Entry № 206
Glauberite
Sodium Calcium Sulphate
An evaporite crystal that often dissolves and leaves its mould behind.
Chakra
Sacral · Solar Plexus
Element
Water · Earth
Zodiac
Cancer · Virgo
I. The Metaphysical Reading
How the stone has been held.
Glauberite is worked with as a stone of graceful departure, held during endings that need to be clean rather than dramatic. Practitioners hold it as a reminder that leaving a clear impression is itself a form of legacy.
- Chakra
- Sacral · Solar Plexus
- Element
- Water · Earth
- Zodiac
- Cancer · Virgo
- Keynote
- An evaporite crystal that often dissolves and leaves its mould behind.
II. The Scientific Reading
What the lattice actually does.
Glauberite is a monoclinic sodium-calcium sulphate that crystallises from evaporating brines in playa lakes and marine basins. It is soluble in water and often dissolves after burial, leaving casts and moulds — 'glauberite pseudomorphs' — that are frequently replaced later by quartz, calcite or gypsum. It is a signature mineral of arid evaporite sequences.
- Formula
- Na₂Ca(SO₄)₂
- System
- Monoclinic
- Hardness
- 2.5 – 3 (Mohs)
- Provenance
- Spain, Chile (Atacama), USA (California, Arizona), Austria
References & Sources
Independent mineralogical references used to verify the scientific details above.
Mineral Profile
Fact Sheet
- Chemical Formula
- Na₂Ca(SO₄)₂
- Crystal System
- Monoclinic
- Mohs Hardness
- 2.5 – 3 (Mohs)
- Density
- 2.75 – 2.85 g/cm³
- Refractive Index
- 1.515 – 1.536
- Provenance
- Spain, Chile (Atacama), USA (California, Arizona), Austria
- Color Origin
- Colourless, pale yellow, grey, sometimes brownish tabular crystals
Related Crystals
Stones that share this lattice
Next in the Atlas
Golden Barite
Heavy honey-coloured blades from ancient basins.
