Abstract
The crystallographic complexity of “hexagonal” or “intermediate” pyrrhotites (Fe1-xS with 0.125 > x > 0.080) is a long-standing and challenging problem. Integral (e.g., 5C) and non-integral NC type structures found within this group at ambient temperatures are characterized by sharp but complicated electron diffraction patterns, which were found to be interpretable in terms of a translation interface modulation (TIM) superstructure. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) dark-field images obtained using superstructure reflections show dense arrangements of stripes, which can be interpreted as arrays of closely spaced anti-phase domain boundaries (APB). The displacement vector at the interface is R = 1/8[001] of a metrically hexagonal 4C superstructure cell and the involved translations are solely confined to the Fe sublattice. The vacancy arrangement of the APB-free monoclinic 4C-pyrrhotite serves as a base of the TIM superstructure and therefore NC structures can be regarded as two super-imposed ordering phenomena relating to the arrangements of individual vacancies and APBs, respectively. APBs are chemically non-conservative and govern the higher Fe/S ratios of intermediate NC-pyrrhotites. If oriented strictly parallel to (001) the APBs can be regarded as completely filled Fe double layers within the 4C stacking sequence. However, direct imaging of APBs shows waviness and variable disorder on mesoscopic scales, yielding essentially aperiodic structures. A high degree of self-organization among APBs has been observed within apparent diffusion profiles around exsolved troilite lamellae and along interfaces with 4C-pyrrhotite, where complicated eightfold node arrangements occur. Our TEM observations indicate that all NC-type pyrrhotites can be treated by the TIM approach and that the concepts of polytypism and polysomatism in pyrrhotite are not fully capable in representing the observed structural complexities.
© 2015 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Comparative in situ X-ray diffraction study of San Carlos olivine: Influence of water on the 410 km seismic velocity jump in Earth’s mantle
- Visualizing trace element distribution in quartz using cathodoluminescence, electron microprobe, and laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry
- Krotite, CaAl2O4, a new refractory mineral from the NWA 1934 meteorite
- Translation interface modulation in NC-pyrrhotites: Direct imaging by TEM and a model toward understanding partially disordered structural states
- Crystal chemistry of Ti-rich fluorophlogopite from Presidente Olegario, Alto Paranaíba igneous province, Brazil
- First-principles study of diffusion and viscosity of anorthite (CaAl2Si2O8) liquid at high pressure
- Aluminous and alkali-deficient tourmaline from the Singhbhum Shear Zone, East Indian shield: Insight for polyphase boron infiltration during regional metamorphism
- Effect of lactate, glycine, and citrate on the kinetics of montmorillonite dissolution
- Acid neutralization by dissolution of alkaline paper mill wastes and implications for treatment of sulfide-mine drainage
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- Structure of walstromite, BaCa2Si3O9, and its relationship to CaSiO3-walstromite and wollastonite-II
- Cathodoluminescence properties and trace element signature of hydrothermal quartz: A fingerprint of growth dynamics
- Formation conditions for triple-chain silicates
- In situ determination of the spinel–post-spinel transition in Fe3O4 at high pressure and temperature by synchrotron X-ray diffraction
- PVT equation of state of epsilon iron and its densities at inner core conditions
- Pressure-induced structural phase transition of the iron end-member of ringwoodite (g-Fe2SiO4) investigated by X-ray diffraction and Mössbauer spectroscopy
- Non-bridging oxygen and high-coordinated aluminum in metaluminous and peraluminous calcium and potassium aluminosilicate glasses: High-resolution 17O and 27Al MAS NMR results
- The crystal structure of δ-Al(OH)3: Neutron diffraction measurements and ab initio calculations
- Electrical properties of natural and synthetic nano-crystalline MgTiO3 geikielite at mantle pressure and temperature conditions
- Density measurement of liquid FeS at high pressures using synchrotron X-ray absorption
- Cranswickite MgSO4·4H2O, a new mineral from Calingasta, Argentina
- Ambrinoite, (K,NH4)2(As,Sb)8S13·H2O, a new mineral from Upper Susa Valley, Piedmont, Italy: The first natural (K,NH4)-hydrated sulfosalt
- Single-crystal Raman spectroscopy of natural schafarzikite FeSb2O4 from Pernek, Slovak Republic
- Nomenclature of the tourmaline-supergroup minerals
- Quantitative Raman spectroscopy: Challenges, shortfalls, and solutions—Application to calcium silicate glasses
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Articles in the same Issue
- Comparative in situ X-ray diffraction study of San Carlos olivine: Influence of water on the 410 km seismic velocity jump in Earth’s mantle
- Visualizing trace element distribution in quartz using cathodoluminescence, electron microprobe, and laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry
- Krotite, CaAl2O4, a new refractory mineral from the NWA 1934 meteorite
- Translation interface modulation in NC-pyrrhotites: Direct imaging by TEM and a model toward understanding partially disordered structural states
- Crystal chemistry of Ti-rich fluorophlogopite from Presidente Olegario, Alto Paranaíba igneous province, Brazil
- First-principles study of diffusion and viscosity of anorthite (CaAl2Si2O8) liquid at high pressure
- Aluminous and alkali-deficient tourmaline from the Singhbhum Shear Zone, East Indian shield: Insight for polyphase boron infiltration during regional metamorphism
- Effect of lactate, glycine, and citrate on the kinetics of montmorillonite dissolution
- Acid neutralization by dissolution of alkaline paper mill wastes and implications for treatment of sulfide-mine drainage
- Fast ion conduction character and ionic phase-transition in silver sulfosalts: The case of fettelite [Ag6As2S7][Ag10HgAs2S8]
- Structure of walstromite, BaCa2Si3O9, and its relationship to CaSiO3-walstromite and wollastonite-II
- Cathodoluminescence properties and trace element signature of hydrothermal quartz: A fingerprint of growth dynamics
- Formation conditions for triple-chain silicates
- In situ determination of the spinel–post-spinel transition in Fe3O4 at high pressure and temperature by synchrotron X-ray diffraction
- PVT equation of state of epsilon iron and its densities at inner core conditions
- Pressure-induced structural phase transition of the iron end-member of ringwoodite (g-Fe2SiO4) investigated by X-ray diffraction and Mössbauer spectroscopy
- Non-bridging oxygen and high-coordinated aluminum in metaluminous and peraluminous calcium and potassium aluminosilicate glasses: High-resolution 17O and 27Al MAS NMR results
- The crystal structure of δ-Al(OH)3: Neutron diffraction measurements and ab initio calculations
- Electrical properties of natural and synthetic nano-crystalline MgTiO3 geikielite at mantle pressure and temperature conditions
- Density measurement of liquid FeS at high pressures using synchrotron X-ray absorption
- Cranswickite MgSO4·4H2O, a new mineral from Calingasta, Argentina
- Ambrinoite, (K,NH4)2(As,Sb)8S13·H2O, a new mineral from Upper Susa Valley, Piedmont, Italy: The first natural (K,NH4)-hydrated sulfosalt
- Single-crystal Raman spectroscopy of natural schafarzikite FeSb2O4 from Pernek, Slovak Republic
- Nomenclature of the tourmaline-supergroup minerals
- Quantitative Raman spectroscopy: Challenges, shortfalls, and solutions—Application to calcium silicate glasses
- Icosahedrite, Al63Cu24Fe13, the first natural quasicrystal
- Sulfides from martian and lunar basalts: Comparative chemistry for Ni, Co, Cu, and Se