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Paulscherrerite from the Number 2 Workings, Mount Painter Inlier, Northern Flinders Ranges, South Australia: “Dehydrated schoepite” is a mineral after all

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Published/Copyright: April 2, 2015
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American Mineralogist
From the journal American Mineralogist Volume 96 Issue 2-3

Abstract

Paulscherrerite, UO2(OH)2, occurs as an abundant dehydration product of metaschoepite at the Number 2 Workings at Radium Ridge, Northern Flinders Ranges, South Australia. The mineral name honors the contribution of Swiss physicist Paul Scherrer (1890-1969) to mineralogy and nuclear physics. Individual paulscherrerite crystals are tabular, reaching a maximum of 500 nm in length. Paulscherrerite has a canary yellow color and displays no fluorescence under UV light. Chemically, paulscherrerite is a pure uranyl hydroxide/hydrate, containing only traces of other metals (<1 wt% in total). Bulk (mg) samples always contain admixtures of metaschoepite (purest samples have ~80 wt% paulscherrerite). A thermogravimetric analysis corrected for the presence of metaschoepite contamination leads to the empirical formula UO3·1.02H2O, and the simplified structural formula UO2(OH)2. Powder diffraction shows that the crystal structure of paulscherrerite is closely related to that of synthetic orthorhombic α-UO2(OH)2. However, splitting of some X-ray diffraction lines suggests a monoclinic symmetry for type paulscherrerite, with a = 4.288(2), b = 10.270(6), c = 6.885(5) Å, β = 90.39(4)°, V = 303.2(2) Å3, Z = 4, and possible space groups P2, P21, P2/m, or P21/m.

Paulscherrerite-like material was synthesized using various methods, including heating metaschoepite in water at 150 °C and slow hydration of UO3(am) in air; material synthesized using hydrothermal techniques displayed peak splitting indicative of monoclinic symmetry. Paulscherrerite has been reported under the name “dehydrated schoepite” as an early weathering product of uraninite/pitchblende in several deposits, such as Shinkolobwe, Zaire; Nopal I deposit, Mexico; and the granitic pegmatites of New Hampshire, U.S.A.

Keywords: Paulscherrerite; new mineral; uranyl hydroxide; “dehydrated schoepite,” powder diffraction; Number 2 Workings; Radium Ridge; Northern Flinders Ranges; South Australia
Received: 2010-5-11
Accepted: 2010-9-1
Published Online: 2015-4-2
Published in Print: 2011-2-1

© 2015 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin/Boston

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Paulscherrerite from the Number 2 Workings, Mount Painter Inlier, Northern Flinders Ranges, South Australia: “Dehydrated schoepite” is a mineral after all
  2. Atomistic investigation of the pyrophyllitic substitution and implications on clay stability
  3. Application of the two-feldspar geothermometer to ultrahigh-temperature (UHT) rocks in the Khondalite belt, North China craton and its implications
  4. Wüstite in a hydrothermal silver-lead-zinc vein, Lucky Friday mine, Coeur d’Alene mining district, U.S.A.
  5. Gelosaite, BiMo6+(2–5x)Mo5+6xO7(OH)·H2O (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.4), a new mineral from Su Senargiu (CA), Sardinia, Italy, and a second occurrence from Kingsgate, New England, Australia
  6. Improved electron probe microanalysis of trace elements in quartz
  7. Ultra-high residual compressive stress (>2 GPa) in a very small volume (<1 μm3) of indented quartz
  8. Transmission electron microscopy investigation of Ag-free lillianite and heyrovskýite from Vulcano, Aeolian Islands, Italy
  9. Combined inelastic neutron scattering and solid-state density functional theory study of dynamics of hydrogen atoms in muscovite 2M1
  10. Contact metamorphism of a Cretaceous accretionary prism by the 14 Ma Okueyama granite, a single post-kinematic pluton in Central Kyushu, Japan: SVD analysis of metamorphic reactions and thermal release
  11. Origin of crosscutting dissolution surfaces in magmatic plagioclase
  12. Néel transition in (Mg,Fe)O: A possible change of magnetic structure
  13. Extreme channelization of fluid and the problem of element mobility during Barrovian metamorphism
  14. The high-temperature P21/m → C2/m phase transitions in synthetic amphiboles along the richterite–(BMg)–richterite join
  15. The crystal structure of barite, BaSO4, at high pressure
  16. Thermal decomposition of brushite, CaHPO4·2H2O to monetite CaHPO4 and the formation of an amorphous phase
  17. Rhombic-shaped nanodomains in columbite driven by contrasting cation order
  18. High-pressure structural evolution and equation of state of analbite
  19. In-situ dehydration studies of fully K-, Rb-, and Cs-exchanged natrolites
  20. The crystal structures and Raman spectra of aravaipaite and calcioaravaipaite
  21. Temperature dependence of the Fe2+ Mössbauer parameters in triphylite (LiFePO4)
  22. Synthesis and characterization of françoisite-(Nd): Nd[(UO2)3O(OH)(PO4)2]·6H2O
  23. Fluorphosphohedyphane, Ca2Pb3(PO4)3F, the first apatite supergroup mineral with essential Pb and F
  24. A new mineral with an olivine structure and pyroxene composition in the shock-induced melt veins of Tenham L6 chondrite
  25. The WURM project—a freely available web-based repository of computed physical data for minerals
  26. Acid production by FeSO4·nH2O dissolution: Comment
  27. Letter. Crystal chemistry of sodium in the Earth’s interior: The structure of Na2MgSi5O12 synthesized at 17.5 GPa and 1700 °C
  28. Letter. In-situ infrared spectra of OH in olivine to 1100°C
https://doi.org/10.2138/am.2011.3601
Keywords for this article
Paulscherrerite; new mineral; uranyl hydroxide; “dehydrated schoepite,” powder diffraction; Number 2 Workings; Radium Ridge; Northern Flinders Ranges; South Australia

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Paulscherrerite from the Number 2 Workings, Mount Painter Inlier, Northern Flinders Ranges, South Australia: “Dehydrated schoepite” is a mineral after all
  2. Atomistic investigation of the pyrophyllitic substitution and implications on clay stability
  3. Application of the two-feldspar geothermometer to ultrahigh-temperature (UHT) rocks in the Khondalite belt, North China craton and its implications
  4. Wüstite in a hydrothermal silver-lead-zinc vein, Lucky Friday mine, Coeur d’Alene mining district, U.S.A.
  5. Gelosaite, BiMo6+(2–5x)Mo5+6xO7(OH)·H2O (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.4), a new mineral from Su Senargiu (CA), Sardinia, Italy, and a second occurrence from Kingsgate, New England, Australia
  6. Improved electron probe microanalysis of trace elements in quartz
  7. Ultra-high residual compressive stress (>2 GPa) in a very small volume (<1 μm3) of indented quartz
  8. Transmission electron microscopy investigation of Ag-free lillianite and heyrovskýite from Vulcano, Aeolian Islands, Italy
  9. Combined inelastic neutron scattering and solid-state density functional theory study of dynamics of hydrogen atoms in muscovite 2M1
  10. Contact metamorphism of a Cretaceous accretionary prism by the 14 Ma Okueyama granite, a single post-kinematic pluton in Central Kyushu, Japan: SVD analysis of metamorphic reactions and thermal release
  11. Origin of crosscutting dissolution surfaces in magmatic plagioclase
  12. Néel transition in (Mg,Fe)O: A possible change of magnetic structure
  13. Extreme channelization of fluid and the problem of element mobility during Barrovian metamorphism
  14. The high-temperature P21/m → C2/m phase transitions in synthetic amphiboles along the richterite–(BMg)–richterite join
  15. The crystal structure of barite, BaSO4, at high pressure
  16. Thermal decomposition of brushite, CaHPO4·2H2O to monetite CaHPO4 and the formation of an amorphous phase
  17. Rhombic-shaped nanodomains in columbite driven by contrasting cation order
  18. High-pressure structural evolution and equation of state of analbite
  19. In-situ dehydration studies of fully K-, Rb-, and Cs-exchanged natrolites
  20. The crystal structures and Raman spectra of aravaipaite and calcioaravaipaite
  21. Temperature dependence of the Fe2+ Mössbauer parameters in triphylite (LiFePO4)
  22. Synthesis and characterization of françoisite-(Nd): Nd[(UO2)3O(OH)(PO4)2]·6H2O
  23. Fluorphosphohedyphane, Ca2Pb3(PO4)3F, the first apatite supergroup mineral with essential Pb and F
  24. A new mineral with an olivine structure and pyroxene composition in the shock-induced melt veins of Tenham L6 chondrite
  25. The WURM project—a freely available web-based repository of computed physical data for minerals
  26. Acid production by FeSO4·nH2O dissolution: Comment
  27. Letter. Crystal chemistry of sodium in the Earth’s interior: The structure of Na2MgSi5O12 synthesized at 17.5 GPa and 1700 °C
  28. Letter. In-situ infrared spectra of OH in olivine to 1100°C
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