Minerals from Macedonia XI. Silicate varieties and their localities - Identification by FT IR Spectroscopy

Among the rich orc deposits present in Macedonia, the silicate minerals arc thc most numerous group. The great majority of these minerals appear as rathcr large and well formed single crystal aggregates in the nature. Sometimes, however, some of the mineral species appear in association with other minerals whose crystals are not well developed. Here an overview of the basic morphological, physico-chemical and crystallographic characteristics of the most typical silicates collected from various localities within the Republic of Macedonia is given. The mineralogical and petrological features of the localities where the specimens are collected from are presented as well. Also an attempt to identify the minerals using the Ff IR spectroscopy and to classify them according to their structural characteristics is performed. The identification of the minerals was based on the comparison of the infrared spectra of our specimens with the corresponding literature data for the mineral species originating all over the world. The coloured pictures of all studied silicate minerals are presented as well.