Diopside

Diopside is a monoclinic pyroxene mineral with composition MgCaSi2O6. It forms a solid solution series with hedenbergite (FeCaSi2O6) and augite. Diopside is found in mafic igneous rocks as well as in many metamorphic rocks. It is also a constituent of the Earth's mantle.

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Gemstone quality diopside is found in two forms: the black star diopside and the chrome diopside (which includes chromium giving it a green colour).

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Monoclinic: In crystallography, the monoclinic crystal system is one of the 7 lattice point groups. A crystal system is described by three vectors. In the monoclinic system, the crystal is described by vectors of unequal length, as in the orthorhombic system. They form a rectangular prism with a parallelogram...

Pyroxene: The pyroxenes are a group of important rock-forming silicate minerals found in many igneous and metamorphic rocks. They share a common structure comprised of single chains of silica tetrahedra and they crystalise in the monoclinic and orthorhombic system. Pyroxenes have the general formula XY(Si,Al)...

Mineral: This article is about minerals in the geologic sense; for nutrient minerals see dietary mineral; for the band see Mineral (band)....