Revision of the crystal structure and chemical formula of weeksite, K2(UO2)2(Si5O13)·4H2O
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Karla Fejfarová
, Hexiong Yang
Abstract
The previously published structure determination of weeksite from the Anderson mine, Arizona, U.S.A., suggested that it is orthorhombic, Cmmb, with a = 14.209(2), b = 14.248(2), c = 35.869(4) Å, and V = 7262(2) Å3, and an ideal chemical formula (K,Ba)1-2(UO2)2(Si5O13)·H2O. Using single-crystal X-ray diffraction, electron microprobe analysis, and thermal analysis, we reexamined weeksite from the same locality. Our results demonstrate that weeksite is monoclinic, with the space group C2/m and unit-cell parameters a = 14.1957(4), b = 14.2291(5), c = 9.6305(3) Å, b = 111.578(3)°, V = 1808.96(10) Å3, and an ideal formula K2(UO2)2(Si5O13)·4H2O. The previously reported orthorhombic unit cell is shown to result from twinning of the monoclinic cell. The structure refinement yielded R1 = 2.84% for 1632 observed reflections [Iobs > 3σ(I)] and 5.42% for all 2379 reflections. The total H2O content derived from the structure refinement agrees well with that from the thermal analysis. Although the general topology of our structure resembles that reported previously, all Si sites in our structure are fully occupied, in contrast to the previous structure determination, which includes four partially occupied SiO4 tetrahedra. From our structure data on weeksite, it appears evident that the orthorhombic cell of the newly discovered weeksite-type mineral coutinhoite, ThxB1-2x(UO2)2Si5O13·3H2O, needs to be reevaluated.
© 2015 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Veatchite: Structural relationships of the three polytypes
- Falsterite, Ca2MgMn2+2 (Fe2+0.5Fe3+0.5)4Zn4(PO4)8(OH)4(H2O)14, a new secondary phosphate mineral from the Palermo No. 1 pegmatite, North Groton, New Hampshire
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- Incorporation of Si into TiO2 phases at high pressure
- TOF-SIMS and electron microprobe investigations of zoned magmatic orthopyroxenes: First results of trace and minor element analysis with implications for diffusion modeling
- Titanium in muscovite, biotite, and hornblende: Modeling, thermometry, and rutile activities of metapelites and amphibolites
- Polysaccharide-catalyzed nucleation and growth of disordered dolomite: A potential precursor of sedimentary dolomite
- High-pressure and high-temperature phase transitions in FeTiO3 and a new dense FeTi3O7 structure
- Compressibility and thermal expansion of hydrous ringwoodite with 2.5(3) wt% H2O
- Vibrational and elastic properties of ferromagnesite across the electronic spin-pairing transition of iron
- Electronic spin states of ferric and ferrous iron in the lower-mantle silicate perovskite
- Experimental VNIR reflectance spectroscopy of gypsum dehydration: Investigating the gypsum to bassanite transition
- Nature of rehydroxylation in dioctahedral 2:1 layer clay minerals
- Thermal behavior of afghanite, an ABABACAC member of the cancrinite group
- Experimental incorporation of Th into xenotime at middle to lower crustal P-T utilizing alkali-bearing fluids
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- The heat capacity of fayalite at high temperatures
- Structural trends for celestite (SrSO4), anglesite (PbSO4), and barite (BaSO4): Confirmation of expected variations within the SO4 groups
- The dehydroxylation of serpentine group minerals
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- Electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) analyses of phyllosilicates in petrographic thin sections
Articles in the same Issue
- Veatchite: Structural relationships of the three polytypes
- Falsterite, Ca2MgMn2+2 (Fe2+0.5Fe3+0.5)4Zn4(PO4)8(OH)4(H2O)14, a new secondary phosphate mineral from the Palermo No. 1 pegmatite, North Groton, New Hampshire
- Pavlovskyite Ca8(SiO4)2(Si3O10): A new mineral of altered silicate-carbonate xenoliths from the two Russian type localities, Birkhin massif, Baikal Lake area and Upper Chegem caldera, North Caucasus
- Zaccagnaite-3R, a new Zn-Al hydrotalcite polytype from El Soplao cave (Cantabria, Spain)
- Incorporation of Si into TiO2 phases at high pressure
- TOF-SIMS and electron microprobe investigations of zoned magmatic orthopyroxenes: First results of trace and minor element analysis with implications for diffusion modeling
- Titanium in muscovite, biotite, and hornblende: Modeling, thermometry, and rutile activities of metapelites and amphibolites
- Polysaccharide-catalyzed nucleation and growth of disordered dolomite: A potential precursor of sedimentary dolomite
- High-pressure and high-temperature phase transitions in FeTiO3 and a new dense FeTi3O7 structure
- Compressibility and thermal expansion of hydrous ringwoodite with 2.5(3) wt% H2O
- Vibrational and elastic properties of ferromagnesite across the electronic spin-pairing transition of iron
- Electronic spin states of ferric and ferrous iron in the lower-mantle silicate perovskite
- Experimental VNIR reflectance spectroscopy of gypsum dehydration: Investigating the gypsum to bassanite transition
- Nature of rehydroxylation in dioctahedral 2:1 layer clay minerals
- Thermal behavior of afghanite, an ABABACAC member of the cancrinite group
- Experimental incorporation of Th into xenotime at middle to lower crustal P-T utilizing alkali-bearing fluids
- Sol-gel synthesis of nanocrystalline fayalite (Fe2SiO4)
- The heat capacity of fayalite at high temperatures
- Structural trends for celestite (SrSO4), anglesite (PbSO4), and barite (BaSO4): Confirmation of expected variations within the SO4 groups
- The dehydroxylation of serpentine group minerals
- Formation of nanoscale Th-coffinite
- Magnetic and low-temperature structural behavior of clinopyroxene-type FeGeO3: A neutron diffraction, magnetic susceptibility, and 57Fe Mössbauer study
- Crystal structure and thermal expansion of aragonite-group carbonates by single-crystal X-ray diffraction
- The lower-pressure stability of glaucophane in the presence of paragonite and quartz in the system Na2O-MgO-Al2O3-SiO2-H2O
- Coralloite, Mn2+Mn23+(AsO4)2(OH)2·4H2O, a new mixed valence Mn hydrate arsenate: Crystal structure and relationships with bermanite and whitmoreite mineral groups
- The crystal structure of metanatroautunite, Na[(UO2)(PO4)](H2O)3, from the Lake Boga Granite, Victoria, Australia
- Petedunnite (CaZnSi2O6): Stability and phase relations in the system CaO-ZnO-SiO2
- Revision of the crystal structure and chemical formula of weeksite, K2(UO2)2(Si5O13)·4H2O
- Electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) analyses of phyllosilicates in petrographic thin sections