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Spheniscidite, a new phosphate mineral from Elephant Island, British Antarctic Territory

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 July 2018

M. J. Wilson  and
D. C. Bain
M. J. Wilson
Affiliation:
Department of Mineral Soils, the Macaulay Institute for Soil Research, Craigiebuckler, Aberdeen
D. C. Bain
Affiliation:
Department of Mineral Soils, the Macaulay Institute for Soil Research, Craigiebuckler, Aberdeen
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Abstract

Spheniscidite is a new phosphate mineral occurring in a soil profile in an area of nesting penguins on Elephant Island. It is the NH4-dominant analogue of leucophosphite and has the formula (NH4,K)(Fe3+,Al)2 (PO4)2(OH) · 2H2O. It is monoclinic, P21/n with unit cell parameters a = 9.75, b = 9.63, c = 9.70 Å, β = 102° 34′, and Z = 4. The strongest X-ray lines are 6.79(100), 5.99(90), 3.05(45), 7.62(40) Å. Spheniscidite is thought to have formed by the interaction of ammonium phosphate solutions from penguin guano with micaceous and chloritic minerals in the soil. The name is for Sphenisciformes, the order name for penguins, and has been approved by the IMA Commission on New Minerals and Mineral Names.

Keywords

sphenisciditephosphate mineralsnew mineralsElephant IslandAntarctica
Type
Mineralogy
Information
Mineralogical Magazine , Volume 50 , Issue 356 , June 1986 , pp. 291 - 293
Copyright
Copyright © The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 1986

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