Article
Article
Enstatite
Article By:
Carlson, William D. Department of Geological Sciences, University of Texas, Austin, Texas.
Last reviewed:November 2019
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.234300
A pyroxene close in composition to magnesium metasilicate (MgSiO3). Like other pyroxenes, enstatite is typified by a pair of nearly perpendicular cleavages, both of which are parallel to the elongate dimension of the characteristically prismatic crystals. These cleavages reflect an atomic structure dominated by unbroken, parallel, linear chains of SiO4 tetrahedra (silicon atoms surrounded by four oxygens). See also: Pyroxene
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