Description
Wavellite was named in 1805 after William Wavell (1750-1829), a physician in Devonshire, England, who discovered the mineral. It is a secondary mineral found in low-grade metamorphic rocks. It is usually found as radiant "starburst" clusters of green fibrous crystals. Wavellite is a phosphate mineral with the formula Al3(PO4)2(OH,F)3 5H2O. It normally occurs as translucent green radial or spherical clusters. It was first described in 1805 for an occurrence at High Down, Filleigh, Devon, England, and named after William Wavell of England, who brought the mineral to the attention of the scientific community. It occurs associated with crandallite and variscite in fractures within aluminous metamorphic rocks, in hydrothermal zones, and in phosphate rocks. It is found in a wide variety of locations, particularly in the Mount Ida, Arkansas area of the Ouachita Mountains. It is sometimes used as a gemstone.
