Nordite is a zinc silicate with a peculiar silicate backbone structure (see below). Its structure consists of a bent single chain structure with repeated 4-member silicate rings linked into it. It is of little importance in soils, but illustrates the complexity of silicate polymerization and one of the many interesting forms that can be produced in nature. Due to its combination of chain and ring structural elements, it is classified in the Unclassified Silicates.

Bakakin, V.V., N.V. Belov, S.V. Borisov, and L.P. Solovyeva. 1970. The crystal structure of nordite and its relationship to melilite and datolite-gadolinite. American Mineralogist 55:1167-1181.