Next page Previous page

xylopal

See:wood opal

xyloretinite

A white hydrocarbon similar to hartite found in fossil wood.
Tomkeieff

YAG

Acronym and abbrev. for yttrium-aluminum garnet. USBM, 7

yard

The British standard of length, equal to 36 in, 3 ft, or 0.9144 m.
Hammond

yardage

a. The extra compensation a miner receives in addition to the mining price
for working in a narrow place or in deficient coal. Usually at a certain
price per yard (or meter) advanced.
b. A system of payment to workers in accordance with the number of yards
(or meters) driven, repaired, or packed; the length in yards (or meters)
of a drivage or face which a miner or contractor has excavated in a week
or from one measuring day to the next. Also called yard work.
See also:piecework
c. Relates to cubic yards (or meters) of earth excavated. Crispin
d. Price paid per yard (or meter) for mining or cutting coal, usually by
contract agreement, not on a tonnage basis. BCI

yardage man

In bituminous coal mining, a laborer who pries down loose roof rock with a
bar after coal has been blasted from the working face; the worker picks
out seam partings (layers of rock) in the coal working face prior to
blasting, using a long handled pick. DOT

yard price

The price paid per yard driven (in addition to tonnage prices) for roads
of certain widths and driven in certain directions. See also:yardage
Fay

yard work

See:yardage

yavapaiite

A monoclinic mineral, KFe(SO4 )2 ; at the United Verde
copper mine, Jerome, AZ. Named for the local Yavapai Native Americans.

y-axis

a. One of the three optic axes (x,y, and z) in a biaxial crystal. The
y-axis is the intermediate optic axis, at right angles to the plane
containing optic axes x and z. Light vibrating parallel to the y-axis is
called the intermediate ray, the y-ray, and the beta -ray. The
middle-value index of refraction nbeta in biaxial minerals is the
index of the intermediate ray vibrating parallel to the y-axis.
b. One of three axes in a three-dimensional coordinate system.
Crystallographers customarily use a right-handed system with the z-axis
oriented positive upward, the y-axis positive to the right, and the x-axis
positive toward the viewer. For mineral parameters, the y-axis is labelled
b with periodic translations t2 . In monoclinic crystal systems,
mineralogists conventionally adopt the second setting and designate the
unique diad y.

y-coordinate

a. An ordinate in a plane Cartesian coordinate system. Webster 3rd
b. One of the three coordinates in a three-dimensional rectangular
coordinate system. Webster 3rd

y-direction

a. One of three orthogonal optic directions in biaxial crystals. Light
with its electric vector (vibration direction in early terminology)
parallel to the y-direction has a unique intermediate refractive index (n
beta ) for a given crystal and is called the fast ray, relative to
light with its electric vector parallel to the z-direction, and the slow
ray, relative to light with its electric vector parallel to the
x-direction. In orthorhombic crystals, the y-direction is constrained by
symmetry to correspond to one of the crystallographic directions, the
correspondence determined being empirically. In monoclinic crystals, one
optic direction, commonly the y-direction, is constrained by symmetry to
correspond to the unique diad. In triclinic crystals, there is no
symmetrical constraint relating optic directions to crystallographic axes.
b. One of three orthogonal optic directions in biaxial crystals. Light
with its electric vector (vibration direction) parallel to the y-direction
has a unique intermediate index of refraction (nbeta ) for a given
crystal and is fast or slow depending on crystal orientation.

yeast

Fungi belonging to the ascomycetes, in which the usual and dominant growth
form is unicellular. Rogoff

yeatmanite

A triclinic mineral, Mn9 Zn6 Sb2 Si4 O (sub
28) ; forms brown crystals; at Franklin Furnace, NJ.

yellow antimony

a. Yellow allotropic form of antimony. Obtained by oxidizing antimony
hydride at a low temperature. Bennett
b. An unstable form of antimony. It can be obtained during the
electrolysis of antimony trichloride, SbCl. As yellow antimony (alpha
antimony) is deposited on an electrode, it forms a solid solution in the
antimony chloride. When this solution is scratched or heated, metallic
antimony (beta antimony) and clouds of antimony chloride form
instantaneously, giving rise to the term explosive antimony. There are
four allotropic forms of antimony: yellow antimony; black antimony;
explosive antimony; and metallic antimony or ordinary antimony. These
allotropic forms are also designated alpha antimony (yellow antimony);
beta antimony (metallic antimony); and gamma antimony.
CCD, 2; Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 2

yellow arsenic

See:orpiment

yellow boy

Deposit from the acid waters of a mine or partial neutralization. Ferrous
anhydride and other impurities including fine clay carried down with it.
Zern

yellow cake

a. Applied to certain uranium concentrates produced by mills. It is the
final precipitate formed in the milling process. Usually considered to be
ammonium diuranate or sodium diuranate, but the composition is variable
and depends on the precipitating conditions. USBM, 7
b. A common form of triuranium octoxide, the powder obtained by
evaporating an amnonia solution of the oxide. CCD, 2

yellow coal

See:tasmanite

yellow copper

See:chalcopyrite

yellow copperas

See:copiapite