pandaite Min.
(ˈpændəaɪt)
Also pandaïte.
[f. Panda, the name of the hill in Mbeya, Tanzania, where it was first found + -ite1.]
A hydrated oxide of barium, strontium, niobium, and titanium, (Ba,Sr)(Nb,Ti)2(O,H2O)7, belonging to the pyrochlore group and found as yellow or white octahedral crystals.
| 1959 E. Jäger et al. in Mineral. Mag. XXXII. 24 Some authors prefer to include under pyrochlore all the members of the group. Others give distinct names to the various members of this group. We prefer the latter and therefore propose to give the mineral described above the name of pandaite (after Panda Hill). This name shall be used for those minerals of the pyrochlore group in which Ba predominates over other elements in the A positions. 1971 Mineralium Deposita VI. 154/2 This pandaïte shows large deficiencies in A ions and only 20–25% of the A positions are occupied. Ibid. 155/1 The mineral from Bingo [in the Congo] is a hydrated rare-earth variety of pandaïte. 1977 Amer. Mineralogist LXII. 407 Pandaite..is a synomym for bariopyrochlore. The name should be dropped. |