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Synthetic and natural ammonium-bearing tourmaline

  • Bernd Wunder EMAIL logo , Eleanor Berryman , Birgit Plessen , Dieter Rhede , Monika Koch-Müller and Wilhelm Heinrich
Published/Copyright: January 10, 2015
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American Mineralogist
From the journal American Mineralogist Volume 100 Issue 1

Abstract

Due to the similar ionic radius of K+ and NH4+, K-silicates can incorporate a significant amount of NH4. As tourmaline is able to accommodate K in its crystal structure at high and ultrahigh pressure, we test if this also holds true for NH4.

Piston-cylinder experiments in the system (NH4)2O-MgO-SiO2-Al2O3-B2O3-H2O at 4.0 GPa, 700 °C, with B2O3 and NH4OH in excess produce an assemblage of tourmaline, phengite, and coesite. The tourmaline crystals are up to 10 × 40 μm in size. EMP analyses indicate that the tourmalines contain 0.22 (±0.03) wt% (NH4)2O and are solid solutions mainly along the magnesio-foitite and “NH4-dravite” join with the average structural formula X[(NH4)0.08(1)o0.92(1)]Y[Mg2.28(8)Al0.72(8)]Z[Al5.93(6)Si0.07(6)]T[Si6.00(5)O18](BO3)3(OH)4.

NH4 incorporation is confirmed by characteristic <N-H> stretching and bending modes in the IR-spectra of single crystals on synthetic tourmaline. Further evidence is the increased unit-cell parameters of the tourmaline [a = 15.9214(9) Å, c = 7.1423(5) Å, V = 1567.9(2) Å3] relative to pure magnesio-foitite.

Incorporation of NH4 in natural tourmaline was tested in a tourmaline-bearing mica schists from a high-P/low-T (>1.2 GPa/550 °C) metasedimentary unit of the Erzgebirge, Germany, rich in NH4. The NH4-concentrations in the three main NH4-bearing phases are: biotite (~1400 ppm) > phengite (~700 ppm) > tourmaline (~500 ppm). This indicates that tourmaline can act as important carrier of nitrogen between the crust and the deep Earth, which has important implications for a better understanding of the large-scale light element cycle.

Keywords: Tourmaline; high-pressure synthesis; ammonium; Erzgebirge mica-schists; nitrogen cycle
Received: 2014-5-8
Accepted: 2014-8-6
Published Online: 2015-1-10
Published in Print: 2015-1-1

© 2015 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin/Boston

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  1. The American Mineralogist at 100 years, and a mineralogy renaissance
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  3. Mineral evolution and Earth history
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  7. The structure of water-saturated carbonate melts
  8. In-situ measurements of fluorine and chlorine speciation and partitioning between melts and aqueous fluids in the Na2O-Al2O3-SiO2-H2O system
  9. High-pressure high-temperature transitions in MgCr2O4 and crystal structures of new Mg2Cr2O5 and post-spinel MgCr2O4 phases with implications for ultrahigh-pressure chromitites in ophiolites
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  15. The system Na2CO3-FeCO3 at 6 GPa and its relation to the system Na2CO3-FeCO3-MgCO3
  16. Chlorine-hydroxyl diffusion in pargasitic amphibole
  17. The use of cation-cation and anion-anion bonds to augment the bond-valence model
  18. AIM analysis and the form of the bond-valence equation
  19. Atomistic simulation on mixing thermodynamics of calcite-smithsonite solid solutions
  20. Combined geochemistry and geochronology constrains coupled subduction of oceanic and continental crust in the Huwan shear zone, central China
  21. Near-infrared investigation of folding sepiolite
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  24. Thermo-compression of pyrope-grossular garnet solid solutions: Non-linear compositional dependence
  25. Phase relationships in the system K2CO3-CaCO3 at 6 GPa and 900–1450 °C
  26. Trace-element partitioning between plagioclase, alkali feldspar, Ti-magnetite, biotite, apatite, and evolved potassic liquids from Campi Flegrei (Southern Italy)
  27. Synthetic and natural ammonium-bearing tourmaline
  28. Anhydrite stability and the effect of Ca on the behavior of sulfur in felsic magmas
  29. Nuragheite, Th(MoO4)2·H2O, The Second Natural Thorium Molybdate And Its Relationships To Ichnusaite And Synthetic Th(MoO4)2†
  30. Structural Effects On Incorporated Water In Carbonated Apatites
  31. New Constraints On Electron-Beam Induced Halogen Migration In Apatite
  32. Origin Of The Lunar Highlands Mg-Suite: An Integrated Petrology, Geochemistry, Chronology, And Remote Sensing Perspective
  33. An In Situ High-Pressure Nmr Study Of Sodium Coordination Environment Compressibility In Albite Glass
  34. Hydrothermal Synthesis And Crystal Structure Of Also4(Oh): A Titanite-Group Member
  35. New Mineral Names
  36. Book Review: Thermal Remote Sensing Of Active Volcanoes: A User’S Manual
https://doi.org/10.2138/am-2015-5055
Keywords for this article
Tourmaline; high-pressure synthesis; ammonium; Erzgebirge mica-schists; nitrogen cycle

Articles in the same Issue

  1. The American Mineralogist at 100 years, and a mineralogy renaissance
  2. At the blurry edge of mineralogy
  3. Mineral evolution and Earth history
  4. Franciscan geologic history constrained by tectonic/olistostromal high-grade metamafic blocks in the iconic California Mesozoic-Cenozoic accretionary complex
  5. The rapid expansion of environmental mineralogy in unconventional ways: Beyond the accepted definition of a mineral, the latest technology, and using nature as our guide
  6. Microelectronic junctions in arsenian pyrite due to impurity and mixed sulfide heterogeneity
  7. The structure of water-saturated carbonate melts
  8. In-situ measurements of fluorine and chlorine speciation and partitioning between melts and aqueous fluids in the Na2O-Al2O3-SiO2-H2O system
  9. High-pressure high-temperature transitions in MgCr2O4 and crystal structures of new Mg2Cr2O5 and post-spinel MgCr2O4 phases with implications for ultrahigh-pressure chromitites in ophiolites
  10. Mid-infrared emission spectroscopy and visible/near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy of Fe-sulfate minerals
  11. Megacrystic zircon with planar fractures in miaskite-type nepheline pegmatites formed at high pressures in the lower crust (Ivrea Zone, southern Alps, Switzerland)
  12. Tourmaline as a petrogenetic monitor of the origin and evolution of the Berry-Havey pegmatite (Maine, U.S.A.)
  13. Applications of Hirshfeld surfaces to mineralogy: An example of alumohydrocalcite, and the classification of the dundasite group minerals
  14. Optical absorption anisotropy of high-density, wide-gap, high-hardness SiO2 polymorphs seifertite, stishovite, and coesite
  15. The system Na2CO3-FeCO3 at 6 GPa and its relation to the system Na2CO3-FeCO3-MgCO3
  16. Chlorine-hydroxyl diffusion in pargasitic amphibole
  17. The use of cation-cation and anion-anion bonds to augment the bond-valence model
  18. AIM analysis and the form of the bond-valence equation
  19. Atomistic simulation on mixing thermodynamics of calcite-smithsonite solid solutions
  20. Combined geochemistry and geochronology constrains coupled subduction of oceanic and continental crust in the Huwan shear zone, central China
  21. Near-infrared investigation of folding sepiolite
  22. First-principles study of sulfur isotope fractionation in pyrite-type disulfides
  23. Tetrataenite in terrestrial rock
  24. Thermo-compression of pyrope-grossular garnet solid solutions: Non-linear compositional dependence
  25. Phase relationships in the system K2CO3-CaCO3 at 6 GPa and 900–1450 °C
  26. Trace-element partitioning between plagioclase, alkali feldspar, Ti-magnetite, biotite, apatite, and evolved potassic liquids from Campi Flegrei (Southern Italy)
  27. Synthetic and natural ammonium-bearing tourmaline
  28. Anhydrite stability and the effect of Ca on the behavior of sulfur in felsic magmas
  29. Nuragheite, Th(MoO4)2·H2O, The Second Natural Thorium Molybdate And Its Relationships To Ichnusaite And Synthetic Th(MoO4)2†
  30. Structural Effects On Incorporated Water In Carbonated Apatites
  31. New Constraints On Electron-Beam Induced Halogen Migration In Apatite
  32. Origin Of The Lunar Highlands Mg-Suite: An Integrated Petrology, Geochemistry, Chronology, And Remote Sensing Perspective
  33. An In Situ High-Pressure Nmr Study Of Sodium Coordination Environment Compressibility In Albite Glass
  34. Hydrothermal Synthesis And Crystal Structure Of Also4(Oh): A Titanite-Group Member
  35. New Mineral Names
  36. Book Review: Thermal Remote Sensing Of Active Volcanoes: A User’S Manual
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