Krotite, CaAl2O4, a new refractory mineral from the NWA 1934 meteorite
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Chi Ma
Abstract
Krotite, CaAl2O4, occurs as the dominant phase in an unusual Ca-,Al-rich refractory inclusion from the NWA 1934 CV3 carbonaceous chondrite. Krotite occupies the central and mantle portions of the inclusion along with minor perovskite, gehlenite, hercynite, and Cl-bearing mayenite, and trace hexamolybdenum. A layered rim surrounds the krotite-bearing regions, consisting from inside to outside of grossite, mixed hibonite, and spinel, then gehlenite with an outermost layer composed of Al-rich diopside. Krotite was identified by XRD, SEM-EBSD, micro-Raman, and electron microprobe. The mean chemical composition determined by electron microprobe analysis of krotite is (wt%) Al2O3 63.50, CaO 35.73, sum 99.23, with an empirical formula calculated on the basis of 4 O atoms of Ca1.02Al1.99O4. Single-crystal XRD reveals that krotite is monoclinic, P21/n; a = 8.6996(3), b = 8.0994(3), c = 15.217(1) Å, β = 90.188(6), and Z = 12. It has a stuffed tridymite structure, which was refined from single-crystal data to R1 = 0.0161 for 1014 Fo > 4σF reflections. Krotite is colorless and transparent with a vitreous luster and white streak. Mohs hardness is ~6½. The mineral is brittle, with a conchoidal fracture. The calculated density is 2.94 g/cm3. Krotite is biaxial (-), α = 1.608(2), β = 1.629(2), γ = 1.635(2) (white light), 2Vmeas = 54.4(5)°, and 2Vcalc = 55.6°. No dispersion was observed. The optical orientation is X = b; Y ≈ a; Z ≈ c. Pleochroism is colorless to very pale gray, X > Y = Z. Krotite is a low-pressure CaAl2O4 mineral, likely formed by condensation or crystallization from a melt in the solar nebula. This is the first reported occurrence of krotite in nature and it is one of the earliest minerals formed in the solar system.
© 2015 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin/Boston
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Articles in the same Issue
- Comparative in situ X-ray diffraction study of San Carlos olivine: Influence of water on the 410 km seismic velocity jump in Earth’s mantle
- Visualizing trace element distribution in quartz using cathodoluminescence, electron microprobe, and laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry
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- Translation interface modulation in NC-pyrrhotites: Direct imaging by TEM and a model toward understanding partially disordered structural states
- Crystal chemistry of Ti-rich fluorophlogopite from Presidente Olegario, Alto Paranaíba igneous province, Brazil
- First-principles study of diffusion and viscosity of anorthite (CaAl2Si2O8) liquid at high pressure
- Aluminous and alkali-deficient tourmaline from the Singhbhum Shear Zone, East Indian shield: Insight for polyphase boron infiltration during regional metamorphism
- Effect of lactate, glycine, and citrate on the kinetics of montmorillonite dissolution
- Acid neutralization by dissolution of alkaline paper mill wastes and implications for treatment of sulfide-mine drainage
- Fast ion conduction character and ionic phase-transition in silver sulfosalts: The case of fettelite [Ag6As2S7][Ag10HgAs2S8]
- Structure of walstromite, BaCa2Si3O9, and its relationship to CaSiO3-walstromite and wollastonite-II
- Cathodoluminescence properties and trace element signature of hydrothermal quartz: A fingerprint of growth dynamics
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- In situ determination of the spinel–post-spinel transition in Fe3O4 at high pressure and temperature by synchrotron X-ray diffraction
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- The crystal structure of δ-Al(OH)3: Neutron diffraction measurements and ab initio calculations
- Electrical properties of natural and synthetic nano-crystalline MgTiO3 geikielite at mantle pressure and temperature conditions
- Density measurement of liquid FeS at high pressures using synchrotron X-ray absorption
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- Nomenclature of the tourmaline-supergroup minerals
- Quantitative Raman spectroscopy: Challenges, shortfalls, and solutions—Application to calcium silicate glasses
- Icosahedrite, Al63Cu24Fe13, the first natural quasicrystal
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