Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7fkt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T11:03:40.177Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Crystallite growth kinetics in nanocrystalline quartz (agate and chalcedony)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 July 2018

T. Moxon  and
M. A. Carpenter
T. Moxon*
Affiliation:
55 Common Lane, Auckley, Doncaster DN9 3HX, UK
M. A. Carpenter
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EQ, UK
*
* E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Crystallite growth in natural agate samples has been investigated at temperatures of 350—550°C and 100 MPa pressure in the presence of water vapour. Initial crystallite coarsening is accompanied by the transformation of moganite to α-quartz that is apparently inhibited by residual moganite when the crystallite sizes reach ~50 nm. At 350—500°C the coarsening kinetics can be described by an empirical law developed to describe Zener pinning which incorporates the maximum crystallite size prior to growth inhibition: . Co = initial crystallite size, Cs = crystallite growth after time t, Cm = the maximum size achieved before inhibition and k is the rate constant that includes the activation energy which was found to be 51(±9) kJ mole—1. A more conventional isothermal growth rate law, = kt with n = 6.5, only applies at 550°C. Limited growth was obtained when small agate cubes were heated in an open furnace up to 122 d at 550°C, demonstrating that water vapour was essential for continued crystallite coarsening. The crystallite size and moganite content of agates formed under normal earth surface conditions from hosts aged 13 Ma to 3.5 Ga have also been determined. The high temperature crystallite growth rate law does not describe natural agate growth quantitatively but a qualitatively similar pattern is observed.

Keywords

agatechalcedonymoganitecrystallite growthXRDZener pinning
Type
Research Article
Information
Mineralogical Magazine , Volume 73 , Issue 4 , August 2009 , pp. 551 - 568
Copyright
Copyright © The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Atkinson, H.V. (1988) Overview No. 65. Theories of normal grain growth in pure single phase systems. Acta Metallurgica, 36, 469—491.Google Scholar
Bertone, J.F., Cizeron, J., Wahi, R.K., Bosworth, J.K. and Colvin, V.L. (2003) Hydrothermal synthesis of quartz nanocrystals. Nano Letters, 3, 655—659.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bish, D.L. and Reynolds, R.C. Jr. (1989) Sample preparation for X-ray diffraction. Pp. 73—99 in: Modern Powder Diffraction (D.L. Bish and J.E Post, editors). Reviews in Mineralogy, 20, Mineralogical Society of America, Chantilly, Virginia, USA.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bohrmann, G., Abelmann, A., Gersonde, R., Hubberten, H. and Kuhn, G. (1994) Pure siliceous ooze, a diagenetic environment for early chert formation. Geology, 22, 207—210.2.3.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clark, R. (2002) Fairburn Agate Gem of South Dakota, Silverwind Agates, Appleton, USA, 104 pp.Google Scholar
Daniels, F.J. and Dayvault, R.D. (2006) Ancient Forests. Western Colorado Publishing Co., Grand Junction. Colorado, USA, 450 pp.Google Scholar
Deer, W.A., Howie, R.A. and Zussman, J. (1992) An Introduction to the Rock-Forming Minerals, Longman, Harlow, UK, 696 pp.Google Scholar
Fall, H.G., Gibb, F.G.F. and Kanaris-Sotiriou, R. (1982) Jurassic volcanic rocks of the northern North Sea. Journal of the Geological Society of London, 139, 277–292.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Florke, O.W., Kohler-Herbertz, B., Langer, K. and Tonges, I. (1982) Water in microcrystalline quartz of Volcanic Origin: Agates. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology, 80, 324–333.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gilg, H.A., Morteani, G., Kostitsyn, Y., Preinfalk, C., Gatter, I. and Streider, A.J. (2003) Genesis of amethyst geodes in basaltic rocks of the Serra Geral Formation (Ametista do Sul, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil): a fluid inclusion, REE, oxygen, carbon, and Sr isotope study on basalt, quartz, and calcite. Mineralium. Deposita, 38, 1009–1025.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Götze, J., Nasdala, L., Kleeberg, R. and Wenzel, M. (1998) Occurrence and distribution of ‘moganite’ in agate/chalcedony: a combined micro-Raman, Rietveld, and cathodoluminescence study. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology, 133, 96–105.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Graetsch, H., Florke, O.W. and Miehe, G. (1985) The nature of water in chalcedony and opal-C from Brazilian agate geodes. Physics and Chemistry of Minerals, 12, 300–306.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Graetsch, H., Florke, O.W. and Miehe, G. (1987) Structural defects in microcrystalline silica. Physics and Chemistry of Minerals, 14, 249–257.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heaney, P.J. (1993) A proposed mechanism for the growth of chalcedony. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology, 115, 66–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heaney, P.J. (1995) Moganite as an indicator for vanished evaporates: a testament reborn? Journal of Sedimentary Research, A65, 633–638.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heaney, P.J. and Post, J.E. (1992) The widespread distribution of a novel silica polymorph in microcrystalline quartz varieties. Science, 255, 441–443.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Henry, C.D., Kunk, M.J. and McIntosh, W.C. (1994) 40Ar/39Ar chronology and volcanology of silicic volcanism in the Davis mountains, Trans-Pecos Texas. Geological Society of America Bulletin, 106, 1359–1376.2.3.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Herwegh, M., Berger, A. and Ebert, A. (2005) Grain coarsening maps: a new tool to predict microfabric evolution of polymineralic rocks. Geology, 33, 801–804.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heydemann, A. (1964) Untersuchungen iiber die Bildung sb edingungen von Quarz im Temperaturbereich zwischen 100°C und 250°C. Beitrāge zur Mineralogie und Petrographie, 10, 242–259. (English abstract).Google Scholar
Hinman, N.W. (1998) Sequences of silica phase transitions: effects of Na, Mg, Al and Fe ions. Marine Geology, 147, 13–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hodych, J.P. and Dunning, G.R. (1992) Did the Manicouagan impact trigger end-of-Triassic mass extinction? Geology, 20, 51–54.2.3.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huang, W.L. (2003) The nucleation and growth of polycrystalline quartz: pressure effect from 0.05 to 3 GPa. European Journal of Mineralogy, 15, 843–853.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keller, P.C., Bockoven, N.T. and McDowell, F.W. (1982) Tertiary volcanic history of the Sierra del Gallego area, Chihuahua, Mexico. Geological Society of America Bulletin, 93, 303–314.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kronenberg, A.K. (1994) Hydrogen speciation and chemical weakening of quartz.. Pp 123-176 in: Silica (P.J. Heaney, C.T. Prewitt and G.V.Gibbs, editors). Reviews in Mineraology, 29, Mineralogical Society of America, Chantilly, Virginia, USA.Google Scholar
Lasaga, A.C. (1981) Rate laws of chemical reactions. Pp. 1-68 in: Kinetics of Geochemical Processes (A.C. Lasaga and R.J. Kirkpatrick, editors). Reviews in Mineralogy, 8, Mineralogical Society of America, Chantilly, Virginia, USA.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Li, G., Li, L., Boerio-Goates, J. and Woodfield, B.F. (2005) High purity anatase TiO2 nanocrystals: near room-temperature synthesis, grain growth kinetics, and surface hydration chemistry. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 127, 8659–8666.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mackenzie, F.T. and Gees, R. (1971) Quartz: synthesis at Earth-surface conditions. Science, 173, 533–534.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Malow, T.R. and Koch, C.C. (1997) Grain growth in nanocrystalline iron prepared by mechanical attrition. Acta Materialia, 45, 2177–2186.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Masuda, T., Morikawa, T., Nakayama, Y. and Suzuki, S. (1997) Grain-boundary migration of quartz during annealing experiments at high temperatures and pressures, with implications for metamorphic geology. Journal of Metamorphic Geology, 15, 311–322.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miehe, G. and Graetsch, H. (1992) Crystal structure of moganite: a new structure type for silica. European Journal of Mineralogy, 4, 693–706.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Millward, D. and Evans, J.A. (2003) U-Pb chronology and duration of late Ordovician magmatism in the English Lake District. Journal of the Geological Society of London, 160, 773–781.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mitsui, K. and Taguchi, K. (1977) Silica mineral diagenesis in Neogene Tertiary shales in the Tempoku district, Hokkaido, Japan. Journal of Sedimentary Petrology, 47, 158–167.Google Scholar
Mizutani, S. (1966) Transformation of silica under hydrothermal conditions. Journal of Earth Sciences, Nagoya University, 14, 56–88.Google Scholar
Moxon, T. (2002) Agate: a study of ageing. European Journal of Mineralogy, 14, 1109–1118.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moxon, T. and Rios, S. (2004) Moganite and water content as a function of age in agate: an XRD and thermogravimetric study. European Journal of Mineralogy, 16, 269–278.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moxon, T., Nelson, D.R. and Zhang, M. (2006) Agate recrystallization: evidence from samples found in Archaean and Proterozoic host rocks, Western Australia. Australian Journal of Earth. Sciences, 53, 235–248.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moxon, T., Reed, S.J.B. and Zhang, M. (2007) Metamorphic effects on agate found near the Shap granite, Cumbria, England: as demonstrated by petrography, X-ray diffraction and spectroscopic methods. Mineralogical Magazine, 71, 461–476.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Naboko, S.I. and Silnichenko, V.G. (1957) Formation of silica gel on solfataras of the Golovnin Volcano on the Kunashir Island. Geochemistry, 3, 253–256. (in Russian with English Abstract).Google Scholar
Nelson, D.R. (2002) Compilation of geochronology data 2001. Geological Survey of Western Australia Record 2002/2.Google Scholar
Nes, E., Ryum, N. and Hunder, O. (1985) On the Zener drag. Acta Metallurgica, 33, 11–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Oehler, J.H. (1976) Hydrothermal crystallization of silica gel. Geological Society of America Bulletin, 87, 1143–1152.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rodgers, K.A. and Cressey, G. (2001) The occurrence, detection and significance of moganite (SiO2) among some silica sinters. Mineralogical Magazine, 65, 157–167.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rodgers, K.A., Browne, P.R.L., Buddle, T.F., Cook, K.l., Greatrez, R.A., Hampton, W.A., Herdianita, N.R., Holland, G.R., Lynne, B.Y., Martin, R., Newton, Z., Pastars, D., Sannazarro, K.L. and Teece, C.I.A. (2004) Silica phases in sinters and residues from geothermal fields of New Zealand. Earth Science Reviews, 66, 1–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shek, C.H., Lai, J.K.L. and Lin, G.M. (1999) Grain growth in nanocrystalline SnO2 prepared by sol-gel route. Nanostructured Materials, 11, 887–893.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stein, C.L. (1982) Silica recrystallization in petrified wood. Journal of Sedimentary Petrology, 52, 1277–1282.Google Scholar
Tabor, R.W., Waitt, R.B. Jr, Frizzell, V.A. Jr, Swanson, D.A., Byerly, G.R. and Bentley, R.D. (1982) Geologic map of the Wenatchee, 1:100 000 Quadrangle, Central Washington. US Geological Survey, Misc. Field Studies, Maps MF-1380-A.Google Scholar
Tang, J., Myers, M., Bosnick, K.A. and Brus, L.E. (2003) Magnetite Fe3O4 nanoncrystals: spectroscopic observation of aqueous oxidation kinetics. Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 107, 7501–7506.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Terry, D.O. Jr. (2001) Paleopedology of the Chadron Formation of Northwestern Nebraska: implications for paleoclimatic change in the North American midcontinent across the Eocene-Oligocene boundary. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 168, 1-38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vandermeer, R.A. and Hu, H. (1994) On the grain growth exponent of pure iron. Acta Metallurgica et Materialia, 42, 3071–3075.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wang, L., Qin, X.Y., Xiong, W., Chen, L. and Kong, M.G. (2006) Thermal stability and grain growth behavior of nanocrystalline Mg2Si. Materials Science and Engineering A, 434, 166–170.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
White, J.F. and Corwin, J.F. (1961) Synthesis and origin of chalcedony. American Mineralogist, 46, 112–119.Google Scholar
Williams, L.A., Parks, G.A. and Crerar, D.A. (1984) Silica diagenesis, I. Solubility controls. Journal of Sedimentary Petrology, 55, 301–311.Google Scholar
Xun, Y., Lavernia, E.J. and Mohamad, F.A. (2004) Grain growth in nanocrystalline Zn-22% Al. Materials Science and Engineering A, 371, 135–140.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yamagishi, H., Nakashima, S. and Ito, Y. (1997) High temperature infrared spectra of hydrous microcrystalline quartz. Physics and Chemistry of Minerals, 24, 66–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yoshino, T. and Watson, E.B. (2005) Growth kinetics of FeS melt in partially molten peridotite: an analog for core-forming processes. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 235, 453–468.CrossRefGoogle Scholar