Mindat Short Description
Common member of the alunite supergroup. The Al analogue of jarosite and the K analogue of natroalunite.
Alunite has been used for dating (K-Ar method) of weathering processes in ore deposits or of the deposition of alunite in caves.
Geoscience Ontology Status Notes
Originally called alumen de Tolpha: Gesner C (1565) Alumen, in De omni rerum fossilium genere, gemmis, lapidibus, metallis, et huiusmodi, libri aliquot, plerique nunc primum editi, Excudebat Iacobus Gesnerus 11-13 The mineral was named alunite in this publication: Beudant F S (1824) 22e espèce. Alunite., in Traité Élémentaire de Minéralogie, Chez Verdière, Libraire (Paris) 449-450
IMA Formula (from Mindat)
KAl3(SO4)2(OH)6
RRUFF Formula (from Geoscience Ontology)
KAl3(SO4)2(OH)6