The staurolite structure consists of oxygen atoms in an approximately cubic close packing. However, the cation arrangement does do not have cubic symmetry. The structure consists of dioctahedral sheets joined by isolated octahedra. Silica tetrahedra fill the gaps between octahedra. A polyhedral model is below.
Below is a ball model of staurolite. Blue atoms are oxygen, yellow and orange are iron or magnesium, and green are silicon.
Created 18 September 1998, Last Update 22 September 1999
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