Search Documents

By L. S. Darken

The manufacture and treatment of metals comprises operations whose effectiveness depends in large measure upon diffusion phenomena. The significance of such phenomena has, for a few simple cases, long been understood, but in more complex cases it has not been adequately recognized. This paper presents a mathematical analysis of some of the cases in which diffusion leads to the formation of a new phase within the metal, and this analysis provides a basis for interpreting quantitatively many apparently diverse experimental observations recorded in the literature, some of which are outlined in the following pages. OBservt1ons Recorded in Literature An outstanding instance is the general type of phenomenon in which diffusion of an element into an alloy is followed by a phase change, which most frequently is a reaction (precipitation) of the diffusing element with one or more components of the alloy to form a compound. Thus in certain alloys heated in contact with oxygen not only the usual oxide scale appears but, in addition, beneath the surface, a well-defined zone in which free oxide particles are dispersed with notabIe uniformity. This zone, commonly referred to as the subscale or zone of internal oxidation, is remarkable in that the visible boundary between it and the unaltered metal is usually sharp. Such a subscale, which appears to have been recognized first in oxidized copper alloys, has been described and studied by C. S. Smith,l by Rhines,2 and by Rhines, Johnson and Anderson;3 but it appears also in other alloys when they are exposed to conditions that bring about the precipitation of some compound, not necessarily an oxide. Another clear case of this same kind is the diffusion of carbon into a steel containing an element such as molybdenum, chromium, vanadium or tungsten, whose carbide is less soluble in iron than iron carbide, the result being that some part of that element is precipitated as a dispersed carbide. A similar phenomenon may occur on the welding of two alloys each of which contains one of a pair of elements that react to form a compound or a new phase of any sort. But in addition to the precipitation of a compound formed from the diffusing element, other effects may result merely from the presence of the diffusing element. For instance, if homogeneous austenite, nearly saturated with respect to carbon, is heated in contact with silicon in the absence of oxygen, one would expect to find, behind the several iron-silicon phases analogous to a scale, a zone of austenite containing dispersed carbide, because of the fact that silicon decreases the solubility of carbon in iron. As still another example, oxidation of an alloy may result in diffusion toward the surface of one or more of the constituents; for instance, during oxidation of a steel containing an element such as "copper, which is less prone to oxidation than iron, there is a notable enrichment of copper just beneath the scale-metal interface. AS an example of a yet more

Jan 1, 1942

By O. B. Ellis

Although thousands of tons of stainless steel have been used successfully for many types of equipment, there have been few cases of failures due to the phenomenon described as stress corrosion cracking. During the past seven years only six cases of such failures have been drawn to our attention and investigated in the Research Laboratories with which the author is associated. These failures oc¬curred in two coffee urns, two wool con¬ditioning units, one dyeing machine, and another in a part of a steam-jacketed stock pot. In each case the equipment failed in a comparatively short time after exposure to conditions of high humidity at tempera¬tures in the range of 100 to 200 F. The failures in all cases were characterized by general embrittlement and cracking of the stainless steel, with only slight indications of general corrosion except at the cracks. The first failure of this type was a coffee urn returned for investigation in 1937. The top and bottom sections showed a general corrosive attack and embrittlement and cracking of the stainless steel. The chemical analyses of these sections were as follows:

Jan 1, 1945

By J. D. Livingston, J. J. Becker

A MAJOR difficulty in the experimental study of precipitation-hardening is the measurement of particle sizes too small to be easily resolved with the microscope. It has been shown recently, however, that magnetic measurements on copper-cobalt al- loys in the aged state can be used to determine the average volume, total volume, volume distribution, and shape of the ferromagnetic cobalt-rich particles, even though the particles are submicroscopic in size. r' These alloys also are known to exhibit considerable precipitation hardening. This paper reports some results on the dependence of the mechanical properties of such an alloy on the particle size, determined magnetically. It further illustrates the use of other magnetic measurements in interpreting structure changes occurring during deformation.

Jan 1, 1959

By Charles S. Robinson

Abstract-The Henderson ore body is east of the Continental Divide in the Front Range of the Colorado Rocky Mountains, about 80 km (50 miles) west of Denver. The ore body is being developed for mining by workings that extend more than 1100 m (3500 ft) below the topographic surface. During construction of the mine workings, ground water in fractures in crystalline rocks has been encountered. From 1969 to 1973, Charles S. Robinson B Associates Inc., in cooperation with the engineering and geologic staffs of the Climax Molybdenum Company, a division of Amax Inc., studied the ground water geology of the Henderson mine development area. Detailed geologic records of the Henderson mine were available as a result of the exploration, evaluation and development of the mine. Records of the flow, chemical composition and temperature of the ground water at and near the surface, from the entire mine, from portions of the mine, and from exploration holes drilled in the mine, were kept as the mine was developed. Where possible, ground water pressures in drill holes and changes in pressure with time, were recorded. The geologic, hydrologic and chemical data were correlated. The following conclusions were drawn from the correlations: The ground water in the Henderson mine occurs in fractures in Precambrian igneous and metasedimentay rocks and in a series of Tertiary intrusive rocks. Two zones of ground water were recognized; an active zone, in which the fracture systems are recharged and discharged annually into the surface water system, and a passive zone, in which the fractures were filled with water in the geologic past Discharge from the passive zone is through mine workings that intersect the fracture systems. Discharge from a fracture or fracture system is initially high but decreases with time. The rate of decrease inflow (or pressure) is exponential. By measuring the change inflow with time, it is possible to calculate the amount of flow at some given period of time in the future. Based on changes in rate of flow and pressure, and the geology, and assuming rates of mining of the ore, it will be possible to predict the volumes of water that will have to be handled during the life of the mine and the area around the mine that will be drained by the mining operation.

Jan 8, 1978

By H. R. Shidel

THIS paper summarizes the results obtained from the preliminary cementing of wells in an effort to cut off the bottom water. The object of this work was two-fold: (1) To prevent the oil sand from becoming flooded. (2) To plug off bottom water, thereby preserving the individual well and reclaiming production. Valuable suggestions and help have been given by the following named: Messrs. Kyle and La Velle, of the U. S. Bureau of Mines; Magnolia Petroleum Co.; Freed Oil and Gas Co. The cementing work was carried out under the personal supervision of L. J. Snyder. In an unpublished paper on the "Water Problem in the Augusta Field," S. K. Clark reaches the following conclusions: (1) That the great amount of water present is bottom water, occurring in the Varner sand, the main producing or the 2500-ft. horizon. (2) That the only striking connection between structure and water is in the area of the marked fault on the Ralston, E. C. Varner, and F. Varner leases in sections 8, 9, 16 and 17. (3) That the oil occurs in porous streaks, generally separated by fine-grained, well cemented sand, which is barren. Possibly two, or three such pay streaks may be found. That under a pay, fine-grained sand occurs, which is presumably barren at the time of drilling, but soon reveals water. The writer takes partial exception to the last point, because well defined shale, slate, lime, or hard sand breaks have been encountered in a great many cases, separating the pay streaks under which water is often found. This is not an invariable occurrence, as cases have been noted when the oil has been followed immediately by water in the same stratum. In an effort to overcome the water menace, the following methods of plugging were tried: (1) Plugging with wood, lead, and limit plugs. (2) Plugging with sand pumpings.

Jan 10, 1918

By J. B. Hess, C. S. Barrett

Single crystal rods of cadmium collapse under uniaxial compression into peculiar kinks if the (0001) glide plane is nearly parallel to the axis of compression. In his report first describing this behavior, Orowan1 proposed that these "kink bands" do not develop entirely by ordinary gliding and twinning but by a special mechanism in which glide lamellae of uniform thickness snap abruptly to a tilted position that permits lattice continuity across the glide planes. He concluded that a portion of each boundary of a kink band consists of a plane (non-crystallo-graphic) which bisects the angle between the glide planes on the two sides of it, and along which the bending and the dislocations are concentrated. The data presented by Orowan seemed to us to be insuffcient to conclude that a wholly new mechanism of deformation was responsible for the kinks. Therefore, we have investigated zinc, which is hexagonal close-packed and has an axial ratio near to cadmium, to see whether similar bands are produced, and whether the ordinary mechanisms of glide, bend-gliding, twinning, and the formation of deformation bands can account for its mode of deformation. We find that kinks form profusely in zinc as shown in Fig 1. The structure of these kinks, reported below, seems to require no new mechanism for their explanation, but indicates that kink bands are a special form of deformation bands and develop gradually, solely from basal glide. A theory covering the formation and structure of the bands is presented in detail because it is seldom possible to study deformation bands under such simple conditions, yet many principles applying to these kinks should also apply to deformation bands in general. Experimental Procedures Single crystal rods of 2-3 mm diam and 10-15 cm length were grown by the Brideman technique from swaged wire of Horsehead Special zinc in un-coated pyrex tubes. Orientations of the rods were determined with an optical goniometer after cleaving the rods at liquid air temperature. Crystals of desired orientations were then selected and used as "seeds" to grow additional crystals approximately 4 ft in length from which all specimens were cut. The wires were compressed in two ways: in a simple hydraulic handpress —a "soft" machine—and in a Riehle hydraulic testing machine modified to produce very "stiff" action by the simple expedient of inserting lengths of steel bars at the sides of the zinc crystals between the compression plates. For metallographic examination, the specimens were mounted in sealing wax. Hand polishing was employed, with no grits coarser than No. 1 paper; following the abrasives about 0.025 in. was removed by an etch-polishing reagent.* Final etching to reveal ori-

Jan 1, 1950

By J. B. Morrow, D. H. Davis

THERE are two general approaches to the problem of increasing profits from an operation. One is to lower expense; the other is to raise income. Mechanical preparation of coal may be used for either purpose but a prudent consideration of many details must precede any decision lest the results be negative instead of positive. It is quite possible that any net gain will result from a combination of the two. Since mechanically prepared coal invariably is a better product qualitatively than a hand-picked coal from the same mine, it is a reason¬able expectation that the customer will be willing to increase the pro¬ducer's income by paying a higher price. Or there may be the possibility that a combination of mechanical mining plus mechanical cleaning will give a lower over-all production cost for the coal in the railroad car. More likely, there will be found a combination of these two factors. From the customer's point of view, the competitive delivered cost per B.t.u. considered in relation to such incidental factors as dust nuisance, handling properties, ash disposal, and ash fusibility determines what he will pay. In a bulk tonnage product such as coal, freight is a very considerable part of the delivered fuel cost, and obviously freight paid on incombustible ash has no economic attractions.

Jan 1, 1943

By Robert L. Zerga

Mining equipment and systems have been incorporated into the San Manuel mine to meet the requirements of ore development and extraction. A general discussion of the existing equipment as it relates to the specific methods is presented. A comparison is made between original and present equipment, and future equipment needs. The problems, successes and failures of mining equipment adaptation for the San Manuel mining system are highlighted.

Jan 1, 1981

The classification here used is one of convenience only; it is not intended to include all known types of ore deposits. The characteristic features of the several well-marked types of primary mineralizations are described without reference to the ultimate source of their metals. The minerals of many deposits of obscure origin were probably introduced through fissures that are now healed, or are due to the migration of metals from such deposits. [ ] It is not within the scope of this book to enter into a general discussion of the genesis of ore deposits but, in view of the progress being made in our comprehension of the conditions under which ore deposits were formed, mention should be made of recent work. J. E. Spurr's two volumes, "The Ore Magmas," are recommended as crystallizing the views of those who are inclined to ascribe the origin of most ore deposits to a differential precipitation from magmatic rock masses and to the migration and precipitation of the viscous, liquid or gaseous exhalations from those masses. He has especially emphasized the role

Jan 1, 1932

By W. L. Remick

WHEN the senior author of this paper presented an article on Fine Coal Cleaning by the Hydrotator Process,1 at the February, 1927, meeting, that process had been developed in the anthracite region only to clean what is known as "slush" or "silt." This size constitutes all of the material passing the finest screen used at any particular colliery. Some use a 3/32 -in. round-hole screen and others use a 1/16 -in. round hole. Practice varies throughout the anthracite region, but the tendency seems to be toward the finer screen.

Jan 1, 1929

By F. R. Hensel

THE present study was rude to determine the laws governing the formation of the primary? crystal structure during solidification. Most of the experiments were carried out on chill castings, but from the results it will be possible to draw certain conclusions as far as sand cast-ings are concerned. It is necessary to discuss first a number of theories, which are generally adopted for explaining the structure of an ingot. Usually, the structure FIG. 1.-VARIOUS ZONES IN A CHILL INGOT. off an ingot consists of the following three zones (Fig. 1): (1) a chill layer of small at. random oriented crystals; (2) a layer of columnar crystals; (3) a zone of equiaxed crystals. The tensile properties of the chill layer and the equiaxed range are usually much better than in the columnar range, particularly the planes that are formed by the columnar crystals growing from two sides at right angles leave low tensile properties. This is one of the reasons why colum-nar crystals in ingot structures are undesirable.

Jan 1, 1937

By Bruce F. Grant, Stefan F. Szasz

During 1947, a Sinclair research team was assigned to investigate thermal methods of oil recovery. The assignment was recommended by a survey of possible research approaches to increase the amount of oil that ultimately can be recovered from oil producing reservoirs. The use of heat to stimulate oil production rates by the melting of paraffin deposited in well bores can be traced back to within one or two decades of the drilling of the Drake well. The application of heat on a larger scale has been discussed by generations of oil producers. Shortly after the turn of the century, one intrepid operator is reported to have injected steam into a Pennsylvania property. After a few weeks, he apparently became discouraged and terminated his experiment. Subsequently, the literature contains references to several well-developed techniques for supplying heat to a producing well bore to melt paraffin or to reduce the viscosity of oil contained in the formation immediately around the well bore.1.?.3.4 Some early references discuss procedures to furnish heat to the reservoir,5,6 with the injection well as the heat source, thus obligating the process to maintain the entire rock mass at a temperature above that at which the desired improvement in oil recovery would occur. Another approach to reservoir heating was reported by a group of Russian technologists in 1935.7,8,9 They definitely demonstrated that combustion can occur within the porous structure of an oil-bearing sandstone. Their field experiments, however, relied less on combustion within the rock than on heat furnished by combustion of oil supplied to the injection well bore. Ignition of the air-oil mixtures in the well bore was found very difficult, and the field tests were carried on for only short periods of time. Publication of the Russian work spurred at least one independent operator in this country to try firing an air-gas injection well, on for only short periods of time. Publication of the Russian work spurred at least one independent operator in this country to try firing an air-gas injection well. The Brundred Oil Corp. reportedly obtained combustion in the sand immediately around the injection well bore, but the experiment was abandoned because of interference with normal production schedules. Injection capacity of the experimental well was greatly reduced by firing. The well was reshot and pieces of sand showing partial fusing of the quartz matrix were recovered. To the authors' knowledge no other field experiments utilizing combustion techniques for formation heating were undertaken prior to 1948, although the patent literature evidences continued interest in formation heating."'," CONCEPT OF COMBUSTION-SUPPORTED HEAT WAVE The references cited were in agreement that heat applied to a reservoir would increase recovery, but there

Jan 1, 1955

By Alexander L. Holley

THE Pernot system of rotating and withdrawing the hearth of a Siemens regenerative gas furnace for the production of Martin or open-hearth steel, is, perhaps, the most conspicuous of the several improvements which have lately been made in the steel manufacture. These several improvements in the open-hearth plant are not combined in any existing works, but most of them will be combined in not less than three works now erecting in the United States; and it seems probable that their joint result will not only reduce the cost of products of ordinary grades to Bessemer rates, but that it will produce new and better grades of products. The open-hearth steel furnace and its operation are so generally understood that but a few words of general description are necessary. The ordinary furnace is not unlike the common reverberatory puddling furnace, except that an intense, uniform, and controllable temperature is maintained by the Siemens gas regenerative system. The materials. employed are various : melted or unmelted pig with ore, and with or without scrap; pig iron purified from silicon and phosphorus, with or without scrap; pig iron and scrap, melted together in a cupola, or charged hot or cold, together or separately, into the steel furnace; a pig-iron bath, and hot or cold steel or iron scrap, direct sponge or Catalan or puddled blooms charged into the bath. The operation is, to a greater or less extent, according to the nature of the materials used, a desiliconization and decarburization of the pig or other crude iron, and its dilution by already purified materials. Manganese is employed at the end of the operation to remove oxide of iron and silica, a regulated amount of manganese remaining in the product. Figs. 2 and 3, Plate IV, represent the hearth and roof of the Pernot furnace; Fig. 1 shows, in cross section, the general arrangeent of open-hearth plant with Pernot furnaces, as generally designed by the author, and now building at two works. The engrav-

Jan 1, 1879

By H. M. Chance

The present value of most coal properties resides largely in the cod remaining to be mined, which thus constitutes the most important asset. The object of this paper is to discuss methods commonly used in computing the value of minable coal. To distinguish clearly between such coal values and the values of other property, the several kinds of property values should be divided into classes; so as to avoid the unintentional omission of items of importance. Value op Coal Reserves Judicial decisions prescribe, and appraisers commonly accept, current sales value as the preferred means for determining the value of transferable property. With few exceptions a property is worth the sum that can be realized from its sale by a willing seller to a willing buyer, a sale in which compulsion urges neither party, and between whom there is no community of interest to fix a value; or it is worth at least as much as a responsible buyer will offer for it. Actual sales of like property or bids from responsible buyers for the property, or for substantially like property, are the best established methods for determining values. Only in the absence of such sales or bids can valuations by other methods be entertained, and only for reasons of weight can sales values be set aside. Valuation Based on Royalties Sales of coal in the ground, as customarily carried out through lease under royalty agreements, are therefore the most trustworthy means available for determining the value of coal reserves. The constantly rising value of high-grade coal in the United States can most readily be shown by the increasing royalties per ton that can be obtained for such coals under leasehold. The rising value of land containing such coal can also, of course, be proven by the price at which such properties are actually sold as compared with prices obtainable for lands containing coal of the same grade in the past. It is exceedingly difficult, however, to establish values by the prices paid for coal

Jan 1, 1927

By D. J. Jr. McAdam

Fort the past five years, an investigation of the endurance properties of metals has been in progress at the U. S. Naval Engineering Experiment Station, Annapolis, Md. As a result of the investigations at this Station1-5 and other laboratories6-11 "endurance limits" of practically all kinds of carbon and alloy steels have been determined and have been correlated with other physical properties, especially with tensile strength. About a year and a half ago, the investigation at the Naval Experiment Station was shifted to non-ferrous metals. As a result, several papers discussing the endurance properties of numerous non-ferrous metals and alloys, especially the alloys of nickel and of copper12-16 have been published. In these papers, stress-cycle graphs illustrate. the endurance properties of each individual metal and alloy, and other graphs illustrate the effect of cold working, heat treatment, and chemical composition on endurance and other physical properties. Endurance tests of non-ferrous metals were made by the machines used in the endurance tests of ferrous metals. 1-4 The specimen for the rotating-cantilever tests, which has been described, 1,2,13 has a conical surface, with taper so adjusted that the stress is nearly uniform over a length of about 1 ½ in. Alternating torsion tests were made with the machine of the inertia types17 and usually by an accelerated-fatigue method.12 As the rotating-cantilever endurance limits of metals are about twice the alternating-torsion endurance limits, the former values are more generally useful in correlating the endurance properties of nonferrous metals. In several recent papers by the writer13-16 correlation of the endurance properties of a number of non-ferrous metals has been discussed.

Jan 10, 1925

By Alexander L. Field

IN a previous paper,' the experimental methods used and some of the results obtained in an extensive investigation of steels containing zirconium were described. The present paper considers in greater detail one of the most interesting of these effects, namely, the elimination of " red shortness" and the occurrence in steel of a compound of zirconium and sulfur. A consideration of the actual percentages of zirconium, manganese, and sulfur in numerous steels in the light of behavior during rolling has led to new conclusions of the most practical import regarding the reciprocal relationships of these elements. The microscopic examination of high-sulfur steels containing zirconium has also been productive of interesting results. Before discussing the experimental data in question, it may be stated, briefly, that the rettetion between zirconium and sulfur in molten steel may be represented by the simple equation, Zr + 25 = ZrS², and that the zirconium sulfide thus formed occurs in the finished steel in the form of gray-colored inclusions, closely resembling manganese sulfide and, like the latter, exhibiting plasticity at rolling temperatures. Molten steel containing zirconium retains such a negligibly small amount of oxygen in solution that the foregoing reaction goes to completion. Hot-rolling Properties of High-sulfur Steels with and without Zirconium The chemical composition of twenty-eight steel ingots embracing eleven heats made in a basic-lined electric furnace is shown in Table 1. The practice followed in the manufacture of these high-sulfur steels was described in the previous paper. Table 1 also gives the behavior of the

Jan 1, 1924

By W. Rutledge

As is well known, the Sydney coal-field comprises an area of about 200 square miles, being about 32 miles from the month of Big Bras d' Or, on the northwest, to Mira Bay on the southeast, by about 6 miles in width. The whole of this area is underlain by

Jan 1, 1886

By T. W. Smoot

Bentonites are composed chiefly of montmorillonites which are clay minerals generally distinguished from other clay minerals by their surface activity and extremely fine particle sizes. The uses of bentonite are many and varied, depending principally on one or more of the following characteristics: 1) Thixotropy, 2) Dispersion, 3) Plasticity, 4) Swelling, 5) Surface area, activity, ab- and adsorbtive properties. Some of the major uses of bentonite are briefly reviewed as are the mineralogical and physical properties. The uses of X-ray diffraction, differential thermal analysis and other tests for physical properties are reviewed as to their uses in evaluation. In the past 40 years, the industrial uses of bentonite have grown to include many applications. The physical and chemical properties of bentonites are such that they can be used as catalysts, adsorbants, plasticizers, binders, drilling muds, and pelletizers. Not all bentonites, however, can be used for all of these purposes and some are probably of little or no value for any use. The purpose of this paper is to briefly review the mineralogical, physical, and chemical characteristics and variations of bentonites. The determination of these characteristics and their uses in industry are also reviewed so that these determinations can be used as guides for evaluation. DEFINITION OF BENTONITE The word bentonite, as used in this paper, refers to a clay material, usually (but not necessarily) the result of the in-place-weathering of volcanic ash. Its mineralogical composition is dominated by the clay mineral montmorillonite and generally carries other clay minerals and silica minerals as the major 'impurities'. For this discussion, such a definition is justified since most of the economic uses of bentonite~ depend upon the physical and chemical characteristics of the montmorillonite minerals involved. The terms montmorillonite and bentonite have been used almost interchangeably in industry although the latter is much more commonly used. Therefore, where montmorillonite is discussed, it should be understood that the major feature of a bentonite is the subject. STRUCTIJRE OF MONTMORILLONlTE The economic importance of bentonites is generally based on one or more of the following characteristics of montmorillonite: 1) high-thixotropy and easy dispersion in water, 2) high-plasticity, 3) swelling properties, 4) large surface area/unit mass, 5) high surface activity, and 6) adsorptive properties. To understand these properties, an appreciation of the structural scheme of montmorillonite is helpful. Montmorillonite IS one of the three-layer clay minerals composed essentially of hydrous aluminum silicates. The essential building blocks of these layered silicate:; are: 1) silica tetrahedron composed of a silicon atom surrounded by four oxygen atoms, and 2) aluminun (iron, magnesium, etc.) octahedral unit that, ideally, has one of these atoms surrounded by six hydroxal units. Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic sketch of the montmorillonite structure. In the montmorillonite structure, the tetrahedron are pointed inward and attached to the octahedral units so that the O= atoms replace the hydroxal units where they are bonded; hence two-thirds of the hydroxal units

Jan 1, 1962

By T. C. King

AT the new Graham-Central Mill of Eagle-Picher, near Galena, Ill., material is simultaneously dewatered and introduced into the ball-mill scoop boxes by the use of variable-speed, 24-in. spiral classifiers. This arrangement has proved satisfactory in that the moisture content of the wet feed is reduced, thus allowing maintenance of density within the mills, and a constant feed at any desired rate to the mills is provided. In this mill the primary feed is wet crushed to minus ½ in. and preconcentrated by jigs to produce a bulk lead-zinc-iron concentrate and a waste tailing. The jig concentrate is then dewatered by a conventional dewatering classifier and stored in, bins ahead of the ball mills. Even though this material is well dewatered, the discharge at the bin bottom is sloppy because of the gradual drainage of the water from the surface of the particles. Conventional belt feeders with vertical cutoff gates are unsatisfactory because of the flushing characteristic of the wet sand.

Jan 1, 1950

By Charles L. Harness

STRONTIUM is an essential constituent of celestite (strontium sulphate), of the rarer strontianite (strontium carbonate), and of a few very rare minerals. Celestite is the chief ore but strontianite is more valued except for making the purest strontium salts, because of its ease of processing. The public knows strontium mainly as the source of the red flame in fireworks but it has many other uses. PROPERTIES The celestite of commerce is a massive mineral of varying texture: coarsely crystalline, fibrous, bladed, very fine grained or earthy. The color varies greatly with the nature of the impurities but the purer specimens are light blue (Latin, caelum, sky) or white. The strontianite of commerce is a massive mineral, more or less coarsely crystalline. The color varies with the impurities. Distinctive characteristics are effervescence with acids, density (3.68 to 3.71), and crimson strontium flame. A typical British celestite before World War II analyzed: SrSO4, 96.55 pct; SrCO3, 0.17; BaSO4, 0.25; CaSO4, 0.54; MgCO3, 0.15; R20,, 0.90; Si02, 1.38.10 A German strontianite analyzed: SrCO3, 90.9 pct; CaCO3, 7.5; BaCO3, 0.1; Fe2O3, 0.05; A1203, 0.1; SiO2, 0.04; S, 0.1; P, 0.005.10 ORIGIN AND MODE OF OCCURRENCE According to Clarke,9 strontia forms about 0.02 pct of the crust of the earth and is present in most igneous rocks, but in smaller quantities than barium. Under certain conditions, large masses of celestite are deposited from sea water with anhydrite. The presence of large amounts of celestite in some saline deposits and its absence in others suggests that the deposition of celestite depends on whether certain as yet undetermined concentrations of sulphate and chloride ions are reached in the brines. The most extensive of these sedimentary deposits are those of the Keuper (Triassic) in England, of the Zechstein (Permian) in Germany, and of various Cretaceous formations in Texas, Arkansas, and Utah. Of the deposits of southeastern California and western Arizona,

Jan 1, 1949