

Crystal System:

Orthorhombic - PyramidalH-M Symbol (mm2) Space Group: Pn21a

$Help on X Ray Diffraction:$ X Ray Diffraction:

By Intensity(I/I_o): 7.44(1), 3.2(0.35), 3.73(0.3),

Forms:

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Forms: ( 1 0 2) ( 0 1 1) ( 0 1 0) ( 1 0 1) ( 3 0 5) ( 1 0 0) ( 2 1 0) ( 0 0 1)

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Crystal Structure:

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Pagoaga M K , Appleman D E , Stewart J M , American Mineralogist , 72 (1987) p.1230-1238, Crystal structures and crystal chemistry of the uranyl oxide hydrates, becquerelite, billietite, and protasite

View Additional jPOWD Structure files for Becquerelite
[1] [2]

Physical Properties of Becquerelite

Cleavage:

{001} Perfect, {110} Perfect

Color:

Brownish yellow, Golden yellow, Orange, Lemon.

Density:

5.14

Diaphaneity:

Transparent to translucent

Habit:

Crystalline - Fine - Occurs as well-formed fine sized crystals.

Hardness:

2.5 - Finger Nail

Luminescence:

Non-fluorescent.

Luster:

Resinous

Streak:

yellow

Optical Properties of Becquerelite

Gladstone-Dale:

CI meas= -0.325 (Poor) - where the CI = (1-KPDmeas/KC)
CI calc= -0.33 (Poor) - where the CI = (1-KPDcalc/KC)
KPDcalc= 0.1628,KPDmeas= 0.1621,KC= 0.1224
Ncalc = 1.63

Optical Data:

Biaxial (-), a=1.75, b=1.87, g=1.88, bire=0.1300

Pleochroism (x):

colorless.

Pleochroism (y):

yellow.

Pleochroism (z):

deep yellow.

Calculated Properties of Becquerelite

Electron Density:

Bulk Density (Electron Density)=4.35 gm/cc
note: Specific Gravity of Becquerelite =5.14 gm/cc.

Fermion Index:

Fermion Index = 0.0053647117
Boson Index = 0.9946352883

Photoelectric:

PE_Becquerelite=1,942.86 barns/electron
U=PE_Becquerelite x r_electron=8,453.68 barns/cc.

Radioactivity:

GRapi = 5,229,959.93 (Gamma Ray American Petroleum Institute Units)
Concentration of Becquerelite per GRapi unit = 191.21 (PPB)

Becquerelite is Radioactive as defined in 49 CFR 173.403. Greater than 70 Bq / gram.

Estimated Maximum U.S. Postal Shipping Size (10 mRem/hr limit, Unshielded 10 cm box) 5.82 ± 1.45 grams of pure Becquerelite .
Estimated Maximum U.S. Postal Shipping Size (10 mRem/hr limit, Unshielded 100 cm box) 581.59 ±145.40 grams of pure Becquerelite .

**Estimated Radioactivity from Becquerelite** - very strong
Specimen Size Weight/Volume (Sphere) *	Calculated Activity Becquerels (Bq)	Calculated Activity Curies (Ci)	Estimated Activity GR(api)	Estimated Exposure (mRem**)/hr If Held in Hand For One Hour
1000 gm / 7.19 cm	129,741,164	3.51E-03	5,229,959.93	1,719.44
100 gm / 3.34 cm	12,974,116	3.51E-04	522,995.99	171.94
10 gm / 1.55 cm	1,297,412	3.51E-05	52,299.60	17.19
1 gm / 7.19 mm	129,741	3.51E-06	5,229.96	1.72
0.1 gm / 3.34 mm	12,974	3.51E-07	523.00	0.17
0.01 gm / 1.55 mm	1,297	3.51E-08	52.30	0.02
0.001 gm / 0.72 mm	130	3.51E-09	5.23	0.00

Weight of pure Becquerelite in grams (gm) and Calculated Diameter of a Sphere with a Density of 5.14 gm/cc.*
Goverment Estimate of Average Annual Exposure ( 360 mRem) **
Note: 10 microsieverts/hr = 1 mRem/hr **
Max Permissable Adult Dose 50,000 mRem/yr (hands), 15,000 mRem/yr (eyes)
Lethal Dose LD(50) Exposure 400,000 to 500,000 mRem

Becquerelite Classification

Dana Class:

05.07.01.02 (05)Oxides Containing Uranium and Thorium

(05.07)with alkaline or hydrated hydroxide components

(05.07.01)Becquerelite Group

05.07.01.01 Compreignacite K2(UO2)6O4(OH)6•8(H2O) Pnmn 2/m 2/m 2/m

05.07.01.02 Becquerelite Ca(UO2)6O4(OH)6•8(H2O) Pn21a mm2

05.07.01.03 Billietite Ba(UO2)6O4(OH)6•8(H2O) Pbn21 mm2

Strunz Class:

04.GB.10 04 - OXIDES (Hydroxides, V[5,6] vanadates, arsenites, antimonites, bismuthites, sulfites, selenites, tellurites, iodate

04.G - Uranyl Hydroxides

04.GB -With additional cations (K, Ca, Ba, Pb, etc.); with mainly UO2(O,OH)5 pentagonal polyhedra

04.GB.10 Billietite Ba(UO2)6O4(OH)6•8(H2O) Pbn21 mm2

04.GB.10 Becquerelite Ca(UO2)6O4(OH)6•8(H2O) Pn21a mm2

04.GB.10 Protasite Ba(UO2)3O3(OH)2•3(H2O) Pn m

Other Becquerelite Information

References:

NAME( Ford32) PHYS. PROP.(Enc. of Minerals,2nd ed.,1990;Dana8) OPTIC PROP.(Ford32)

See Also:

Links to other databases for Becquerelite :
1 - Am. Min. Crystal Structure Database
2 - Athena
3 - EUROmin Project
4 - Ecole des Mines de Paris
5 - GeoScienceWorld
6 - Google Images
7 - Google Scholar
8 - Handbook of Mineralogy (MinSocAm)
9 - Handbook of Mineralogy (UofA)
10 - MinDAT
11 - Mineralienatlas (Deutsch)
12 - Online Mineral Museum
13 - QUT Mineral Atlas
14 - Ruff.Info
15 - Uranium Minerals
16 - WWW-MINCRYST

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Print or Cut-and-Paste your Becquerelite Specimen Label here :

Becquerelite

Ca(UO2)6O4(OH)6•8(H2O)
Dana No: 05.07.01.02 Strunz No: 04.GB.10
Locality:

Notes: