WGNHS
Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey

Baddeleyite

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SEM photo of probable baddeleyite grain on feldspar. Letters indicate spots where sample was analyzed. From Stettin area, Marathon County, Wisconsin. (Image courtesy Tom Buchholz, specimen collected by Tom Buchholz.)

Formula: ZrO2 Monoclinic

Description:

Baddeleyite is a rare zirconium oxide found in a variety of environments, including kimberlite, syenite and gabbro. It may survive weathering as a detrital mineral.

KENOSHA COUNTY: Baddeleyite occurs as coatings on zircon from a subsurface, diamond-bearing lamprophyre diatreme within the outskirts of Kenosha (Carlson, personal communication).

MARATHON COUNTY:  Small crystals of baddeleyite have tentatively been identified as occurring in the syenites of the Stettin Complex, near Wausau.