Eclogitic pyroxenes, ordered with p2 symmetry.

X-ray diffraction crystal-structure analysis of omphacite from eclogite, Tiburon Peninsula, Marin County, California, shows that this clinopyroxene has P2 symmetry with a nearly ordered distribution of the multiple cation content defined by its approximate formula: (Na(o.5) Ca(o.5)) (Mg(o.4)Fe(2)+( 0.1) Al(0.4) Fe(3) +(0.1)) Si(2)0(6). Na+ and Ca(2+) tend to assume alternate locations in the structure, and ( Mg,Fe(2+)) octahedra alternate with Al(3+). or (Al,F(3+)) octahedra in chains along c.