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Highlights and Breakthroughs Merrillite and apatite as recorders of planetary magmatic processes

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Published/Copyright: November 12, 2014
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American Mineralogist
From the journal American Mineralogist Volume 99 Issue 11-12

Abstract

Merrillite, Ca18(Ca,⃞)Mg2(PO4)14-Ca18 Na2Mg2(PO4)14-Ca16REE2(Mg,Fe)2(PO4)14 occurs as a primary phosphate along with apatite, in lunar and martian rocks, and in meteorites. It is nominally anhydrous, but attempts to directly measure H in this mineral have not previously been reported. Because of the occurrence on Earth of whitlockite, Ca18(Mg,Fe2+)2(PO4)12[HPO4]2, and the apparent incorporation in whitlockite of a merrillite component, the lack of a whitlockite component in extraterrestrial merrillite could be taken as an indicator of low hydrogen fugacity, and this implication has been applied to lunar merrillite. On the other hand, for martian rocks, where magmatic OH or H2O contents were likely higher, apatite accordingly contains higher OH contents, yet coexists with anhydrous, Na-rich merrillite. With direct measurements by SIMS, McCubbin et al. (2014), which is in the July issue of American Mineralogist (p. 1347-1354), show that Shergotty merrillite is anhydrous and infer that the high T of crystallization of Shergotty precluded incorporation of a whitlockite component. The mineral pair apatitemerrillite in extraterrestrial rocks constitutes a powerful pair for recording magmatic conditions; however, as McCubbin et al. show, the implications of these minerals and their compositions must be interpreted in light of careful and complete analyses and crystal chemical constraints.

Keywords: Merrillite; apatite; shergotty; planetary materials
Received: 2014-6-4
Accepted: 2014-6-7
Published Online: 2014-11-12
Published in Print: 2014-11-1

© 2014 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin/Boston

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Highlights and Breakthroughs Merrillite and apatite as recorders of planetary magmatic processes
  2. Highlights and Breakthroughs Comparing clays from Mars and Earth: Implications for martian habitability
  3. Data-driven abductive discovery in mineralogy
  4. Thermal expansion of fluorapatite-hydroxylapatite crystalline solutions
  5. Synthesis and structure of carbonated barium and lead fluorapatites: Effect of cation size on A-type carbonate substitution
  6. Optical absorption spectroscopy study of the causes for color variations in natural Fe-bearing gahnite: Insights from iron valency and site distribution data
  7. Si-magnetite nano-precipitates in silician magnetite from banded iron formation: Z-contrast imaging and ab initio study
  8. Ordering kinetics in synthetic Mg(Al,Fe3+)2O4 spinels: Quantitative elucidation of the whole Al-Mg-Fe partitioning, rate constants, activation energies
  9. Experimental study of phlogopite reaction rim formation on olivine in phonolite melts: Kinetics, reaction rates, and residence times
  10. Etch-pit size, dissolution rate, and time in the experimental dissolution of olivine: Implications for estimating olivine lifetime at the surface of Mars
  11. Ferrian saponite from the Santa Monica Mountains (California, U.S.A., Earth): Characterization as an analog for clay minerals on Mars with application to Yellowknife Bay in Gale Crater
  12. A large spectral survey of small lunar craters: Implications for the composition of the lunar mantle
  13. In-situ characterization of oxalic acid breakdown at elevated P and T: Implications for organic C-O-H fluid sources in petrologic experiments
  14. Slawsonite-celsian-hyalophane assemblage from a picrite sill (Prague Basin, Czech Republic)
  15. Determining hematite content from NUV/Vis/NIR spectra: Limits of detection
  16. The role of water in generation of group II kimberlite magmas: Constraints from multiple saturation experiments
  17. Quantum mechanical modeling of hydrolysis and H2O-exchange in Mg-, Ca-, and Nisilicate clusters: Implications for dissolution mechanisms of olivine minerals
  18. Redox-driven exsolution of iron-titanium oxides in magnetite in Miller Range (MIL) 03346 nakhlite: Evidence for post crystallization oxidation in the nakhlite cumulate pile?
  19. Energetics of lanthanide-doped calcium phosphate apatite
  20. Thermal conductivity of molten and glassy NaAlSi3O8, CaMgSi2O6, and Mg2SiO4 by non-equilibrium molecular dynamics at elevated temperature and pressure
  21. Energetics of heterometal substitution in ε-Keggin [MO4Al12(OH)24(OH2)12]6/7/8+ ions
  22. Ab initio calculations of elastic constants of plagioclase feldspars
  23. Diagenetic formation of interlayer-deficient fluorophlogopite as a clay mineral in Early Cambrian phosphorite (Lesser Himalaya, India): The trioctahedral analog of illite
  24. Natural sepiolite: Enthalpies of dehydration, dehydroxylation, and formation derived from thermochemical studies
  25. A new interpretation of decomposition products of serpentine under shock compression
  26. model for calculating the viscosity of natural iron-bearing silicate melts over a wide range of temperatures, pressures, oxygen fugacites, and compositions
  27. The replacement of chalcopyrite by bornite under hydrothermal conditions
  28. Characterization of porosity in sulfide ore minerals: A USANS/SANS study
  29. Synthesis of a quenchable high-pressure form of magnetite (h-Fe3O4) with composition Fel(Fe2+0.75Mg0.26)Fe2(Fe3+ 0.70Cr0.15Al0.11Si0.04)2O4
  30. High-pressure elasticity of sodium majorite garnet, Na2MgSi5O12
  31. Armstrongite from Khan Bogdo (Mongolia): Crystal structure determination and implications for zeolite-like cation exchange properties
  32. Steinhardtite, a new body-centered-cubic allotropic form of aluminum from the Khatyrka CV3 carbonaceous chondrite
  33. New Mineral Names
  34. Book Review
https://doi.org/10.2138/am-2014-5075
Keywords for this article
Merrillite; apatite; shergotty; planetary materials

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Highlights and Breakthroughs Merrillite and apatite as recorders of planetary magmatic processes
  2. Highlights and Breakthroughs Comparing clays from Mars and Earth: Implications for martian habitability
  3. Data-driven abductive discovery in mineralogy
  4. Thermal expansion of fluorapatite-hydroxylapatite crystalline solutions
  5. Synthesis and structure of carbonated barium and lead fluorapatites: Effect of cation size on A-type carbonate substitution
  6. Optical absorption spectroscopy study of the causes for color variations in natural Fe-bearing gahnite: Insights from iron valency and site distribution data
  7. Si-magnetite nano-precipitates in silician magnetite from banded iron formation: Z-contrast imaging and ab initio study
  8. Ordering kinetics in synthetic Mg(Al,Fe3+)2O4 spinels: Quantitative elucidation of the whole Al-Mg-Fe partitioning, rate constants, activation energies
  9. Experimental study of phlogopite reaction rim formation on olivine in phonolite melts: Kinetics, reaction rates, and residence times
  10. Etch-pit size, dissolution rate, and time in the experimental dissolution of olivine: Implications for estimating olivine lifetime at the surface of Mars
  11. Ferrian saponite from the Santa Monica Mountains (California, U.S.A., Earth): Characterization as an analog for clay minerals on Mars with application to Yellowknife Bay in Gale Crater
  12. A large spectral survey of small lunar craters: Implications for the composition of the lunar mantle
  13. In-situ characterization of oxalic acid breakdown at elevated P and T: Implications for organic C-O-H fluid sources in petrologic experiments
  14. Slawsonite-celsian-hyalophane assemblage from a picrite sill (Prague Basin, Czech Republic)
  15. Determining hematite content from NUV/Vis/NIR spectra: Limits of detection
  16. The role of water in generation of group II kimberlite magmas: Constraints from multiple saturation experiments
  17. Quantum mechanical modeling of hydrolysis and H2O-exchange in Mg-, Ca-, and Nisilicate clusters: Implications for dissolution mechanisms of olivine minerals
  18. Redox-driven exsolution of iron-titanium oxides in magnetite in Miller Range (MIL) 03346 nakhlite: Evidence for post crystallization oxidation in the nakhlite cumulate pile?
  19. Energetics of lanthanide-doped calcium phosphate apatite
  20. Thermal conductivity of molten and glassy NaAlSi3O8, CaMgSi2O6, and Mg2SiO4 by non-equilibrium molecular dynamics at elevated temperature and pressure
  21. Energetics of heterometal substitution in ε-Keggin [MO4Al12(OH)24(OH2)12]6/7/8+ ions
  22. Ab initio calculations of elastic constants of plagioclase feldspars
  23. Diagenetic formation of interlayer-deficient fluorophlogopite as a clay mineral in Early Cambrian phosphorite (Lesser Himalaya, India): The trioctahedral analog of illite
  24. Natural sepiolite: Enthalpies of dehydration, dehydroxylation, and formation derived from thermochemical studies
  25. A new interpretation of decomposition products of serpentine under shock compression
  26. model for calculating the viscosity of natural iron-bearing silicate melts over a wide range of temperatures, pressures, oxygen fugacites, and compositions
  27. The replacement of chalcopyrite by bornite under hydrothermal conditions
  28. Characterization of porosity in sulfide ore minerals: A USANS/SANS study
  29. Synthesis of a quenchable high-pressure form of magnetite (h-Fe3O4) with composition Fel(Fe2+0.75Mg0.26)Fe2(Fe3+ 0.70Cr0.15Al0.11Si0.04)2O4
  30. High-pressure elasticity of sodium majorite garnet, Na2MgSi5O12
  31. Armstrongite from Khan Bogdo (Mongolia): Crystal structure determination and implications for zeolite-like cation exchange properties
  32. Steinhardtite, a new body-centered-cubic allotropic form of aluminum from the Khatyrka CV3 carbonaceous chondrite
  33. New Mineral Names
  34. Book Review
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