X-ray spectromicroscopy has been applied to the characterization of weathered ilmenite sand samples from Australian localities. X-ray absorption near edge spectroscopy (Xanes) studies were performed at the K-edges of the major elements Fe and Ti and minor impurity elements Mn and Cr. An extended suite of reference samples with crystallite sizes ranging from 1 nm to μm size were measured to establish if the absorption edge characteristics were influenced by crystal size effects. No changes were detected for oxides of Cr3+, Fe3+ or Ti4+, but the mixed Fe2+/Fe3+ oxide, Fe3O4, showed an edge shift to higher energies (by 1.5 eV) in a nanocrystalline sample. The Xanes study of a composite ilmenite grain with an unweathered primary ilmenite core and a highly weathered rim showed that Fe was present as Fe2+ in the core and Fe3+ in the rim whereas Mn was present as Mn2+ in both core and rim. Chromium, which is incorporated into the grains during weathering, is present predominantly as Cr3+, although minor (~15%) Cr6+ also occurs in highly weathered grains. The absorption K-edges of Fe3+ and Mn2+ are shifted markedly (by 2–3 eV) to higher energies in titanate phases relative to the binary oxides Fe2O3 and MnO.

The new mineral pansnerite, ideally K3Na3Fe3+6(AsO4)8, was found in the Arsenatnaya fumarole at the Second scoria cone of the Northern Breakthrough of the Great Tolbachik Fissure Eruption, Tolbachik volcano, Kamchatka, Russia. It is associated with aphthitalite, hematite, sanidine, badalovite, khrenovite, achyrophanite, arsenatrotitanite, ozerovaite, tilasite, calciojohillerite, johillerite, nickenichite, svabite, katiarsite, yurmarinite, anhydrite, rutile, cassiterite and pseudobrookite. Pansnerite forms tabular to lamellar (flattened on {010}), usually pseudo-hexagonal crystals up to 0.2 mm × 0.7 mm × 1 mm and crystal clusters up to 2 mm across. It is transparent to translucent, light green, pale greenish, yellowish–greenish or yellowish, with vitreous lustre. The mineral is brittle, with perfect {010} cleavage. The Mohs’ hardness is ca 3. Dcalc is 3.596 g cm–3. Pansnerite is optically biaxial (–), α = 1.702(4), β = 1.713(4), γ = 1.717(4), 2Vmeas = 45(10)° and 2Vcalc = 62°. Chemical composition (holotype, wt.%, electron microprobe data) is: Na2O 6.39, K2O 8.52, CaO 0.08, MgO 0.08, MnO 0.02, NiO 0.02, CuO 1.35, ZnO 0.34, Al2O3 7.35, Cr2O3 0.04, Fe2O3 16.72, SiO2 0.16, P2O5 0.22, V2O5 0.09, As2O5 57.76, SO3 0.04, total 99.20. The empirical formula based on 32 O apfu is K2.86Na3.26Ca0.02(Fe3+3.31Al2.28Cu0.27Zn0.07Mg0.03Cr0.01)Σ5.97(As7.95P0.05Si0.04V0.02S0.01)Σ8.06O32. Pansnerite is orthorhombic, Cmce, a = 10.7372(3), b = 20.8367(8), c = 6.47335(15) Å, V = 1448.27(7) Å3 and Z = 2. The strongest reflections of the X-ray powder diffraction pattern [d,Å(I)(hkl)] are: 10.49(100)(020), 5.380(88)(111), 4.793(65)(220), 3.105(46)(311, 002), 3.079(32)(112, 061), 2.932(35)(260), 2.783(65)(202) and 2.694(52)(400, 222). The crystal structure was solved from single-crystal X-ray diffraction data, R1 = 2.82%. The structure is based on heteropolyhedral layers formed by MO6 octahedra (M = Fe3+ and Al) sharing common vertices and connected by AsO4 tetrahedra. Na+ and K+ cations are located in the interlayer space. The mineral is named in honour of the German–Russian mineralogist and geographer Lavrentiy Ivanovich Pansner (1777–1851). Pansnerite forms a solid-solution series with the isotypic mineral ozerovaite, ideally KNa2Al3(AsO4)4.

Nepheline in a basic syenite from the Marangudzi complex is relatively Ca-rich with CaO from 1·9 to 2·4 (wt) %. This Ca-rich nepheline sometimes occurs in intimate intergrowths with plagioclase (andesine). These intergrowths are thought to have formed at temperatures in the order of 750°–850°C by resorption of plagioclase with simultaneous replacement by nepheline.

A new mineral species, fluorlamprophyllite (IMA2013-102), ideally Na3(SrNa)Ti3(Si2O7)2O2F2, has been found in the Poços de Caldas alkaline massif, Morro do Serrote, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Alternatively, the idealized chemical formula could be written as (SrNa)[(Na3Ti)F2][Ti2(Si2O7)2O2], setting the large interlayer cations before the cations of the layer. Fluorlamprophyllite is the F-analogue of lamprophyllite. It is associated with aegirine, analcime, natrolite, nepheline and microcline. Fluorlamprophyllite crystals are brownish-orange and bladed. The mineral is transparent with a pale yellow streak and an adamantine lustre. It is brittle and has a Mohs hardness of ~3; cleavage is perfect on {100} and no parting was observed. The calculated density is 3.484 g/cm3. Optically, fluorlamprophyllite is biaxial (+), with α = 1.735(7), β = 1.749(7) and γ = 1.775(9) and 2Vmeas = 72(3)°. An electron microprobe analysis produced an average composition (wt.%) (9 points) of Na2O 10.63(30), K2O 0.47(3), SiO2 30.51(13), SrO 18.30(24), MgO 0.81(17), Al2O3 0.23(2), CaO 1.11(7), MnO 5.03(38), TiO2 27.41(87), Fe2O3 2.45(37), F 2.86(23), plus H2O 1.00 (added to bring the total close to 100%), –O = F –1.20, with the total = 98.61%. The elements Nb and Ba were sought, but contents were below microprobe detection limits. The resultant chemical formula was calculated on the basis of 18 (O + F) atoms per formula unit. The addition of 1.00 wt.% H2O brought [F+(OH)] = 2 pfu, yielding (Na2.63Sr1.35Mn0.54Ca0.15Mg0.15K0.08)Σ4.90(Ti2.63Fe0.24Al0.04)Σ2.91Si3.89O16[F1.15(OH)0.85]Σ2.00. The mineral is monoclinic, with space group C2/m and unit-cell parameters a = 19.255(2), b = 7.0715(7), c = 5.3807(6) Å, β = 96.794(2)° and V = 727.5(1) Å3. The structure is a layered silicate inasmuch as the O atoms are arranged in well-defined, though not necessarily close-packed layers.

Killalaite occurs in a thermally metamorphosed limestone at Killala Bay, near Inishcrone, Co. Sligo. It is a secondary mineral and occurs in cavities and veins with calcite or afwillite in spurrite-wollastonite rocks. It is found in well-formed colourless crystals, up to 2 mm long, with a characteristic penetrative twinning observed under crossed nicols as a cross ‘bow-tie’, cleavage (100) perfect, (010) good, (001) poor. The crystals are monoclinic, biaxial, 2Vα26°, refractive index α 1·635 and γ 1·642, optic axial plane (010), β = [010] (elongation), γ: [001] ≈ 16°, density calculated from RI ∼ 2·88, provisional approximate cell dimensions a 9·3, b 9·9, c 7·7 (±0.1 Å), β ∼105° and Z = 2. Electron microprobe analysis gave CaO 57·o, SiO2 39·8; H2O (by difference) 3·2; MgO, Al2O3, and Fe2O3 together < 0·3 weight %, composition 2Ca3Si2O7.H2O. The stronger lines of the X-ray powder pattern are: 3·03, 2·824, 2·724, 2·275, 2·224, 1·688, 1·673, and 1·413 Å. It probably formed in a CO2-deficient hydrothermal environment in the PT range of 350° to 500 °C and 500 to 3500 bars. The mineral is named after the name of the locality, Killala Bay, and should be pronounced as killalahite. Type material is preserved at the Ulster Museum and at the British Museum (Natural History).

The main mineralized zone of the West subcomplex of the Deadhorse Creek diatreme complex, northwestern Ontario possesses an exotic mineralogy. Mineralization involves the first-order transition metals (principally Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, and Fe), the second-order transition metals (principally Zr and Nb), the lanthanides, the actinides (principally Th and U), Be, Ba and Sr. Minerals include phenacite, zircon, uraninite, thorite, monazite-(Ce), xenotime-(Y), barylite, thortveitiite, hollandite, tyuyamunite, a number of unknown and as yet undescribed species, and those minerals more specifically described in this paper. These are Cr-V-Nb rutile, V-rich members of the crichtonite series, and a titanate of general composition (Cr,V3+,Fe3+)2(Ti,V4+,Nb)O5.

Similar to rutiles reported from alkaline rocks in general, the Deadhorse Creek rutiles are enriched in Cr and Nb, with the latter element attaining some of the highest recorded values. V contents are also unusually high and this element is thought to exist in both the tri- and tetravalent states.

The V-rich crichtonites are essentially vanadium analogues of crichtonite and lindsleyite. M-site Nb and V are the highest yet recorded. A-site cations are dominated by Ba and Sr with an inverse relationship together with lesser but significant amounts of Ca and Pb. Although not of upper mantle origin, they plot in the upper mantle LIMA quadrant of TiO2vs. FeO + Fe2O3 + MgO (Haggerty, 1991).

(Cr,V3+,Fe3+)2(Ti,V4+,Nb)O5 is thought to be a member of an homologous series of type (Cr,V3+,Fe3+)2p(Ti,V4+,Nb)2p+qO5p+4q with p = 1 and q = 0 and a V3O5-type structure. Whether this structure is ultimately derived from that of rutile or from α-PbO2 by crystallographic shear is not known.

The rutiles and titanates discussed here are thought to have formed from hydrous alkaline solutions which have scavenged the necessary elements from a mafic/ultramafic source. The origin of the solutions is not specifically known although the magmatic activity associated with the spatially related Coldwell alkaline complex and/or the Prairie Lake complex are both potential sources. Both complexes contain the necessary mafic/ultramafic rocks.

Exhalative mineral assemblages from fumaroles of Tolbachik volcano are very rich in anhydrous sulfate minerals of alkali and transition metals. Koryakite, ideally NaKMg2Al2(SO4)6, was found in the Yadovitaya fumarole of the Second scoria cone of the North Breach of the Great Tolbachik Fissure Eruption (1975–1976), Tolbachik volcano, Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia. Koryakite occurs as a product of fumarolic activity and closely associates with euchlorine and langbeinite. Koryakite is trigonal, R$\bar{3}$, a = 8.1124(11), c = 22.704(7) Å and V = 1294.0(5) Å3. The chemical composition determined by electron-microprobe analysis is (wt.%): Na2O 4.27, K2O 5.85, ZnO 0.31, СaO 0.31, CuO 0.76, MgO 10.15, Al2O3 11.47, Fe2O3 2.73, SO3 64.33 and SiO2 0.13, total 100.31. The empirical formula calculated on the basis of 24 O apfu is Na1.03K0.93(Mg1.89Cu0.07Ca0.04Zn0.03)Σ2.03(Al1.68Fe3+0.26)Σ1.94(S6.02Si0.02)Σ6.04O24. No natural or synthetic chemical analogues of koryakite are known to date. The topology of the [M2+2M3+2(SO4)6]2– heteropolyhedral framework in koryakite is very similar to the one in millosevichite, Al2(SO4)3 and mikasaite, Fe3+2(SO4)3. Replacement of part of the trivalent cations in the [M3+2(SO4)3]0 framework by divalent cations gives the framework a negative charge for koryakite and allows the incorporation of the alkali species in the channels. This structural mechanism is reminiscent of the concept of stuffed derivative structures. Koryakite is also structurally related to synthetic NaMgFe3+(SO4)3 and to the broader family of NASICON-related phases.

Polycrystalline, cubic 13C diamond was synthesized from amorphous carbon in the Kawai-type multianvil apparatus at 21 GPa and at a temperature greater than 2350ºC. The polycrystalline diamond was homogeneous with a small grain size (10–20 μm) and a sharp Raman peak, and thereby was suitable as a pressure sensor for the experiments in a hydrothermal diamond anvil cell. Pressure- and temperature-dependence of the Raman shift of the synthesized 13C diamond was investigated in situ at simultaneous high pressures and high temperatures in the hydrothermal diamond anvil cell, using the ruby fluorescence line, quartz Raman shift and H2O phase transitions as pressure references. It was observed that the frequency shift with pressure is independent of temperature and vice versa up to 500ºC and 4.2 GPa. The present study indicates that the 13C diamond Raman shift can be used for pressure determination with an accuracy better than ±0.3 GPa under the conditions examined.

Experimental brackets (300–450°C) on Sb-Bi partitioning between stibnite-bismuthinites (Sb,Bi)2S3 and sulfosalts in the AgSbS2–AgBiS2 binary subsystem (α-Ag(Sb,Bi)S2, β-Ag5(Sb,Bi)4I(Sb,Bi)IIS10) and extant constraints are used to define mixing properties and standard state Gibbs energies of Sb-Bi exchange reactions. They are also used to construct a phase diagram for Ag(Sb,Bi)S2 sulfosalts. We infer that the non-ideality associated with Sb-Bi mixing is largest in minerals of the β-Ag5(Sb,Bi)4I(Sb,Bi)IIS10 series, and is sufficient to produce miscibility gaps between an ordered intermediate species Ag5(Sb)4I(Bi)IIS10 and Sb- and Bi-end-members at T < 240°C (measured in terms of symmetric regular-solution-type parameters ¼WBi−SbIβ = WBi−SbIIβ ∼ 8.5 kJ/gfw). The non-ideality associated with the Sb-Bi substitution in stibnite-bismuthinite and α-Ag(Sb,Bi)S2 is ≈ 70% that in the Ag5(Sb,Bi)4I(Sb,Bi)IIS10 series (WBi−SbBS ≈ 12.0 kJ/gfw; WBi−Sbα ≈ 6.0 kJ/gfw). It is insufficient to produce exsolution at temperatures of ore deposition (T > Tc ≈ 88°C), but most likely is responsible for a preponderance in molar Sb/Bi ratios towards end-member compositions. Finally, positive Gibbs energies of the Sb-Bi exchange reactions and indicate that Bi is more compatible in stibnite-bismuthinite sulfides than in Ag(Sb,Bi)S2 sulfosalts.

The new mineral ammoniomathesiusite (NH4)5(UO2)4(SO4)4(VO5)·4H2O, was found in the Burro mine, San Miguel County, Utah, USA, where it occurs as a secondary phase on asphaltum/quartz matrix in association with ammoniozippeite, gypsum, jarosite and natrozippeite. The mineral forms pale yellow to greenish-yellow prisms, up to ~0.3 mm long, with pale-yellow streak and bright yellow–green fluorescence. Crystals are transparent and have vitreous lustre. The mineral is brittle, with Mohs hardness of 2½, stepped fracture and two cleavages: excellent on {110} and good on {001}. The calculated density is 3.672 g/cm3. Ammoniomathesiusite is optically uniaxial (–) with ω = 1.653(2) and ε = 1.609(2) (white light). Pleochroism is: O = green-yellow, E = colourless; O > E. Electron microprobe analyses yielded the empirical formula [(NH4)4.75(UO2)4(SO4)4(VO5)·4(H2.07O). The five strongest powder X-ray diffraction lines are [dobs Å(I)(hkl)]: 10.57(46)(110), 7.10(62)(001), 6.41(100)(101), 3.340(35)(240) and 3.226(44)(141). Ammoniomathesiusite is tetragonal, P4/n with a = 14.9405(9), c = 7.1020(5) Å, V = 1585.3(2) Å3 and Z = 2. The structure of ammoniomathesiusite (R1 = 0.0218 for 3427 I > 2σI) contains heteropolyhedral sheets based on [(UO2)4(SO4)4(VO5)]5– clusters. The structure is identical to that of mathesiusite, with ${\rm NH}_{\rm 4}^{\rm +} $ in place of K+.

A series of albites was synthesized in the presence of aqueous NaOH fluids (concentration 0 to 4N NaOH, Pfluid = 15000 1b/in2) over the temperature range 300 to 500 °C. At fixed temperature-pressure conditions increasing NaOH concentration of the initial fluid can be correlated with decreasing obliquity of the albites.

A recent account of pseudo-meteorites by Dr. L. J. Spencer includes a description of nodules of pyrite ‘popularly thought to be “thunderbolts”’. Dr. Spencer himself collected in 1931 a large number from the Lower Chalk outcropping on the foreshore below ‘The Warren’ at Folkestone, Kent. Some of these show well-developed octahedra 5 to 10 ram. across on the outer surface, undoubtedly to be referred to pyrite. More commonly the nodules exhibit small distorted octahedra which might easily be mistaken for marcasite. Indeed, in the past, many of these nodules from the Chalk at Folkestone and elsewhere, have been named marcasite, and they were so labelled in the British Museum collection. Dr. Spencer, therefore, suggested that modern methods should be applied to those cases where the crystalline form is distorted or shOt sufficiently developed to serve as a means of distinction between pyrite and marcasite. The methods suggested in his paper are (1) X-rays, (2) polarized light reflected from polished sections of nodules.

The honey-yellow apophyllite from Korsnäs, Finland, for which chemical, optical, and X-ray data are given, shows a complex twinning. An inner penetration twin is surrounded by two outer penetration twins. The twin laws have been established. The prism faces of the complex crystal are not (100) as conventionally taken for apophyllite but (520). The spacegroup P4/mnc commonly accepted for apophyllite could not be confirmed. It is suggested that the mineral is only pseudotetragonal, the true symmetry possibly being orthorhombic with space group Pnn2 or Pnnm.

This iron was found on January 5th, 1884, by Alfred Eaton, a mounted police constable, when on duty in the sub-district of Youndegin, at a spot distant about 60 chains (three-quarters of a mile) in a north-west direction from the top of Penkarring Rock, and roughly estimated by him as 70 miles east of York, Western Australia; this must be about longitude 117°30', E. of Greenwich, latitude 31°30' S. Only one of four observed fragments having been brought in by Mr. Eaton, the late Captain Smith, Commissioner of the Police at Perth, sent him out to Penkarring with a native assistant with instructions to bring in the other three, at the instance of the Rev. Charles G. Nicolay, Curator of the Geological Museum, Fremantle, to whomthe late Mr. Edward T. Hardman, F.C.S., the Government Geologist, had expressed his belief in the meteoric origin of the iron.

The structure of sanidine was described by Taylor in 1933, and Taylor, Darbyshire, and Strunz in 1934 extended the investigation to include the potassium-barium-felspars and albite, and presented a small amount of experimental data for potash-soda perthitic felspars and for members of the plagioclase series. X-ray work on the potash-soda perthitic felspars has recently been reported by Ito and Inuzuka, by Ito, and by workers in this laboratory, and a preliminary report of an examination of the plagioclase felspars is given in a thesis presented by one of us (S.H.C.) in 1939 for the degree of Ph.D. in the University of Manchester.

The investigations to be described in this paper, as well as those already published from this laboratory, form part of a programme of researches dealing with various aspects of the problem of felspar structure, undertaken in an attempt to obtain a correlation between the physical and chemical properties on the one hand and the details of the structure on the other.

This new antimonate was found in the cinnabar-bearing gravel of Tripuhy, Minas Geraes, Brazil. The minerals associated with it in the gravel, including the two new titano-antimonates lewisite and derbylite, have already been described in this Magazine (Vol. XI. No. 50, p. 80, and No. 52, p. 176). The original source of the lewisite and derbylite has been proved to be the muscovite-schists accompanying itabirite in the neighbourhood of Tripuhy, From these schists, doubtless, is also derived the tripuhyite, although as yet this new mineral has only been found in fragments loose in tbe gravel, and not intergrown with fragments of the muscovite-schists as is often the ease with both lewisite and derbylite.

This paper deals with various specimens received at the Imperial Institute from Ceylon. Some of these specimens were obtained by Dr. A. K. Coomaraswamy at Wa]aweduwa, in the Bambarabotuwa district of the Sabaragamuwa province, during the course of the Ceylon Mineral Survey. Walaweduwa is a little to the north of the Bambarabotuwa locality where thorianite has been found in conslderable abundance. Dr. Coomaraswamy also found specimens in the upper part of the Alupola oya, a stream in the same district. A chemical examination of these specimens showed that titanium dioxide, zireonia, thoria, lime, and iron oxide were the chief constituents.

Zonal myrmekitic and granophyric intergrowths in plagioclase and K-feldspar phenocrysts are described. There are two such zones in the feldspars of the Late Granite, G2, but only one in the Early Granite, G1. The zonal granophyric intergrowths are the end-product of the replacement of myrmekitic plagioclases by K-feldspar. Transitional stages of this replacement, which took place in the solid state, are represented in numerous examples. The zones of myrmekite, which also represent growth in the solid state, occur between zones of magmatic plagioclase, which is oscillatory-zoned. It is concluded that the granites evolved at depth under the influence of at least three phases of volcanic activity. Each of these phases resulted in the partial melting of the country rocks with subsequent magmatic crystallization, followed further, under the slow cooling conditions, by extensive reaction in the solid state. During each of the final two phases, some of the granite was intruded as a crystal mush to form G1 and G2, in which the phenocrysts retain evidence of their evolution at depth whilst the ground-mass gives evidence of the final magmatic crystallization.