Aragonite

✨Aragonite is a carbonate mineral with the composition CaCO3. Also known as vaterite, it exhibits polymorphism with calcite. It belongs to the orthorhombic crystal system, with crystals forming in columnar or spear-like shapes, often displaying pseudo-hexagonal symmetry as triplet crystals. Aggregates commonly appear as crust-like, oolitic, pisolitic, or pellet-like structures. Aragonite varies in color, ranging from white, yellow, pink, red, brown, to blue. Its texture is generally fragile, featuring distinct spiral stripes, river-like patterns, or small spherical structures.

🔮Aragonite primarily forms under exogenous processes, found in recent marine sediments or clays, within limestone caves, and can also form endogenously in hot spring deposits and fissures or pores of volcanic rocks as a low-temperature mineral. It also has a biogenic origin, occurring in certain shells. Aragonite provides essential materials for marine life and helps maintain the pH of water close to natural levels, preventing the dissolution of biological calcium carbonate. However, it is unstable in nature and often transforms into calcite.