Magnesite

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Magnesite

Magnesite is not to be confused with Magnetite
Magnetite

Magnetite is a ferrimagnetism mineral with chemical formula Iron3Oxygen4, one of several iron oxides and a member of the spinel group....
or Magnemite.

Magnesite is magnesium carbonate

Magnesium carbonate

Magnesium carbonate, MgCO3, is a white solid that occurs in nature as a mineral. Several hydrated and Base forms of magnesium carbonate also exist as minerals....
, Mg

Magnesium

Magnesium is a chemical element with the symbol Mg, atomic number 12, atomic weight 24.3050 and common oxidation number +2.Magnesium, an alkaline earth metal, is the ninth most abundance of the chemical elements in the universe by mass....
C

Carbon

Carbon is a chemical element with chemical symbol C and atomic number 6. As a member of group 14 on the periodic table, it is nonmetallic and tetravalence?making four electrons available to form covalent bond chemical bonds....
O

Oxygen

Oxygen no O2 produced; 2) O2 produced, but absorbed in oceans & seabed rock; 3) O2 starts to gas out of the oceans, but is absorbed by land surfaces and formation of ozone layer; 4-5) O2 sinks filled and the gas accumulates]]...
₃. Iron

Iron

Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. Iron is a Group 8 element and period 4 element. Iron is lustrous and silvery in color....
(as Fe

Iron

Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. Iron is a Group 8 element and period 4 element. Iron is lustrous and silvery in color....
²⁺) substitutes for magnesium

Magnesium

Siderite

Siderite is also the name of a type of iron meteorite.----Siderite is a mineral composed of iron carbonate ironcarbonoxygen3....
, FeCO₃. Calcium

Calcium

Manganese

Manganese is a chemical element, designated by the symbol Mn. It has the atomic number 25. It is found as a Oxidation state in nature , and in many minerals....
, cobalt

Cobalt

Cobalt is a hard, lustrous, grey metal, a chemical element with symbol Co and atomic number 27. Although cobalt-based colors and pigments have been used since ancient times, and miners have long used the name kobold ore for some minerals, cobalt was only discovered in 1735 by Georg Brandt....
, and nickel

Nickel

Nickel is a chemical element, with the chemical symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge....
may also occur in small amounts. Dolomite

Dolomite

Dolomite is the name of a sedimentary carbonate rock and a mineral, both composed of calcium magnesium carbonate calciummagnesium2 found in crystals....
, (Mg,Ca

Calcium

Calcium is the chemical element with the symbol Ca and atomic number 20. It has an atomic mass of 40.078 amu. Calcium is a soft grey alkaline earth metal, and is the fifth most abundant element by mass in the earth's Crust ....
)CO₃, is almost indistinguishable from magnesite.

esite occurs as veins in and an alteration product of ultramafic rocks, serpentinite

Serpentinite

Serpentinite is a Rock composed of one or more serpentine minerals. Minerals in this group are formed by serpentinization, a hydration and metamorphic rock transformation of ultramafic rock from the Earth's Mantle ....
and other magnesium rich rock types in both contact and regional metamorphic

Metamorphic rock

Metamorphic rock is the result of the transformation of an existing rock type, the protolith, in a process called metamorphism, which means "change in form"....
terranes.

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Occurrence

Magnesite occurs as veins in and an alteration product of ultramafic rocks, serpentinite

Serpentinite

Metamorphic rock

Metamorphic rock is the result of the transformation of an existing rock type, the protolith, in a process called metamorphism, which means "change in form"....
terranes. These magnesites often are cryptocrystalline and contain silica as opal

Opal

Opal is a mineraloid gel which is deposited at a relatively low temperature and may occur in the fissures of almost any kind of Rock , being most commonly found with limonite, sandstone, rhyolite, and basalt....
or chert

Chert

Chert is a fine-grained silica-rich microcrystalline, cryptocrystalline or microfibrous sedimentary rock that may contain small fossils. It varies greatly in color , but most often manifests as gray, brown, grayish brown and light green to rusty red; its color is an expression of trace elements present in the rock, and both red and green ar...
.

Magnesite is also present within the regolith

Regolith

Regolith is a layer of loose, heterogeneous material covering solid Rock . The term is a combination of two Greek words: Rhegos , which means blanket, and Lithos , which means rock....
above ultramafic rocks as a secondary carbonate within soil and subsoil, where it is deposited as a consequence of dissolution of magnesium-bearing minerals by carbon dioxide within groundwaters.

Formation

Magnesite can be formed via talc carbonate

Talc carbonate

Talc carbonate is a geologic term for a suite of rock and mineral compositions found in metamorphism ultramafic rocks.The term refers to the two most common end-member minerals found within ultramafic rocks which have undergone talc-carbonation or carbonation reactions, talc and the carbonate mineral magnesite....
metasomatism

Metasomatism

Metasomatism is the chemical alteration of a Rock by hydrothermal and other fluids.Metasomatism can occur via the action of hydrothermal fluids from an igneous or Metamorphism source....
of peridotite

Peridotite

A peridotite is a dense, coarse-grained igneous rock, consisting mostly of the minerals olivine and pyroxene. Peridotite is ultramafic and ultrabasic, as the rock contains less than 45% silica....
and other ultrabasic rocks. Magnesite is formed via carbonation of olivine

Olivine

The mineral olivine is a magnesium iron Silicate minerals with the formula 2siliconoxygen4. It is one of the most common minerals on Earth, and has also been identified in meteorites and on the Moon, Mars, and comet Wild 2....
in the presence of water and carbon dioxide, and is favored at moderate temperatures and pressures typical of greenschist facies

Greenschist

Greenschist - also known as greenstone - is a general field petrology term applied to metamorphic rocks and/or altered mafic volcanic rock....
;

Magnesite can also be formed via the carbonation of magnesian serpentine

Serpentine

The serpentine group describes a group of common rock-forming hydroxy magnesium iron Silicate minerals#Phyllosilicates minerals; they may contain minor amounts of other elements including chromium, manganese, cobalt and nickel....
(lizardite) via the following reaction

Metamorphic reaction

A metamorphic reaction is a chemical reaction that takes place during the geological process of metamorphism in an amalgamate of minerals that helps determine the final stable state of the resulting metamorphic rock....
:
Serpentine + carbon dioxide ? Talc + magnesite + Water

2Mg₃Si₂O₅(OH)₄ + 3CO₂ ? Mg₃Si₄O₁₀(OH)₂ + 3MgCO₃ + H₂O

Forsterite

Forsterite is the magnesium rich end-member of the olivine solid solution series. Forsterite crystallizes in the orthorhombic system with cell parameters a 4.75 ?ngstr?m , b 10.20 ? and c 5.98 ? ....
magnesia-rich olivine

Olivine

The mineral olivine is a magnesium iron Silicate minerals with the formula 2siliconoxygen4. It is one of the most common minerals on Earth, and has also been identified in meteorites and on the Moon, Mars, and comet Wild 2....
compositions favor production of magnesite from peridotite. Fayalitic

Fayalite

Fayalite is the iron rich end-member of the olivine solid-solution series. In common with all minerals in the olivine, fayalite crystallizes in the orthorhombic system with cell parameters a 4.82 ?, b 10.48 ? and c ? 6.09....
(iron-rich) olivine favors production of magnetite-magnesite-silica compositions.

Magnesite can also be formed from metasomatism in skarn

Skarn

Skarn is a metamorphic rock that is usually variably colored green or red, occasionally grey, black, brown or white.It usually forms by chemical metasomatism of rocks during metamorphism and in the contact zone of magmatic intrusions like granites with carbonate-rich rock s such as limestone or dolostone....
deposits, in dolomitic

Dolomite

Dolomite is the name of a sedimentary carbonate rock and a mineral, both composed of calcium magnesium carbonate calciummagnesium2 found in crystals....
limestone

Limestone

File:Limestone Formation In Waitomo.jpgLimestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the mineral calcite . The deposition of limestone strata is often a by-product and indicator of biological activity in the geology record....
s, associated with wollastonite

Wollastonite

Wollastonite is a calcium Silicate minerals mineral that may contain small amounts of iron, magnesium, and manganese substituting for calcium. It is usually white....
, periclase

Periclase

Periclase occurs naturally in contact metamorphic rocks and is a major component of most basic refractory bricks. It is a cubic crystal system form of magnesium oxide ....
, and talc

Talc

Talc is a mineral composed of hydrated magnesium silicate with the chemical formula Hydrogen2Magnesium34 or Magnesium3Silicon4Oxygen102....
.

Uses

Magnesite can be used as a slag

Slag

Slag is a partially vitreous by-product of smelting ore to purify metals. They can be considered to be a mixture of metal oxides; however, they can contain metal sulfides and metal atoms in the elemental form....
former in steelmaking furnaces, in conjunction with lime

Lime (mineral)

Lime is a general term for calcium-containing inorganic materials, in which carbonates, oxides and hydroxides predominate. Strictly speaking, lime is calcium oxide or calcium hydroxide....
, in order to protect the magnesium oxide

Magnesium oxide

Magnesium oxide, or magnesia, is a white solid mineral that occurs naturally as periclase and is a source of magnesium . It has an empirical formula of ....
lining. It can also be used as a catalyst and filler in the production of synthetic rubber and in the preparation of magnesium chemicals and fertilizers.

Similar to the production of lime, magnesite can be burned in the presence of charcoal to produce MgO, otherwise known as periclase

Periclase

Periclase occurs naturally in contact metamorphic rocks and is a major component of most basic refractory bricks. It is a cubic crystal system form of magnesium oxide ....
. Such periclase is an important product in refractory materials.

Magnesite can also be used as a binder in flooring material.