tallordene

Tallordene is a fictional mineral used in educational contexts and speculative fiction to illustrate mineral classification, crystallography, and nomenclature.

It was named after the fictional field geologist Tallor and follows the common mineral suffix -ene. The type material is described in the 1992 field report by Carter and Nguyen from the fictional Tallor Ridge region.

In the fictional record, Tallordene crystallizes in the monoclinic system, forms prismatic to tabular crystals, and occurs as intergrowths with quartz and garnet. The mineral is described as olive green to pale green, with a vitreous luster and a Mohs hardness around 6. It has one good cleavage direction and a calculated specific gravity of about 3.3 to 3.6.

Tallordene is said to occur in high-grade metamorphic rocks and hydrothermal veins, particularly within a hypothetical Tallor Terrane. Its composition is described as a complex silicate with minor oxide components, enriched in silicon, aluminum, and trace rare earth elements.

In practice, Tallordene has no real-world commercial use; it is used as a teaching example and in fiction to explore crystallography, mineral naming conventions, and the processes of mineral discovery. It serves as a case study for how new minerals would be described and classified.