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Metasideronatrite: Crystal structure and its relation with sideronatrite

  • Gennaro Ventruti , Francesca Stasi and Fernando Scordari EMAIL logo
Published/Copyright: April 2, 2015
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American Mineralogist
From the journal American Mineralogist Volume 95 Issue 2-3

Abstract

Metasideronatrite was obtained as the first dehydration product of sideronatrite, Na2Fe(SO4)2(OH)∙3H2O, from Sierra Gorda, Chile. The crystal structure of metasideronatrite was solved by direct methods and refined by full-matrix least-squares to R = 0.039, using 574 independent reflections with I > 3.0σ(I). It is orthorhombic, space group Pbnm, with a = 7.3959(8), b = 16.0979(15), c = 7.1607(8) Å, V = 852.5(2) Å3, Z = 4. The crystal-chemical formula derived from this structural study is Na2Fe(SO4)2(OH)∙H2O. The backbone of the structure is the same as that in sideronatrite: infinite [Fe3+(SO4)2(OH)]2- chains of interconnected octahedra and tetrahedra parallel to the c axis. These chains are linked primarily by Na atoms to build a 3-dimensional network of strong (Fe-O-S) and weak (Na-O) bonds. Another prominent feature of the structure is the arrangement of distorted (NaO5H2O) octahedra, which alternately share one edge and one face to form columns parallel to the [Fe3+(SO4)2(OH)] chains. Subsidiary intra-chain bonds are provided by H atoms belonging to OH- groups shared by adjacent Fe octahedra, and to the unique water molecule shared between two adjacent (NaO5H2O) octahedra. At normal conditions of relative humidity (RH) and temperature (i.e., RH > 60% and T < 40 °C), metasideronatrite rehydrates rapidly to sideronatrite.

The structure solution has allowed us to: (1) investigate the strong relation between sideronatrite and metasideronitrite; (2) elucidate the mechanism involved in the transformation of metasideronatrite into the order/disorder (OD) structure of sideronatrite; and (3) get insight into the stability of this mineral from the valence-matching principle applied to the main structural unit [Fe3+(SO4)2(OH)]2 and Na+ interstitial species. The weak hydrogen bonds and the particular arrangement of the face-sharing adjacent [NaO5(H2O)] octahedra are the main factors affecting the stability of metasideronatrite.

Keywords: Metasideronatrite; structure; crystal chemistry; dehydration; sideronatrite
Received: 2009-6-26
Accepted: 2009-10-7
Published Online: 2015-4-2
Published in Print: 2010-2-1

© 2015 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin/Boston

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  1. Brownleeite: A new manganese silicide mineral in an interplanetary dust particle
  2. Simulation of thermodynamic mixing properties of actinide-containing zircon solid solutions
  3. Multilevel modular mesocrystalline organization in red coral
  4. High-pressure behavior of 2M1 muscovite
  5. Chopinite-sarcopside solid solution, [(Mg,Fe)3□](PO4)2, in GRA95209, a transitional acapulcoite: Implications for phosphate genesis in meteorites
  6. Distribution of rare earth elements in lunar zircon
  7. Methodological re-evaluation of the electrical conductivity of silicate melts
  8. Site-specific infrared O-H absorption coefficients for water substitution into olivine
  9. High-pressure phase transition of a natural pigeonite
  10. Location and quantification of hydroxyl in wadsleyite: New insights
  11. Optical spectroscopic study of natural Fe-rich Pizzo Forno staurolite at different temperatures and pressures
  12. Metasideronatrite: Crystal structure and its relation with sideronatrite
  13. Optical absorption, luminescence, and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy of crystalline to metamict zircon: Evidence for formation of uranyl, manganese, and other optically active centers
  14. Factors responsible for crystal-chemical variations in the solid solutions from illite to aluminoceladonite and from glauconite to celadonite
  15. REE diffusion in olivine
  16. Phase transition induced by solid solution: The BCa-BMg substitution in richteritic amphiboles
  17. Aiolosite, Na2(Na2Bi)(SO4)3Cl, a new sulfate isotypic to apatite from La Fossa Crater, Vulcano, Aeolian Islands, Italy
  18. Gayite, a new dufrénite-group mineral from the Gigante granitic pegmatite, Córdoba province, Argentina
  19. Galliskiite, Ca4Al2(PO4)2F8·5H2O, a new mineral from the Gigante granitic pegmatite, Córdoba province, Argentina
  20. Description and crystal structure of liversidgeite, Zn6(PO4)4·7H2O, a new mineral from Broken Hill, New South Wales, Australia
  21. Evidence of dmisteinbergite (hexagonal form of CaAl2Si2O8) in pseudotachylyte: A tool to constrain the thermal history of a seismic event
  22. Partitioning of Eu between augite and a highly spiked martian basalt composition as a function of oxygen fugacity (IW-1 to QFM): Determination of Eu2+/Eu3+ ratios by XANES
  23. Density functional calculation of the infrared spectrum of surface hydroxyl groups on goethite (α-FeOOH)
  24. X-ray diffraction and Mössbauer spectroscopy of Fe3+-bearing Mg-silicate post-perovskite at 128–138 GPa
https://doi.org/10.2138/am.2010.3332
Keywords for this article
Metasideronatrite; structure; crystal chemistry; dehydration; sideronatrite

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Brownleeite: A new manganese silicide mineral in an interplanetary dust particle
  2. Simulation of thermodynamic mixing properties of actinide-containing zircon solid solutions
  3. Multilevel modular mesocrystalline organization in red coral
  4. High-pressure behavior of 2M1 muscovite
  5. Chopinite-sarcopside solid solution, [(Mg,Fe)3□](PO4)2, in GRA95209, a transitional acapulcoite: Implications for phosphate genesis in meteorites
  6. Distribution of rare earth elements in lunar zircon
  7. Methodological re-evaluation of the electrical conductivity of silicate melts
  8. Site-specific infrared O-H absorption coefficients for water substitution into olivine
  9. High-pressure phase transition of a natural pigeonite
  10. Location and quantification of hydroxyl in wadsleyite: New insights
  11. Optical spectroscopic study of natural Fe-rich Pizzo Forno staurolite at different temperatures and pressures
  12. Metasideronatrite: Crystal structure and its relation with sideronatrite
  13. Optical absorption, luminescence, and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy of crystalline to metamict zircon: Evidence for formation of uranyl, manganese, and other optically active centers
  14. Factors responsible for crystal-chemical variations in the solid solutions from illite to aluminoceladonite and from glauconite to celadonite
  15. REE diffusion in olivine
  16. Phase transition induced by solid solution: The BCa-BMg substitution in richteritic amphiboles
  17. Aiolosite, Na2(Na2Bi)(SO4)3Cl, a new sulfate isotypic to apatite from La Fossa Crater, Vulcano, Aeolian Islands, Italy
  18. Gayite, a new dufrénite-group mineral from the Gigante granitic pegmatite, Córdoba province, Argentina
  19. Galliskiite, Ca4Al2(PO4)2F8·5H2O, a new mineral from the Gigante granitic pegmatite, Córdoba province, Argentina
  20. Description and crystal structure of liversidgeite, Zn6(PO4)4·7H2O, a new mineral from Broken Hill, New South Wales, Australia
  21. Evidence of dmisteinbergite (hexagonal form of CaAl2Si2O8) in pseudotachylyte: A tool to constrain the thermal history of a seismic event
  22. Partitioning of Eu between augite and a highly spiked martian basalt composition as a function of oxygen fugacity (IW-1 to QFM): Determination of Eu2+/Eu3+ ratios by XANES
  23. Density functional calculation of the infrared spectrum of surface hydroxyl groups on goethite (α-FeOOH)
  24. X-ray diffraction and Mössbauer spectroscopy of Fe3+-bearing Mg-silicate post-perovskite at 128–138 GPa
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