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The mineralogy of Barium

General Properties
Symbol:Ba
Atomic Number:56
Standard atomic weight (Ar):137.327(7)
Electron configuration:[Xe] 6s2
Photos
ImageImage
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1.5 grams barium with a grey oxide layer under argon
>
Atomic Properties
Electronegativity (Pauling scale):0.89
Atomic Radius:253 pm
Ionic Radius:135 pm (+2)
1st Ionization energy:503 kJ/mol
1st Electron affinity:-14 kJ/mol
Oxidation States:2
Physical Properties
Standard State:solid
Bonding Type:metallic
Melting Point:1000 K
Boiling Point:2143 K
Density:3.51 g/cm3
Metal/Non-Metal:alkaline earth metal
Main isotopes of Barium
Isotope% in NatureHalf LifeDecay typeDecay product
130Ba0.106%(0.5-2.7)×1021yεε130Xe
132Ba0.101%>3×1020yβ+β+ ?132Xe
133Basynthetic10.51yε133Cs
134Ba2.417%-Spontaneous fission ?
135Ba6.592%-Spontaneous fission ?
136Ba7.854%-Spontaneous fission ?
137Ba11.23%-Spontaneous fission ?
138Ba71.7%-Spontaneous fission ?
Main ions of Barium
NameIonExample minerals
bariumBa2+Baryte, Witherite
Other Information
Year Discovered:1772
Discovered By:
06630940017362065738953.png
Carl Wilhelm Scheele
Year Isolated:1808
Isolated By:
08556590017362062496397.jpg
Humphry Davy
Named For:Greek: barys - "heavy"
CPK color coding:#00C900
External Links:WikipediaWebElementsLos Alamos National LaboratoryTheodore Gray's PeriodicTable.com
Simple Compounds and Mineral Names
Nitridestribarium dinitrideBa3N2+2
Sulfidesbarium sulphideBaS+2
barium trisulphideBa(S3)+2
Selenidesbarium selenideBaSe+2
Hydridesbarium dihydrideBaH2+2
Fluoridesbarium difluorideBaF2+2Frankdicksonite
Chloridesbarium dichlorideBaCl2+2
barium dichloride dihydrateBaCl2 · 2H2O+2
Bromidesbarium dibromide dihydrateBaBr2 · 2H2O+2
Iodidesbarium diiodideBaI2+2
barium diiodide dihydrateBaI2 · 2H2O+2
Oxidesbarium oxideBaO+2
barium peroxideBaO2+2
Carbonatesbarium carbonateBaCO3+2Witherite
Nitratesbarium nitrateBa(NO3)2+2Nitrobarite
Sulfatesbarium sulfateBaSO4+baryte
Mineral Diversity of Barium
2. Sulfides And Sulfosalts 2 valid mineral species
3. Halides6 valid mineral species
4. Oxides 25 valid mineral species
5. Carbonates 27 valid mineral species
7. Sulfates 7 valid mineral species
8. Phosphates, Arsenates, Vanadates56 valid mineral species
9. Silicates 136 valid mineral species
10. Organic Compounds1 valid mineral species
Total:260 valid species containing essential Barium
Minerals with the greatest weight % of Barium
FrankdicksoniteBaF278.33 %
ZhangpeishaniteBaFCl71.61 %
WitheriteBaCO369.59 %
FluoralforsiteBa5(PO4)3F69.32 %
MazoriteBa3(PO4)268.44 %
AlforsiteBa5(PO4)3Cl68.19 %
VegrandisiteBaCl265.95 %
GurimiteBa3(VO4)264.19 %
BarioperovskiteBaTiO358.89 %
BaryteBaSO458.84 %
Geochemistry of Barium
Goldschmidt classification:Lithophile
Ba2+ enters later phases in igneous rocks due to its large size.
Elemental Abundance for Barium
Crust (CRC Handbook)4.25 x 10-4mass fraction, kg/kg
Crust (Kaye & Laby)3.8 x 10-4mass fraction, kg/kg
Crust (Greenwood)3.90 x 10-4mass fraction, kg/kg
Crust (Ahrens/Taylor)2.50000 x 10-4mass fraction, kg/kg
Crust (Ahrens/Wänke)5.42000 x 10-4mass fraction, kg/kg
Crust (Ahrens/Weaver)7.07000 x 10-4mass fraction, kg/kg
Upper Crust (Ahrens/Taylor)5.50000 x 10-4mass fraction, kg/kg
Upper Crust (Ahrens/Shaw)1.070000 x 10-3mass fraction, kg/kg
Sea Water (CRC Handbook)1.3 x 10-8mass per volume fraction, kg/L
Sea Water (Kaye & Laby)2.1 x 10-8mass per volume fraction, kg/L
The Sun (Kaye & Laby)3.8 x 10-6atom mole fraction relative to Si=1
Solar System (Kaye & Laby)4.5 x 10-6atom mole fraction relative to Si=1
Solar System (Ahrens)4.49 x 10-6 (6.3%)atom mole fraction relative to Si=1 (% uncertainty)
Element association of Barium in the Mineral World
This table compares the known valid mineral species listed listed with Barium and the other elements listed based on the official IMA formula. Note that unlike other sections on this page this includes non-essential elements.

The first data column contains the total number of minerals listed with Barium and the element listed for that row.

The second data column lists this number as a percentage of all minerals listed with Barium.

The final data column compares this percentage against the percentage of all minerals that contain the element listed in each row.

Click on a heading to sort.
ElementValid Minerals listed with element and Barium% of Ba mineralsRelative to % in all minerals
Oxygen281 minerals with Ba and O97.57%20.26% higher
Hydrogen170 minerals with Ba and H59.03%5.79% higher
Silicon155 minerals with Ba and Si53.82%94.94% higher
Sodium84 minerals with Ba and Na29.17%55.92% higher
Titanium78 minerals with Ba and Ti27.08%286.97% higher
Iron76 minerals with Ba and Fe26.39%17.30% higher
Calcium75 minerals with Ba and Ca26.04%4.72% higher
Fluorine65 minerals with Ba and F22.57%185.04% higher
Aluminium59 minerals with Ba and Al20.49%2.61% higher
Phosphorus55 minerals with Ba and P19.10%55.41% higher
Potassium44 minerals with Ba and K15.28%53.55% higher
Manganese42 minerals with Ba and Mn14.58%24.91% higher
Carbon40 minerals with Ba and C13.89%69.87% higher
Magnesium37 minerals with Ba and Mg12.85%3.90% lower
Strontium28 minerals with Ba and Sr9.72%244.50% higher
Niobium28 minerals with Ba and Nb9.72%218.98% higher
Chlorine25 minerals with Ba and Cl8.68%17.53% higher
Cerium25 minerals with Ba and Ce8.68%180.35% higher
Vanadium22 minerals with Ba and V7.64%58.96% higher
Sulfur16 minerals with Ba and S5.56%74.82% lower
Uranium16 minerals with Ba and U5.56%8.68% higher
Boron15 minerals with Ba and B5.21%3.18% higher
Arsenic11 minerals with Ba and As3.82%70.61% lower
Yttrium9 minerals with Ba and Y3.13%35.51% higher
Lead8 minerals with Ba and Pb2.78%74.29% lower
Beryllium7 minerals with Ba and Be2.43%13.32% higher
Copper7 minerals with Ba and Cu2.43%82.10% lower
Zirconium7 minerals with Ba and Zr2.43%0.48% higher
Chromium4 minerals with Ba and Cr1.39%25.11% lower
Lanthanum4 minerals with Ba and La1.39%2.53% higher
Zinc3 minerals with Ba and Zn1.04%81.54% lower
Neodymium3 minerals with Ba and Nd1.04%19.62% higher
Tungsten3 minerals with Ba and W1.04%15.35% higher
Thorium3 minerals with Ba and Th1.04%57.55% higher
Lithium2 minerals with Ba and Li0.69%64.99% lower
Nickel2 minerals with Ba and Ni0.69%79.69% lower
Nitrogen1 mineral with Ba and N0.35%86.37% lower
Scandium1 mineral with Ba and Sc0.35%20.25% lower
Selenium1 mineral with Ba and Se0.35%87.03% lower
Molybdenum1 mineral with Ba and Mo0.35%78.03% lower
Tin1 mineral with Ba and Sn0.35%81.11% lower
Gadolinium1 mineral with Ba and Gd0.35%258.85% higher
Dysprosium1 mineral with Ba and Dy0.35%617.71% higher
Periodic Table
1H 2He
3Li 4Be 5B 6C 7N 8O 9F 10Ne
11Na 12Mg 13Al 14Si 15P 16S 17Cl 18Ar
19K 20Ca 21Sc 22Ti 23V 24Cr 25Mn 26Fe 27Co 28Ni 29Cu 30Zn 31Ga 32Ge 33As 34Se 35Br 36Kr
37Rb 38Sr 39Y 40Zr 41Nb 42Mo 43Tc 44Ru 45Rh 46Pd 47Ag 48Cd 49In 50Sn 51Sb 52Te 53I 54Xe
55Cs 56Ba 57La 72Hf 73Ta 74W 75Re 76Os 77Ir 78Pt 79Au 80Hg 81Tl 82Pb 83Bi 84Po 85At 86Rn
87Fr 88Ra 89Ac 104Rd 105Db 106Sg 107Bh 108Hs 109Mt 110Ds 111Rg 112Cn 113Nh 114Fl 115Mc 116Lv 117Ts 118Og
 
58Ce 59Pr 60Nd 61Pm 62Sm 63Eu 64Gd 65Tb 66Dy 67Ho 68Er 69Tm 70Yb 71Lu
90Th 91Pa 92U 93Np 94Pu 95Am 96Cm 97Bk 98Cf 99Es 100Fm 101Md 102No 103Lr
Default Categories CPK Electronegativity Atomic Radius Lowest Oxidation Highest Oxidation Crustal Abundance Goldschmidt Mineral Species Minerals with Ba Relative Frequency
Caesium << Barium >> Lanthanum


Most widespread minerals containing Barium
This list of minerals containing Barium is built from the mindat.org locality database. This is based on the number of localities entered for mineral species and is therefore slanted towards minerals interesting to collectors with less coverage of common rock-forming-minerals so it does not give an undistorted distribution of Barium mineral species. It is more useful when comparing rare species rather than common species.
NameFormulaCrystal SystemMindat Localities
BaryteBaSO4Orthorhombic14567
Romanèchite(Ba,H2O)2(Mn4+,Mn3+)5O10Monoclinic381
HarmotomeBa2(Si12Al4)O32 · 12H2OMonoclinic345
HollanditeBa(Mn4+6Mn3+2)O16Monoclinic342
WitheriteBaCO3Orthorhombic319
BariopharmacosideriteBa0.5Fe3+4(AsO4)3(OH)4 · 5H2OTetragonal202
CelsianBa(Al2Si2O8)Monoclinic158
GorceixiteBaAl3(PO4)(PO3OH)(OH)6Monoclinic156
BarytocalciteBaCa(CO3)2Monoclinic110
UranocirciteBa(UO2)2(PO4)2 · 10H2OTetragonal100
Photos
02967530017271921351533.jpg
Baryte

Kremnica Au-Ag deposit, Kremnica, Žiar nad Hronom District, Banská Bystrica Region, Slovakia
04056370017369579682504.jpg
Romanèchite

Ober-Kainsbach, Reichelsheim, Odenwaldkreis, Darmstadt, Hesse, Germany
08587780017271923582294.jpg
Harmotome

FittĂ , Soave, Verona Province, Veneto, Italy
05141690017271923823274.jpg
Hollandite

Königsberg mining district, Lauterecken-Wolfstein, Kusel, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany
01206210017362086748694.jpg
Baryte

Kremnica Au-Ag deposit, Kremnica, Žiar nad Hronom District, Banská Bystrica Region, Slovakia
04056370017369579682504.jpg
Romanèchite

Ober-Kainsbach, Reichelsheim, Odenwaldkreis, Darmstadt, Hesse, Germany
03494950017271925919602.jpg
Harmotome

FittĂ , Soave, Verona Province, Veneto, Italy
05141690017271923823274.jpg
Hollandite

Königsberg mining district, Lauterecken-Wolfstein, Kusel, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany
02967530017271921351533.jpg
Baryte

Kremnica Au-Ag deposit, Kremnica, Žiar nad Hronom District, Banská Bystrica Region, Slovakia
02987110017369593844548.jpg
Romanèchite

Ober-Kainsbach, Reichelsheim, Odenwaldkreis, Darmstadt, Hesse, Germany
08587780017271923582294.jpg
Harmotome

FittĂ , Soave, Verona Province, Veneto, Italy
05141690017271923823274.jpg
Hollandite

Königsberg mining district, Lauterecken-Wolfstein, Kusel, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany

Localities with greatest number of different Barium mineral species
1Gun claim, Wilson Lake, Itsi Mountain, Watson Lake mining district, Yukon, Canada28 Ba minerals
2Esquire No. 7 claim, Big Creek, Big Creek-Rush Creek Mining District, Fresno County, California, USA25 Ba minerals
3Trumbull Peak Ba-silicate deposit, Trumbull Peak, Clearing House, Clearing House Mining District, East Belt, Mariposa County, California, USA21 Ba minerals
4Esquire No. 8 claim, Big Creek, Big Creek-Rush Creek Mining District, Fresno County, California, USA20 Ba minerals
5Poudrette quarry (De-Mix quarry; Demix quarry; Uni-Mix quarry; Carrière Mont Saint-Hilaire; MSH), Mont Saint-Hilaire, La Vallée-du-Richelieu RCM, Montérégie, Québec, Canada19 Ba minerals
6Dara-i-Pioz Massif, Districts of Republican Subordination, Tajikistan17 Ba minerals
7Kirovskii apatite mine, Kukisvumchorr Mt, Murmansk Oblast, Russia16 Ba minerals
8Esquire No. 1 claim, Rush Creek, Big Creek-Rush Creek Mining District, Fresno County, California, USA15 Ba minerals
 
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