Tooraineid

Tooraineid is a fictional mineral name used in speculative mineralogy and science fiction to illustrate crystallographic and paragenetic concepts. In these contexts, Tooraineid refers to a hypothetical aluminosilicate with a laminated structure that forms under high-pressure, low-temperature metamorphism in ultramafic rocks within a notional Tooran Belt. It serves as a teaching aid and narrative element rather than a confirmed species.

The name derives from the Tooran region in the fictional geology literature, with the suffix -eid commonly used in speculative mineral nomenclature to signal a mineral group or species within a constructed setting.

In imagined models, Tooraineid crystals are monoclinic and prismatic, with a proposed refractive index around 1.66–1.72 and a Mohs hardness near 6. The density is placed around 3.4 g/cm3. Color is described as colorless to pale blue, with potential pleochroism under polarized light in educational demonstrations.

Geologically, Tooraineid is described as occurring as intergrowths with garnet and kyanite, within shear zones adjacent to chlorite and serpentinite in a subduction-zone analogue. Its formation is tied to specific metal silicate chemistries and the pressure-temperature conditions imagined for the Tooran Belt.

Because it is fictional, Tooraineid is used to demonstrate mineral identification methods, crystallography, and metamorphic petrology in teaching materials and speculative fiction. It has no basis in real-world mineral databases and is not observed in nature. See also: fictional minerals, hypothetical minerals, crystallography demonstrations.