Kernite

Kernite
General
Category	Inoborates
Formula (repeating unit)	Na 2B 4O 6(OH) 2·3H 2O
Strunz classification	6.DB.05
Crystal system	Monoclinic
Crystal class	Prismatic (2/m) (same H-M symbol)
Space group	P21/c
Unit cell	a = 7.0172(2) b = 9.1582(2) c = 15.6774(5) [Å] β = 108.861(2)°; Z = 4
Identification
Formula mass	273.22 g/mol
Color	Colorless, white
Crystal habit	Crystalline - occurs as well-formed coarse sized crystals
Cleavage	Perfect on [100] and [001], good on [201]
Fracture	Splintery
Tenacity	Brittle
Mohs scale hardness	2.5-3
Luster	Vitreous - pearly
Streak	White
Specific gravity	1.9 - 1.92
Optical properties	Biaxial (-)
Refractive index	nα=1.454, nβ=1.472, nγ=1.488
Birefringence	δ =0.0340
2V angle	80°
Other characteristics	Non-radioactive, non-fluorescent, non-magnetic
References

Kernite, also known as rasorite is a hydrated sodium borate hydroxide mineral with formula Na
2B
4O
6(OH)
2·3H
2O. It is a colorless to white mineral crystallizing in the monoclinic crystal system typically occurring as prismatic to acicular crystals or granular masses. It is relatively soft with Mohs hardness of 2.5 to 3 and light with a specific gravity of 1.91. It exhibits perfect cleavage and a brittle fracture.

Kernite is soluble in cold water and alters to tincalconite when it dehydrates. It undergoes a non-reversible alteration to metakernite (Na
2B
4O
7·5H
2O) when heated to above 100 °C.

The mineral occurs in sedimentary evaporite deposits in arid regions.

Kernite was discovered in 1926 in eastern Kern County, in Southern California, and later renamed after the county. The location was the US Borax Mine at Boron in the western Mojave Desert. This type material is stored at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, and the National Museum of Natural History, Washington, D.C.

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