SCAPOLITE

any of a group of feldspathoid minerals found in calcium-rich metamorphic rocks, particularly marble, gneiss, granulite, greenschist, and skarns. Principal occurrences are Quebec and Ontario, Canada; Kiruna, Swed.; Pennsylvania, United States; and Queensland, Australia. These minerals form a solid-solution (chemical-replacement) series in which sodium and calcium replace each other in the molecular structure. Marialite, a sodium aluminosilicate, and meionite, a calcium aluminosilicate, are the theoretical end-members (pure compounds); they have been synthesized but occur in nature only with at least 20 percent substitution of one for the other. Several names have been given to naturally occurring scapolite, including wernerite (the former group name), dipyre (now used for the marialite-rich variety), and mizzonite (now used for the meionite-rich variety). For chemical formulae and detailed physical properties, see feldspathoid (table).