Abstract
Crystals of laihunite from Xiaolaihe of Liaoning Province, northeast China, were studied using selected-area electron diffraction (SAED), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), and Z-contrast imaging. Z-contrast images directly reveal ordered vacancies in M1 sites. The results confirm early structural models for 1-layer laihunite (or laihunite-1M) with ideal stoichiometry of □0.5Fe2+0.5Fe3+SiO4. 2-layer laihunite and 3-layer laihunite are found to be chemically different from laihunite-1M. The 2-layer laihunite can be viewed as a periodic intergrowth of laihunite and fayalite in the 1:1 ratio. The 3-layer laihunite can be considered to be a periodic intergrowth of laihunite and fayalite in the 1:0.5 ratio along the c-axis. Ideal stoichiometries for the 2-layer structure and the 3-layer structure are □0.5Fe2+2.5Fe3+[SiO4]2 and □1.0Fe2+ 3.0Fe3+2.0[SiO4]3, respectively. The structural intergrowth of the 3-layer laihunite and the 1-layer lahunite results in chemical compositions falling within the range between the two aforementioned structures, such as the chemical formula of □0.4Fe2+ 0.8Fe3+0.8SiO4, reported earlier in the literature. The crystal structures of the 1-layer laihunite (1M), the 2-layer laihunite (2M), and the 3-layer laihunite (3Or) determined from Z-contrast images and ab initio calculations using the density functional theory (DFT) have space groups of P21/b, P21/b, and Pbnm, respectively. The previously reported monoclinic symmetry for the 3-layer laihunite may be an artifact due to overlapping diffraction spots from both, the laihunite-3Or and the laihunite-1M. Our study demonstrates that the method of combining Z-contrast imaging and ab initio calculation can be effectively used for identifying structures of nano-phases in host crystals. Perhaps more importantly, Z-contrast imaging provides a powerful means for direct observation of vacancies and other defects, and may be utilized to map vacancies in Fe3+-bearing olivines, the alignments of which can greatly affect anisotropic diffusion in such structures.
© 2014 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin/Boston
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- Presentation of the 2013 Roebling Medal of the Mineralogical Society of America to Frank C. Hawthorne
- Acceptance of the 2013 Roebling Medal of the Mineralogical Society of America
- Presentation of the Distinguished Public Service Award for 2013 of the Mineralogical Society of America to Pierrette Tremblay
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- Presentation of the Dana Medal of the Mineralogical Society of America for 2014 to Patricia Dove
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Articles in the same Issue
- Highlights and Breakthroughs
- Absence of pressure-induced electron spin-state transition of iron in silicate glasses upon compression
- Dolomite discloses a hidden history of subducting slabs
- Crossroads in Earth and Planetary Materials
- Crystal structures of laihunite and intermediate phases between laihunite-1M and fayalite: Z-contrast imaging and ab initio study
- Minerals in the Human Body
- A novel technique for fluorapatite synthesis and the thermodynamic mixing behavior of F-OH apatite crystalline solutions
- Volcanic Rocks
- The cooling kinetics of plagioclase feldspar as revealed by electron-microprobe mapping
- Spinels Renaissance–Past, Present, and Future
- High-pressure behavior of thiospinel CuCr2S4
- Martian Rocks and Soil
- Mössbauer parameters of iron in phosphate minerals: Implications for interpretation of martian data
- A temperature-controlled sample stage for in situ micro-X-ray diffraction: Application to Mars analog mirabilite-bearing perennial cold spring precipitate mineralogy
- Detection of iron substitution in natroalunite-natrojarosite solid solutions and potential implications for Mars
- Articles
- Harmunite CaFe2O4: A new mineral from the Jabel Harmun, West Bank, Palestinian Autonomy, Israel
- An assessment of the reliability of melt inclusions as recorders of the pre-eruptive volatile content of magmas
- Beryllium mineral evolution
- Incorporation of Y and REEs in aluminosilicate garnet: Energetics from atomistic simulation
- Role of silica for the progress of serpentinization reactions: Constraints from successive changes in mineralogical textures of serpentinites from Iwanaidake ultramafic body, Japan
- Ophirite, Ca2Mg4[Zn2Mn23+(H2O)2(Fe3+W9O34)2]·46H2O, a new mineral with a heteropolytungstate tri-lacunary Keggin anion
- Bubble formation during decompression of andesitic melts
- Manganese carbonate formation from amorphous and nanocrystalline precursors: Thermodynamics and geochemical relevance
- Insights into the crystal chemistry of Earth materials rendered by electron density distributions: Pauling’s rules revisited
- Adsorption of sulfur dioxide on volcanic ashes
- Sulfidation of native gold
- Electrical conductivity of synthetic mullite single crystals
- In situ Raman spectroscopy identification of the S3̅ ion in S-rich hydrothermal fluids from synthetic fluid inclusions
- Melting phase equilibria of model carbonated peridotite from 8 to 12 GPa in the system CaO-MgO-Al2O3-SiO2-CO2 and kimberlitic liquids in the Earth’s upper mantle
- Effect of orientation on ion track formation in apatite and zircon
- Major, minor, and trace element composition of pyromorphite-group minerals as recorder of supergene weathering processes from the Schwarzwald mining district, SW Germany
- Toward an accurate ab initio estimation of compressibility and thermal expansion of diamond in the [0, 3000 K] temperature and [0, 30 GPa] pressures ranges, at the hybrid HF/DFT theoretical level
- Vanadio-oxy-chromium-dravite, NaV3(Cr4Mg2)(Si6O18)(BO3)3(OH)3O, a new mineral species of the tourmaline supergroup
- Graţianite, MnBi2S4, a new mineral from the Bǎiţa Bihor skarn, Romania
- Letters
- Microporous gold: Comparison of textures from Nature and experiments
- Valence state partitioning of V between pyroxene and melt for martian melt compositions Y 980459 and QUE 94201: The effect of pyroxene composition and crystal structure
- MSA Award Presentations
- Presentation of the Mineralogical Society of America Award for 2013 to Wendy Li-Wen Mao
- Acceptance of the Mineralogical Society of America Award for 2013
- Presentation of the 2013 Roebling Medal of the Mineralogical Society of America to Frank C. Hawthorne
- Acceptance of the 2013 Roebling Medal of the Mineralogical Society of America
- Presentation of the Distinguished Public Service Award for 2013 of the Mineralogical Society of America to Pierrette Tremblay
- Acceptance of the Distinguished Public Service Award for 2013 of the Mineralogical Society of America
- Presentation of the Dana Medal of the Mineralogical Society of America for 2014 to Patricia Dove
- Acceptance of the Dana Medal of the Mineralogical Society of America for 2014
- Book Review