American Mineralogist, Volume 68, pages 277-279, 1983

Symbolsfor rock-forming mineralsl

RupH KRBrz
Department of Geology
University of Ottawa
Ottawa. Canada KIN 984
There is at present a disturbing lack of uniformity
in the choice of symbols for rock-forming minerals.
For example,in Volume 65 (1980)of TheAmerican
Mineralogisl, all of BT, BIO, and Biot are used for
biotite, and all of Q, QTZ, Qtz, Qz and qtz are used
for quartz. At least 10other minerals are referred to
by two or more symbols, and in one instance,two
different symbols are used for a mineral in a single
paper.
In Table I is a list of mineral names,taken mainly
from Deer et al. (1962), and for each name a
proposed symbol. In preparing the list of symbols,
consideration was given to mineral names in the
different languagesused in scientific writing. With
few exceptions, the names for a mineral in the
languages English (E), French (F), German (G),
Russian (R), and Spanish (S) have similar phonetics, for example:
E
F
G
R
S

biotite
biotite
biotit
'uorrrr
biotita

and a suitable choice for a symbol is Bt. International uniformity would depend on the willingness
of Russian scientists to adopt Latin letters for
mineral symbols, as Perchuk (1973) has already
done. Another example is:
E
F
G
R
S

garnet
grenat
granat
rpanar
granate

and the symbol Grt would seempreferable to Gar.

IEditor's note: the abbreviation system describedin this note

is recommended,not required, for use in TheAmerican Mineralogist. Comments will be appreciated.
0003-.fix)vE3/0r02-0277$02.ffi

277

An example of a mineral that has very diferent

namesin different languagesis:
E
F
G
R
S

kyanite
disthdne
cyanit
K,I4aH'ITr
cianita

Here, because Russian and English writing outweighs that of other languages,agreementmight be
found in the symbol Ky.
Most of the symbols that were selectedhave been
usedpreviouslyby numerousauthors,e.g., Bowen
(1928), Ramberg (1952), Perchuk (1973), Winkler
(1973), Mueller and Saxena (1977), Barton and
Skinner (1979) and the various authors of the Reviewsin Mineralogy(e.g.,Prewitt, 1980).However,
becauseso much variation exists, some guidelines
were required, and the following were chosen:(l)
The mineral symbol should consist of 2 or 3 letters,
the first capitalized, the other(s) in lower case. (2)
The first letter should be the sameas the first letter
of the mineral name, and the others should be
selectedfrom the mineral name,preferably from the
consonants.(3) A mineral symbol should not be
identical to any of the symbols of the periodic table
of the elements. (4) The symbol should preferably
not spell out a word in common use in any of the
languagesused in scientific writing.
The standard we should strive for with regard to
mineral symbols is the universally adopted system
of symbols for the chemical elements.
The use of a single symbol for both a mineral
phase and a component of a mineral or of a melt
phase has created confusion in the past, and a
separateset of symbols for componentsis required.
It is suggestedthat component symbols be written
entirely in the lower case, for example di for the
componentCaMgSizOoin a pyroxene crystal or in a
melt. Some examples of components that coffespond to mineral "end members" and their proposedsymbolsare listed in Table 2.

278

KRETZ: SYMBOLS FOR ROCK.FORMING MINERALS

Table l. Mineral Symbols

Acm
Act
Agt
Ak
Ab
Aln
Alm
Anl
Ant.
And
Adr
Anh
Ank
Ann
An
Atg
Ath
Ap
Apo
Arg
Arf
Apy
Aug
Ax
Brt
Br1
Bt
Btm
Bn
Brk
Brc
Bst
Cam
Cpx
Ca1
Ccn
Crn
Cst
Cls
Cbz
Cc
Ccp
Ch1
Ctd
Chn
Chr
Ccl
Ct1
Cen
cfs
Chu
Czo
Crd
Crn
Cv
Crs
Cum
Dsp
Dg
Di
Dol
Drv
Eck
Ed

acmite
actlJlollte
aegirine-augLte
ikernanite
al-bite
al-lanite
almandine
anal-clte
anatase
andalusite
andradite
anhydrite
ankerite
annlte
anorthite
antigoriEe
anthophylllte
apatite
apophylllte
aragonite
arfvedsonite
arsenopyrite
augite
axinite
barite
beryl
biotite
boehnite
bornite
brookite
brucite
bustanite
Ca clinoamphibole
Ca cllnopyroxene
caLcite
cancrlnite
carnegleite
cassiterite
celestite
chabazite
chalcocite
chalcopyrite
chlorite
chloritold
chondrodite
chronlte
chrysocolla
chrysotile
cl-inoenstatite
clinoferrosilite
cllnohunite
clinozoisite
cordierite
corundum
covellite
cristoballite
cummingtonite
diaspore
diginite
diopside
doloni.te
dravite
eckermannite
edenite

Elb
elbaite
(ortho)
En
enstatLte
Ep
epidote
Fst
fasslte
Fa
fayalite
Fac ferroactinolite
Fed ferroederilte
(ortho)
Fs
ferrosiltte
Fts
ferrotschermaklte
Fl"
fluorite
Fo
forsterite
galena
Gn
garnet
Grt
Ged gedriEe
gehlenite
Gh
Gbs gibbsite
glauconite
Glt
glaucophane
Gln
geothite
Gt
graphite
Gr
Grs grossularite
Gru grunerite
Gp
gypsum
halite
HI
Hs
hastingsite
Hyn haiiyne
Hd
hedenbergite
Hem hematite
Hc
hercynite
Hul- heulandlte
Hb1 hornblende
Hu
humLte
IL1
illite
IIn
ilmenite
jadelte
Jd
johannsenLte
Jh
Krs
kaersutLte
Kls
kalsllite
K1n kaolinite
Ktp
kataphorite
Kfs
K feldspar
Krn
kornerupine
Ky
kyanite
Lmt laumontlte
Lws lawsonite
Lpd lepidolite
Lct
leucite
Lm
linonite
Lz
lizardite
Lo
loellingite
Mgh uaghemite
Mkt magnesiokatoptorlte
Mrb magnesioriebeckite
Mgs magnesite
Mag nurgnetite
Mrg margarLte
Me1 nelilite
Mc
microcline
Mo
urolybdenite
Wrz monazite
Mtc monticel-lLte
l,lnt montmorillonlte
MuL nullite
Ms
muscovite

Ntr
Ne
Nrb
Nsn
01
Omp
Oam
Or
Opx
Pg
Prg
Pct
Pn
Per
Prv
Phl
Pgt
Pl
Prh
Pen
Pnp
Py
Prp
Prl
Po
Qtz
Rbk
Rds
Rdn
Rt
Sa
Spr
Scp
Sr1
Srp
Sd
Sil
Sd1
Sps
Sp
Spn
Sp1
Spd
St
Stb
Stp
Str
T1c
Ilrp
Ttn
Toz
Tur
Tr
Trd
Tro
Ts
Usp
Vrm
Ves
l.,lh
tJo
Wus
Ztn
Zo

natrolite
nephellne
norberglte
nosean
olLvine
ornphacite
orthoarnphibole
orthoclase
orthopyroxene
paragonite
pargasite
pectolite
pentlandite
periclase
perovsklte
phlogopite
pigeonite
plagiocLase
prehnlte
protoenstatite
punpellylte
pyrite
pyrope
pyrophylliEe
pyrrhotite
quartz
riebeckite
rhodothrosite
rhodonj.te
rutile
sanidine
sapphlrine
scapolite
schorl
serpentine
siderite
sillinanite
sodalite
spessartine
sphalerite
sphene
spinel
spodumene
staurolite
stilbite
stilpnomelane
strontianite
tal-c
thonpsohite
titanite
topaz
tourmaline
Eremolite
trldymite
trollite
tschermakite
ulv6spinel
vermiculite
vesuvianite
lrltherite
wollastonite
wiistite
zircon
zolslte

KRETZ: SYMBOLS FOR ROCK-FORMING MINERALS

Table 2. Symbols for some components

279

References

fo

MgrSiOO

fa

FerStOO

alo

Fe3A12S130l2

PTP

u83412S13012

sPs

l{n3A12S13Ot2

en

l,lC2Si2O6

di

Cal,lCSl2O6

tr

ca2Mg5st8022 (oH)

ph1

KrMeUAlrsiroro
(oH)O

eaa

(oH)
K2l,lg5A1A13s1502o

ab

NaAlS13O8

an

CaAl2St208

Barton, P. B. Jr. and Skinner, B. J. (1979) Sulfide mineral

stabilities, In H. L. Barnes, Ed., Geochemistryof Hydrothermal Ore Deposits, p. 236-333.J. Wiley & Sons, New York.
Bowen, N. L. (192E) The Evolution of the Igneous Rocks.
Princeton University Press, New Jersey.
Deer, W. A., Howie, R. A. and Zussman, J. (1962) RockForrning Minerals: vol. l-5. Longmans, Green & Co., London.
Mueller, R. F. and Saxena, S. K. (1977) Chemical Petrology.
Springer-Verlag,New York.
Prewitt, C. T. (Editor) (19E0)Reviews in Mineralogy, vol. 7:
Pyroxenes. Mineralogical Society of America, Washington,
D. C.
Perchuk, L. L. (1973)Thermodynamic Regime of Deep-Seated
Petrogenesis.
Academyof Sciences,U.S.S.R. (In Russian).
Ramberg,H. (1952)The Origin of Metamorphic and Metasomatic Rocks. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois.
Winkler, H. G. F. (1974) Petrogenesisof Metamorphic Rocks.
Springer-Verlag,New York.
Manuscript received, February 17, 19E2;
acceptedfor publication, May 3, 1962.