Jonesite is a mineral with the chemical formula Ba4(K,Na)2[Ti4Al2Si10O36]*6H2O.[4] This mineral is named after Francis Tucker Jones (1905–1993), who discovered the mineral while working as a Research Chemical Microscopist at Berkeley in CA.[5] Jonesite has diffraction symmetry of mmm, which implies an orthorhombic system with all three axes perpendicular to each other and the angles between each axis equal to 90 degrees.[6] In addition to symmetrical properties, Jonesite is a biaxial mineral with birefringence, which is a term to describe the difference between index of refraction.[7] Jonesite is anisotropic, meaning the speed of light changes through the mineral, so the mineral shows color when viewed in crossed polarized light under a microscope. The mineral also has medium relief, which is a measure of how well the mineral stands out when viewed under a microscope in plane polarized light.[8] In addition to being one of the rarest minerals in the Benitoite Gem mine located in California, Jonesite also is the first titanosilicate mineral with a porous double-layered crystal structure.[9] This discovery is important because titanosilicate frameworks have industrial uses in energy companies and are used in containing radioactive waste.[10]
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