#Leucite is used to make dental porcelain (or rather, leucite + glass from melting feldspar incongruently). Thiis is becuase it:
is immune system compatible
is machinable
is fracture resistant with low porosity
it doesn't easily stain or discolour
and most importantly, its thermal expansion matches the metal anchor
Image from: J.R. Mackert et al (1986)The effect of the leucite transformation on dental porcelain expansion, Dental Materials 2: 32-36
@silicatefondue oh my new strange lands and ideas are now available to me. The page linking to the Wyoming Leucite Hills is a goldmine of geological information and discoveries.
Even more entrancing to my artist eyes, the landscape photography shown is from the Tumbler for mypubliclands. I think this means it was from BLM photographers and I wonder if this deep knowledge has been protected from disappearing online and that the BLM scientists and photographers are still employed, considering US administration changes.
If I was able to do so, I’d order prints to frame from the landscape photography here. A perfect area for drone photography if you can’t fly over the vast expanses. #Leucite #MinCup25
I have never heard of either mineral and that’s a bit rare for me, but then if I were a chemist I might have. The vote today is for Carpathite and Leucite. Anyone here in Mastodon know about either? This is a screenshot of the page to vote. Anyone can vote and no need to register. I bet there will be fewer than the usual 1,000 votes. Link below
Of course I am drawn to the first, #Carpathite because it is shown in typical light as green and then fluorescent as very glowing blue. Like a cobalt blue from the unknown dark matrix rock and vivid light blue from the green star shape of needle-type crystals. #Leucite looks terrible on the page as a cloudy dull crystal nicknamed a white garnet.
@FaithfullJohn Unfortunately it suffers from negative relief and pitiful birefringence so it has an image problem...
Leucite has a range of volcanic hills named after it, see:
https://www.geowyo.com/leucite-hills.html
These are strange, high potassium lamproites from the mantle, only 1-2 million years old.
Match that, organic goo #carpathite !
Students at Smith College have a nice page of #leucite thin section images:
https://www.science.smith.edu/geosciences/petrology/petrography/leucite/leucite.html
cobalt
Bill Minarik
John Faithfull 🌍🇪🇺🏴🧡✊🏻✊🏿