Image: <bdi><a href="https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q56247090" class="extiw" title="d:Q56247090"><span title="mineral collector and dealer">Robert M. Lavinsky</span></a></bdi> (CC BY-SA 3.0)
tetragonaluncommonSilicates
Cristobalite
SiO2
The image displays a specimen of white to off-white cristobalite, exhibiting a botryoidal or mammillary habit with rounded, somewhat translucent masses.
Cristobalite Physical Properties
Mohs Hardness
6.5Crystal System
tetragonalLuster
vitreousStreak Color
whiteCleavage
noneFracture
conchoidal to unevenSpecific Gravity
2.27Colors
white, gray, colorless, yellowishTransparency
transparent to translucentType Locality
Coso Hot Springs deposit, Coso Hot Springs, Inyo County, California, USAMineral Group
SilicatesUses
industrial (refractories, abrasives), collectorAssociated Minerals
obsidian, tridymite, quartz, opal, zeolitesRarity
uncommonGeological Context
Cristobalite is a high-temperature polymorph of silica, typically forming in volcanic rocks such as obsidian or rhyolite, or in hot spring deposits, often as a devitrification product of volcanic glass.
