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⇱ The mineralogy of Lanthanum

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The mineralogy of Lanthanum

General Properties
Symbol:La
Atomic Number:57
Standard atomic weight (Ar):138.90547(7)
Electron configuration:[Xe] 5d1 6s2
Photos
1.5 grams pure lanthanum
Atomic Properties
Electronegativity (Pauling scale):1.1
Atomic Radius:169 pm
Ionic Radius:103.2 pm (+3)
1st Ionization energy:538 kJ/mol
1st Electron affinity:-48 kJ/mol
Oxidation States:2,3
Physical Properties
Standard State:solid
Bonding Type:metallic
Melting Point:1193 K
Boiling Point:3737 K
Density:6.15 g/cm3
Metal/Non-Metal:lanthanoid
Main isotopes of Lanthanum
Isotope% in NatureHalf LifeDecay typeDecay product
137Lasynthetic6×104yε137Ba
138La0.090%1.05×1011yε138Ba
β−138Ce
139La99.910%-Spontaneous fission ?
Main ions of Lanthanum
NameIonExample minerals
lanthanum(II)La2+
lanthanum(III)La3+Monazite-(La), Rhabdophane-(La)
Other Information
Year Discovered:1838
Discovered By:
Named For:From Greek: lanthanein - "to lie (hidden)"
CPK color coding:#70D4FF
External Links:WikipediaWebElementsLos Alamos National LaboratoryTheodore Gray's PeriodicTable.com
Simple Compounds and Mineral Names
Sulfideslanthanum sulphideLaS+2
dilanthanum trisulphideLa2S3+3
Selenideslanthanum selenideLaSe+2
Tellurideslanthanum tellurideLaTe+2
Hydrideslanthanum dihydrideLaH2+2
lanthanum trihydrideLaH3+3
Fluorideslanthanum trifluorideLaF3+3Fluocerite-(La)
Chlorideslanthanum trichloride trihydrateLaCl3 · 3H2O+3
lanthanum trichlorideLaCl3+3
Bromideslanthanum tribromideLaBr3+3
Iodideslanthanum triiodideLaI3+3
Oxidesdilanthanum trioxideLa2O3+3
Carbonateslanthanum carbonateLa2(CO3)3+3
lanthanum carbonate octahydrateLa2(CO3)3 · 8H2O+3Lanthanite-(La)
basic lanthanum carbonateLaCO3OH+3, Kozoite-(La)
Phosphateslanthanum phosphateLaPO4+3Monazite-(La)
lanthanum phosphate monohydrateLaPO4 · H2O+3Rhabdophane-(La)
Vanadateslanthanum vanadateLaVO4+3Wakefieldite-(La)
Mineral Diversity of Lanthanum
3. Halides2 valid mineral species
4. Oxides 3 valid mineral species
5. Carbonates 14 valid mineral species
8. Phosphates, Arsenates, Vanadates12 valid mineral species
9. Silicates 28 valid mineral species
Total:59 valid species containing essential Lanthanum
Minerals with the greatest weight % of Lanthanum
Håleniusite-(La)(La,Ce)OF79.88 %
Fluocerite-(La)LaF370.91 %
Kozoite-(La)La(CO3)(OH)64.33 %
Hydroxylbastnäsite-(La)(La,Nd,Ce)(CO3)(OH,F)64.33 %
Bastnäsite-(La)La(CO3)F63.74 %
Percleveite-(La)La2Si2O762.29 %
Monazite-(La)La(PO4)59.39 %
Rhabdophane-(La)La(PO4)·H2O55.14 %
Törnebohmite-(La)La2Al(SiO4)2(OH)54.91 %
Wakefieldite-(La)La(VO4)54.72 %
Geochemistry of Lanthanum
Goldschmidt classification:Lithophile
La3+ was one of the ions least depleted from the mantle in the formation of the crust.
La3+ is enriched in Ca-Al-rich inclusions in meteorites relative to the composition of the solar system.
La3+ is concentrated in residual soils and sediments (less certainty.)
Elemental Abundance for Lanthanum
Crust (CRC Handbook)3.9 x 10-5mass fraction, kg/kg
Crust (Kaye & Laby)5.0 x 10-5mass fraction, kg/kg
Crust (Greenwood)3.5 x 10-5mass fraction, kg/kg
Crust (Ahrens/Taylor)1.6000 x 10-5mass fraction, kg/kg
Crust (Ahrens/Wänke)2.9000 x 10-5mass fraction, kg/kg
Crust (Ahrens/Weaver)2.8000 x 10-5mass fraction, kg/kg
Upper Crust (Ahrens/Taylor)3.0000 x 10-5mass fraction, kg/kg
Upper Crust (Ahrens/Shaw)3.200 x 10-6mass fraction, kg/kg
Sea Water (CRC Handbook)3.4 x 10-12mass per volume fraction, kg/L
Sea Water (Kaye & Laby)3.4 x 10-12mass per volume fraction, kg/L
The Sun (Kaye & Laby)5.0 x 10-7atom mole fraction relative to Si=1
Solar System (Kaye & Laby)4.4 x 10-7atom mole fraction relative to Si=1
Solar System (Ahrens)4.46 x 10-7 (2.0%)atom mole fraction relative to Si=1 (% uncertainty)
Element association of Lanthanum in the Mineral World
This table compares the known valid mineral species listed listed with Lanthanum 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 Lanthanum and the element listed for that row.

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

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 Lanthanum% of La mineralsRelative to % in all minerals
Oxygen84 minerals with La and O98.82%21.76% higher
Hydrogen44 minerals with La and H51.76%7.09% lower
Silicon38 minerals with La and Si44.71%61.97% higher
Calcium36 minerals with La and Ca42.35%70.12% higher
Cerium33 minerals with La and Ce38.82%1,155.70% higher
Carbon27 minerals with La and C31.76%288.30% higher
Iron27 minerals with La and Fe31.76%41.40% higher
Aluminium24 minerals with La and Al28.24%41.75% higher
Sodium18 minerals with La and Na21.18%13.37% higher
Fluorine17 minerals with La and F20.00%153.47% higher
Neodymium15 minerals with La and Nd17.65%1,967.70% higher
Manganese12 minerals with La and Mn14.12%21.09% higher
Strontium10 minerals with La and Sr11.76%315.11% higher
Phosphorus9 minerals with La and P10.59%13.94% lower
Titanium9 minerals with La and Ti10.59%50.81% higher
Arsenic7 minerals with La and As8.24%36.55% lower
Magnesium6 minerals with La and Mg7.06%47.12% lower
Thorium6 minerals with La and Th7.06%969.15% higher
Boron5 minerals with La and B5.88%16.71% higher
Copper5 minerals with La and Cu5.88%56.67% lower
Vanadium4 minerals with La and V4.71%2.26% lower
Yttrium4 minerals with La and Y4.71%102.94% higher
Barium4 minerals with La and Ba4.71%1.12% higher
Niobium3 minerals with La and Nb3.53%14.75% higher
Uranium3 minerals with La and U3.53%31.08% lower
Sulfur2 minerals with La and S2.35%89.33% lower
Zinc2 minerals with La and Zn2.35%58.13% lower
Zirconium2 minerals with La and Zr2.35%2.59% lower
Beryllium2 minerals with La and Be2.35%9.04% higher
Potassium2 minerals with La and K2.35%76.43% lower
Chromium2 minerals with La and Cr2.35%27.06% higher
Lithium1 mineral with La and Li1.18%40.60% lower
Praseodymium1 mineral with La and Pr1.18%7,205.88% higher
Lead1 mineral with La and Pb1.18%89.10% lower
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 La Relative Frequency
Barium << Lanthanum >> Cerium


Most widespread minerals containing Lanthanum
This list of minerals containing Lanthanum 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 Lanthanum mineral species. It is more useful when comparing rare species rather than common species.
NameFormulaCrystal SystemMindat Localities
Monazite-(La)La(PO4)Monoclinic63
Agardite-(La)LaCu6(AsO4)3(OH)6 · 3H2OHexagonal42
Bastnäsite-(La)La(CO3)FHexagonal40
Allanite-(La)(CaLa)(AlAlFe2+)O[Si2O7][SiO4](OH)Monoclinic33
Davidite-(La)La(Y,U)Fe2(Ti,Fe,Cr,V)18(O,OH,F)38Trigonal33
Rhabdophane-(La)La(PO4) · H2OHexagonal28
Ancylite-(La)LaSr(CO3)2(OH) · H2OOrthorhombic27
Lanthanite-(La)La2(CO3)3 · 8H2OOrthorhombic16
Florencite-(La)LaAl3(PO4)2(OH)6Trigonal15
Hydroxylbastnäsite-(La)(La,Nd,Ce)(CO3)(OH,F)Hexagonal11
Photos

Localities with greatest number of different Lanthanum mineral species
1Mochalin Log, Kyshtym, Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia17 La minerals
2Aris Quarries, Aris, Windhoek Rural, Khomas Region, Namibia6 La minerals
3In den Dellen quarries, Mendig, Mendig, Mayen-Koblenz, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany5 La minerals
4Clara Mine, Oberwolfach, Ortenaukreis, Freiburg Region, Baden-Württemberg, Germany5 La minerals
Poços de Caldas alkaline complex, Minas Gerais, Brazil4 La minerals
6Poudrette quarry (De-Mix quarry; Demix quarry; Uni-Mix quarry; Carrière Mont Saint-Hilaire; MSH), Mont Saint-Hilaire, La Vallée-du-Richelieu RCM, Montérégie, Québec, Canada4 La minerals
7Paulo de Mudo claim, Novo Horizonte, Bahia, Brazil4 La minerals
Shobu manganese deposit, Shobu, Ise City, Mie Prefecture, Japan4 La minerals


Spotted a mistake/omission? - These pages are a work in progress, so please send all comments/corrections to jolyon@mindat.org. Thank you.

Constants and physical property data from:

Lide, David R. - Ed. (2005) CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics - A Ready-Reference Book of Chemical and Physical Data (85th ed.). CRC Press.
National Physical Laboratory (2005) Kaye and Laby Online (discontinued). https://web.archive.org/web/20190506031327/http://www.kayelaby.npl.co.uk/
Kaye, G. W. C.; Laby, T. H. (n.d.) Tables of Physical and Chemical Constants and some Mathematical Functions. Longmans, Green, and Co.
Greenwood, N.N.; Earnshaw, A. (1997) Chemistry of the Elements (2nd ed.). Butterworth–Heinemann.
Ahrens, Thomas J. - Ed. (1995) Global Earth Physics - A Handbook of Physical Constants - AGU Reference Shelf No. 1. American Geophysical Union.
Railsback, L. Bruce (2003) An earth scientist's periodic table of the elements and their ions. Geology, 31 (9) 737 doi:10.1130/g19542.1
Emsley, John (2001) Nature's Building Blocks - An A-Z Guide to the Elements. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
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