carnallite

views updated

carnallite Mineral, KMgCl3.6H2O; sp. gr. 1.6; hardness (1–2); orthorhombic; normally white, occasionally yellowish and reddish; greasy lustre; massive and granular, the pseudo-hexagonal crystals being rare; no cleavage; occurs in evaporite deposits and is soluble in water; bitter taste. It is used as a fertilizer, and is named after the nineteenth-century mining engineer R. V. Carnall.

More From encyclopedia.com