Whelanite, Cu2Ca6[Si6O17(OH)](CO3)(OH)3(H2O)2, an (old) new mineral from the Bawana mine, Milford, Utah
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Abstract
The new mineral whelanite, Cu2Ca6[Si6O17(OH)](CO3)(OH)3(H2O)2, was approved by the Commission on New Minerals and Mineral Names (IMA) in 1977, but until now a description has not been published. The mineral is orthorhombic with space group Pn2n and cell parameters a = 5.6551(4), b = 3.683(3), c = 27.1372(7) Å, V = 565.3(5) Å3, and Z = 1. The mineral occurs with thaumasite, stringhamite, and kinoite in a copper-rich, diopside-garnet-magnetite skarn at the Bawana mine, Beaver County, Utah, and has also been confirmed to occur at other localities. At the Bawana mine, it is found as irregular clusters and radial aggregates of platy to lath-like crystals up to 1 mm in length, flattened on {001} and elongated on [100]. The color and streak are pale blue and the luster is vitreous. The laths are flexible, but not elastic. Cleavage is perfect on {001} and good on {010}, producing splintery fracture. The Mohs’ hardness is about 2½. The measured density is 2.74(3) g/cm3 and the calculated density is 2.737 g/cm3 based upon the empirical formula. The mineral is biaxial (-), α = 1.612(2), β = 1.622(calc), and γ = 1.626(2), and 2Vmeas = 64(1)°. The pleochroism is weak: X = Y (pale blue) < Z (light blue). The optical orientation is X = a, Y = c, Z = b. A combination of electron microprobe analyses and thermogravimetric analyses (for CO2 and H2O) yielded: CaO 34.46, CuO 12.09, FeO 1.52, SiO2 37.96, CO2 5.93, H2O 8.86, total 100.82 wt%, providing the empirical formula (based on O = 26):
Cu1.41Fe0.20Ca5.68Si5.84C1.25O26H9.09. Raman spectroscopy shows evidence of (CO3)2-, (OH)−, and H2O. The strongest powder X-ray diffraction lines are [d(hkl)I]: 6.79(004)52, 3.072(111)43, 3.013(112)100, 2.921(113)39, 2.802(114)45, 2.522(116,205)44, and 1.839(020,1.1.12)37. The crystal structure (R1 = 3.89% for 567 F0 > 4σF) contains two different types of polyhedral layers parallel to {001}, which alternate along [001] and are linked to one another by sharing corners with wollastonite-like silicate chains running parallel [010]. One polyhedral layer, consisting of edge-sharing CaO7 polyhedra, is identical to that in the structures of the tobermorites (tobermorite 9Å, tobermorite 11Å, tobermorite 14Å, and clinotobermorite). The other layer is brucite-like, with alternating ribbons of edge-sharing Cu2+O6 and CaO6 octahedra. Disordered CO3 and H2O groups are also located in the interlayer region. The crystal structure of whelanite exhibits OD character.
© 2015 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin/Boston
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- LREE-redistribution among fluorapatite, monazite, and allanite at high pressures and temperatures
- A single-crystal neutron diffraction study of hambergite, Be2BO3(OH,F)
- Analyzing water contents in unexposed glass inclusions in quartz crystals
- The atomic structure of deuterated boyleite ZnSO4·4D2O, ilesite MnSO4·4D2O, and bianchite ZnSO4·6D2O
- Synthesis and crystal chemistry of Fe3+-bearing (Mg,Fe3+)(Si,Fe3+)O3 perovskite
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- Structural regularities in 2M1 dioctahedral micas: The structure modeling approach
- Incorporation of Fe and Al in MgSiO3 perovskite: An investigation by 27Al and 29Si NMR spectroscopy
- In situ high-temperature Raman and FTIR spectroscopy of the phase transformation of lizardite
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- 2M1-phlogopite from Black Hills (South Australia): The first case of configurational polytype in micas
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Articles in the same Issue
- Cation ordering over short-range and long-range scales in the MgAl2O4-CuAl2O4 series
- Blue spinel crystals in the MgAl2O4-CoAl2O4 series: Part I. Flux growth and chemical characterization
- Blue spinel crystals in the MgAl2O4-CoAl2O4 series: Part II. Cation ordering over short-range and long-range scales
- CO2 solubility in primitive martian basalts similar to Yamato 980459, the effect of composition on CO2 solubility of basalts, and the evolution of the martian atmosphere
- New structural features of the high-pressure synthetic sheet-disilicate Phase-X, K(2–x)Mg2Si2O7Hx
- Crystal structure refinements of borate dimorphs inderite and kurnakovite using 11B and 25Mg nuclear magnetic resonance and DFT calculations
- Hydrogen-bond system and dehydration behavior of the natural zeolite parthéite
- In situ dehydration behavior of zeolite-like cavansite: A single-crystal X-ray study
- LREE-redistribution among fluorapatite, monazite, and allanite at high pressures and temperatures
- A single-crystal neutron diffraction study of hambergite, Be2BO3(OH,F)
- Analyzing water contents in unexposed glass inclusions in quartz crystals
- The atomic structure of deuterated boyleite ZnSO4·4D2O, ilesite MnSO4·4D2O, and bianchite ZnSO4·6D2O
- Synthesis and crystal chemistry of Fe3+-bearing (Mg,Fe3+)(Si,Fe3+)O3 perovskite
- Mixed-layered structure formation during trans-vacant Al-rich illite partial dehydroxylation
- Structural regularities in 2M1 dioctahedral micas: The structure modeling approach
- Incorporation of Fe and Al in MgSiO3 perovskite: An investigation by 27Al and 29Si NMR spectroscopy
- In situ high-temperature Raman and FTIR spectroscopy of the phase transformation of lizardite
- Packing systematics and structural relationships of the new copper molybdate markascherite and related minerals
- On the origin of sellaite (MgF2)-rich deposits in Mg-poor environments
- Edgrewite Ca9(SiO4)4F2-hydroxyledgrewite Ca9(SiO4)4(OH)2, a new series of calcium humite-group minerals from altered xenoliths in the ignimbrite of Upper Chegem caldera, Northern Caucasus, Kabardino-Balkaria, Russia
- Whelanite, Cu2Ca6[Si6O17(OH)](CO3)(OH)3(H2O)2, an (old) new mineral from the Bawana mine, Milford, Utah
- 2M1-phlogopite from Black Hills (South Australia): The first case of configurational polytype in micas
- Oxy-chromium-dravite, NaCr3(Cr4Mg2)(Si6O18)(BO3)3(OH)3O, a new mineral species of the tourmaline supergroup
- First-principles study of self-diffusion and viscous flow in diopside (CaMgSi2O6) liquid
- Browneite, MnS, a new sphalerite-group mineral from the Zakłodzie meteorite
- Mineralogical variation of silica induced by Al and Na in hydrothermal solutions
