Acicular (crystal habit)
Acicular, in mineralogy, refers to a crystal habit composed of a radiating mass of slender, needle-like crystals. Minerals with this habit tend to be fragile. Complete, undamaged acicular specimens can be uncommon.
Examples
Minerals with an acicular habit include mesolite, natrolite,[1] malachite, gypsum, rutile, brochantite, bultfonteinite and dimethyltryptamine.[2]
Differences from other habits
Some minerals like creedite form prismatic crystals that appear to be acicular, but are instead prismatic in a bladelike form; these can be told apart by the fact that all prismatic crystals are less sharp, sometimes are tipped with a pyramidal shape, and keep a standard cross-section shape with straight edges. Acicular crystals differ from fibrous crystals in their thickness; crystals with a fibrous habit are much thinner, sometimes to the point of being flexible like hair, while acicular crystals are thicker and rigid.
See also
References
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External links
- "Skeletal microstructure of Galaxea fascicularis exsert septa: a high-resolution SEM study", Biological Bulletin
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