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Crystal structure and low-temperature behavior of “disordered” thomsonite

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Published/Copyright: April 2, 2015
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American Mineralogist
From the journal American Mineralogist Volume 95 Issue 4

Abstract

The crystal structure, crystal chemistry, and low-temperature structural evolution of natural thomsonite from Terzigno, Somma-Vesuvius volcanic complex, Naples Province, Italy, have been investigated by means of in situ single-crystal X-ray diffraction, electron microprobe analysis in the wavelength dispersive mode, and Raman spectroscopy. Six structure refinements have been obtained at different temperatures: 295.5, 248.0, 198.0, 148.0, 98.0, and 296.0 K (after the low-T experiments). The reflection conditions and the structure refinements prove that the crystal of thomsonite here investigated is orthorhombic with a = 13.0809(3), b = 13.0597(3), c = 6.6051(1) Å, V = 1128.37(14) Å3, and space group Pbmn, which differs from thomsonite from different localities reported in previous studies (with a ~ 13.1, b ~ 13.06, c ~ 13.2 Å, and space group Pncn). The refined bond distances suggest that the Si/Al-distribution in the tetrahedral framework is fully “disordered,” giving rise to the halving of the c axis relative to that found in “ordered” thomsonites. The extra-framework population consists of: (1) one site about 50% occupied by Ca (labeled as “Ca”); (2) one site occupied by Na (~70%) and Ca (~30%) (labeled as “Na”); and (3) three water molecule sites (“W1,” “W2,” “W3”). The structure refinements allowed the location of all the proton sites, and the hydrogen-bonding scheme in the structure is provided. The low-temperature refinements show no significant change in the structure within the T-range investigated. The evolution of the unit-cell volume with T exhibits a continuous and linear trend, without any evident thermo-elastic anomaly, with thermal expansion coefficients αV = V-1⋅∂V/∂T= 20(2)·10-6 K-1 (between 98.0 and 295.5 K). A list with the principal Raman active modes is provided and a comparison with the vibrational modes previously found for “ordered” thomsonite is carried out.

Keywords: Zeolite; thomsonite; Somma-Vesuvious; crystal chemistry; low temperature; singlecrystal X-ray diffraction; single-crystal Raman spectroscopy
Received: 2009-7-22
Accepted: 2009-11-19
Published Online: 2015-4-2
Published in Print: 2010-4-1

© 2015 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin/Boston

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https://doi.org/10.2138/am.2010.3353
Keywords for this article
Zeolite; thomsonite; Somma-Vesuvious; crystal chemistry; low temperature; singlecrystal X-ray diffraction; single-crystal Raman spectroscopy

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Fe site occupancy in magnetite-ulvöspinel solid solutions: A new approach using X-ray magnetic circular dichroism
  2. Discovery, mineral paragenesis, and origin of wadalite in a meteorite
  3. Cathodoluminescence microscopy and spectroscopy of synthetic ruby crystals grown by the optical floating zone technique
  4. Structural relaxation around Cr3+ and the red-green color change in the spinel (sensu stricto)-magnesiochromite (MgAl2O4-MgCr2O4) and gahnite-zincochromite (ZnAl2O4-ZnCr2O4) solid-solution series
  5. Recrystallization in fully metamict gadolinite from Ytterby (Sweden), annealed in air and studied by 57Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy
  6. Fantappièite, a new mineral of the cancrinite-sodalite group with a 33-layer stacking sequence: Occurrence and crystal structure
  7. Reinvestigation of the crystal structure of the zeolite gobbinsite: A single-crystal X-ray diffraction study
  8. Arsenic-rich fergusonite-beta-(Y) from Mount Cervandone (Western Alps, Italy): Crystal structure and genetic implications
  9. Crystal structure and low-temperature behavior of “disordered” thomsonite
  10. Cooling-induced crystallization of microlite crystals in two basaltic pumice clasts
  11. Crystal structure analyses of four tourmaline specimens from the Cleopatra’s Mines (Egypt) and Jabal Zalm (Saudi Arabia), and the role of Al in the tourmaline group
  12. Combined single-crystal X-ray and neutron powder diffraction structure analysis exemplified through full structure determinations of framework and layer beryllate minerals
  13. Olivine crystal size distributions in kimberlite
  14. Solubility of manganotantalite and manganocolumbite in pegmatitic melts
  15. The effect of silica on ferric/ferrous ratio in silicate melts: An experimental study using Mössbauer spectroscopy
  16. HRTEM investigation of trilling todorokite and nano-phase Mn-oxides in manganese dendrites
  17. Thermo-chemical and thermo-physical properties of the high-pressure phase anhydrous B (Mg14Si5O24): An ab-initio all-electron investigation
  18. The incommensurately modulated structures of natural natrite at 120 and 293 K from synchrotron X-ray data
  19. Sulfide oxidation observed using micro-Raman spectroscopy and micro-X-ray diffraction: The importance of water/rock ratios and pH conditions
  20. In situ measurements of plagioclase growth using SIMS depth profiles of 7Li/30Si: A means to acquire crystallization rates during short-duration decompression events
  21. Crystal chemistry of the MgAl2O4-MgMn2O4-MnMn2O4 system: Analysis of structural distortion in spinel- and hausmannite-type structures
  22. The effect of Al and water on the compressibility of diopside
  23. Geothermometric study of Mg-rich spinels from the Somma-Vesuvius volcanic complex (Naples, Italy)
  24. Serpentine minerals discrimination by thermal analysis
  25. A new type of cubic-stacked layer structure in anthoinite, AlWO3(OH)3
  26. Townendite, Na8ZrSi6O18, a new uranium-bearing lovozerite group mineral from the Ilímaussaq alkaline complex, Southern Greenland
  27. Letter. Pressure-induced transformations in kaolinite
  28. Letter. The crystal structure of gypsum-II determined by single-crystal synchrotron X-ray diffraction data
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