The pearceite-polybasite group of minerals: Crystal chemistry and new nomenclature rules
-
Luca Bindi
,
Michel Evain
Abstract
The present paper reports changes to the existing nomenclature for minerals belonging to the pearceite-polybasite group. Thirty-one samples of minerals in this group from different localities, with variable chemical composition, and showing the 111, 221, and 222 unit-cell types, were studied by means of X-ray single-crystal diffraction and electron microprobe. The unit-cell parameters were modeled using a multiple regression method as a function of the Ag, Sb, and Se contents. The determination of the crystal structures for all the members of the group permits them to be considered as a family of polytypes and for all members to be named pearceite or polybasite. The main reason for doubling the unit-cell parameters is linked to the ordering of silver. The distinction between pearceite and polybasite is easily done with an electron microprobe analysis (As/Sb ratio). A hyphenated italic suffix indicating the crystal system and the cell-type symbol should be added, if crystallographic data are available. Given this designation, the old names antimonpearceite and arsenpolybasite are abandoned here and the old names pearceite and polybasite, previously defined on a structural basis (i.e., 111 and 222), are redefined on a chemical basis. The old name pearceite will be replaced by pearceite-Tac, antimonpearceite by polybasite-Tac, arsenpolybasite-221 by pearceite-T2ac, arsenpolybasite-222 by pearceite-M2a2b2c, polybasite-221 by polybasite-T2ac, and polybasite-222 by polybasite-M2a2b2c. Since all polytypes are composed of two different layers stacked along [001]: layer A, with general composition [(Ag,Cu)6(As,Sb)2S7]2-, and layer B, with general composition [Ag9CuS4]2+, the chemical formulae of pearceite and polybasite should be written as [Ag9CuS4][(Ag,Cu)6(As,Sb)2S7] and [Ag9CuS4][(Ag,Cu)6(Sb,As)2S7], respectively, instead of (Ag,Cu)16(As,Sb)2S11 and (Ag,Cu)16(Sb,As)2S11, as is currently accepted. The new nomenclature rules were approved by the Commission on New Minerals and Mineral Names of the International Mineralogical Association.
© 2015 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Single-crystal FTIR and X-ray study of vishnevite, ideally [Na6(SO4)][Na2(H2O)2](Si6Al6O24)
- Crystallographic texture and microstructure of terebratulide brachiopod shell calcite: An optimized materials design with hierarchical architecture
- High-temperature phase relations and topological constraints in the quaternary system MgO-Al2O3-SiO2-Cr2O3: An experimental study
- Tilt and buckling modes, and acoustic anisotropy in layers with post-perovskite connectivity
- Optical absorption study of natural garnets of almandine-skiagite composition showing intervalence Fe2+ + Fe3+ → Fe3+ + Fe2+ charge-transfer transition
- Deriving formation constants for aqueous metal complexes from XANES spectra: Zn2+ and Fe2+ chloride complexes in hypersaline solutions
- Birnessite polytype systematics and identiÞ cation by powder X-ray diffraction
- Improved measurement of fission-track annealing in apatite using c-axis projection
- Improved modeling of fission-track annealing in apatite
- Intercalibration of FTIR and SIMS for hydrogen measurements in glasses and nominally anhydrous minerals
- Order and miscibility in the otavite–magnesite solid solution
- An infrared investigation of the otavite-magnesite solid solution
- Partitioning of calcium, magnesium, and transition metals between olivine and melt governed by the structure of the silicate melt at ambient pressure
- The geometric effects of VFe2+ for VMg substitution on the crystal structures of the grandidierite-ominelite series
- The iron oxidation state of garnet by electron microprobe: Its determination with the flank method combined with major-element analysis
- Gram-Charlier development of the atomic displacement factors into mineral structures: The case of samsonite, Ag4MnSb2S6
- Superstructure of Challis mordenite with doubled monoclinic unit cell
- Biopyribole evolution during tremolite synthesis from dolomite and quartz in CO2-H2O fluid
- The evolution of diamond morphology in the process of dissolution: Experimental data
- The pearceite-polybasite group of minerals: Crystal chemistry and new nomenclature rules
- Determination of layer stacking microstructures and intralayer transition of illite polytypes by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM)
- Structural behavior of Al3+ in peralkaline, metaluminous, and peraluminous silicate melts and glasses at ambient pressure
- The crystal structure of ingersonite, Ca3Mn2+Sb45+O14, and its relationships with pyrochlore
- Chemical composition, statistical analysis of the unit cell, and electrostatic modeling of the structure of Al-saturated chlorite from metamorphosed rocks
- XANES study of the oxidation state of Cr in lower mantle phases: Periclase and magnesium silicate perovskite
- Crystal chemistry of hydration in aluminous orthopyroxene
Articles in the same Issue
- Single-crystal FTIR and X-ray study of vishnevite, ideally [Na6(SO4)][Na2(H2O)2](Si6Al6O24)
- Crystallographic texture and microstructure of terebratulide brachiopod shell calcite: An optimized materials design with hierarchical architecture
- High-temperature phase relations and topological constraints in the quaternary system MgO-Al2O3-SiO2-Cr2O3: An experimental study
- Tilt and buckling modes, and acoustic anisotropy in layers with post-perovskite connectivity
- Optical absorption study of natural garnets of almandine-skiagite composition showing intervalence Fe2+ + Fe3+ → Fe3+ + Fe2+ charge-transfer transition
- Deriving formation constants for aqueous metal complexes from XANES spectra: Zn2+ and Fe2+ chloride complexes in hypersaline solutions
- Birnessite polytype systematics and identiÞ cation by powder X-ray diffraction
- Improved measurement of fission-track annealing in apatite using c-axis projection
- Improved modeling of fission-track annealing in apatite
- Intercalibration of FTIR and SIMS for hydrogen measurements in glasses and nominally anhydrous minerals
- Order and miscibility in the otavite–magnesite solid solution
- An infrared investigation of the otavite-magnesite solid solution
- Partitioning of calcium, magnesium, and transition metals between olivine and melt governed by the structure of the silicate melt at ambient pressure
- The geometric effects of VFe2+ for VMg substitution on the crystal structures of the grandidierite-ominelite series
- The iron oxidation state of garnet by electron microprobe: Its determination with the flank method combined with major-element analysis
- Gram-Charlier development of the atomic displacement factors into mineral structures: The case of samsonite, Ag4MnSb2S6
- Superstructure of Challis mordenite with doubled monoclinic unit cell
- Biopyribole evolution during tremolite synthesis from dolomite and quartz in CO2-H2O fluid
- The evolution of diamond morphology in the process of dissolution: Experimental data
- The pearceite-polybasite group of minerals: Crystal chemistry and new nomenclature rules
- Determination of layer stacking microstructures and intralayer transition of illite polytypes by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM)
- Structural behavior of Al3+ in peralkaline, metaluminous, and peraluminous silicate melts and glasses at ambient pressure
- The crystal structure of ingersonite, Ca3Mn2+Sb45+O14, and its relationships with pyrochlore
- Chemical composition, statistical analysis of the unit cell, and electrostatic modeling of the structure of Al-saturated chlorite from metamorphosed rocks
- XANES study of the oxidation state of Cr in lower mantle phases: Periclase and magnesium silicate perovskite
- Crystal chemistry of hydration in aluminous orthopyroxene
