Aenigmatite with the formula Na4[Fe10 2+Ti2]Si12O14 has been synthesized hydrothermally, at 700 °C and 1000 bars P H2O, from an oxide starting material. The oxygen fugacity was controlled by means of an iron-wüstite buffer. An indexed X-ray powder pattern of synthetic aenigmatite is given, together with comparative data on two natural samples. One of the aenigmatites, from Kola, U.S.S.R., is known to be triclinic (Kelsey and McKie, 1964). The powder patterns of this and the synthetic aenigmatite are so similar that it is concluded that the latter is also triclinic, at least at room temperature.

The crystal structure of strontian potassicrichterite (Mg4.871Fe0.1263+ Mn0.052)Σ5.049(Na1.425Ca0.348Sr0.297)σ2.07K0.873Si8.048O22(OH)2.15 – an unusual amphibole containing up to 3.7 wt.% SrO from the Murun alkaline massif, Eastern Siberia has been refined from X-ray powder diffraction data in monoclinic space group C2/m, with a = 10.0325(1) Å, b = 17.977(1) Å, c = 5.2698(1) Å, and β = 104.70(1)°. According to Mössbauer spectroscopy, nearly all iron occurs as Fe3+ in octahedral coordination. Rietveld refinement shows the Fe3+ to be ordered onto the M(2) site. Sr is completely ordered onto M(4).

In order to limit the range of possible differentiation mechanisms and the impact of these processes on the trace element signatures of igneous suites, it is important to be able to predict or model the compositional evolution of the primary and/or parental magmas. Part of the problem in understanding these relationships in basalts from ocean islands is the paucity of reliable trace element mineral/melt partition coefficients, particularly for undersaturated magmas. Consequently, we have measured mineral/groundmass partition coefficients for Rb, Sr, Y, Zr, Nb, Hf, Ta, Th and REE, in situ, in clinopyroxene, Fe-Ti oxides and olivine in primitive basalts from Rarotonga, Cook Islands using LAM-ICP-MS.

Analyses of these mafic rocks show high concentrations of most incompatible trace elements (e.g. Sr, Th, Y, REE, etc.) in pyroxenes relative to the other phases, suggesting that fractionation of pyroxenes was the dominant factor in the distribution of these trace elements during crystal fractionation. In such cases, the highly incompatible elements (D <0.01) are Ba, Cs and Nb. Elements that could also be classified as strongly incompatible (D <0.1) are Rb, Ta and Th. The remaining trace elements have bulk partition coefficient values that range from ∼.0.1 up to ∼.0.8 (Sr, Hf, Zr, Y and REE). Magnetites incorporate greater amounts of Nb and Ta than the titanaugites, and any significant fractionation of magnetite would have affected the bulk distribution of Nb and Ta. The LREE have lower Kd values than other REE, with the HREE having Kd values close to unity. Consequently, with the separation of titanaugite an overall enrichment of REE in the residual liquid with an increase in the La/Yb ratio is produced.

Phase-X, a potential sink for K in the mantle, is a synthetic hydrous K-rich silicate formed by the breakdown of K-amphibole at high pressure. It has the general formula A2–xM2Si2O7Hx where A = K, Na, Ca, □ (vacancy), and M = Mg, Al, or Cr. No other isomorphic substitutions, either for the A or the M site, were reported for such a synthetic compound. Here we report the crystal structure and chemical composition of a crystal of phase-X containinglarg e amounts of trivalent Fe. This crystal was synthesized in the model system garnet lherzolite–K2CO3 at lower pressure (P = 7 GPa) and higher temperature (T = 1450–1650°C) with respect to the stability range reported in the literature (i.e. P = 9–17 GPa and T = 1150–1400°C). Quantitative analysis led to the following formula: . The lattice parameters (hexagonal setting) are: a = 5.005(1), c = 13.148(2) Å, V = 285.23(9) Å3, and Z = 2. The structure was refined in space group P63cm to R = 5.06% using199 independent reflections and consists of MO6 octahedra layers stacked alongthe c axis and linked together by Si2O7 groups. The Si2O7 groups form pillars in the layer that contains A atoms in the cavities between the pillars. The Raman spectrum in the OH-stretching region indicates the existence of two different OH environments. However, the position of H could not be determined. The substitution of Fe3+ for Mg shortens octahedral bond distances. In addition, the entry of Fe3+ in M induces geometrical changes to the adjacent A site. The crystal-chemical characteristics are compared with published data on synthetic Fe-free phase-X.

The principal data are collected about the fall and the distribution of the fragments of the Siena, Italy, meteorite (11·6°E., 43·1°N.). A complete individual, weighing 110·55 g, is described in some detail. Crust morphology, mineralogical composition, and structure were studied. Optical data were established by microscopical analysis and both thin and polished sections were observed. Compared with available electron-probe analysis they are found in good agreement. The chemical analysis is Fe 12·93, Ni 1·39, Co 0·09, FeS 5·46, SiO2 37·10, TiO2 0·14, Al2O3, 3·91 FeO 11·46, MnO 0·35, MgO 23·81, CaO 1·63, Na2O 0·90, K2O 0·16, P2O5 0·44, H2O+ 0·10, H2O− 0·00, Cr2O3 0·56, total 100·43. Siena is an ordinary chondrite, with relatively ambiguous characteristics and evident features of recrystallization and metamorphism.

The curious history of the mineral eggonite is reviewed, and two new occurrences are described. The original specimens, for which Schrauf gave good morphological and optical data in 1879, with a tentative suggestion that it was a cadmium silicate, were fakes; the tiny crystals of the new mineral were glued on to hemimorphite specimens from Altenberg, Belgium. In 1929, Zimanyi edited and published observations by Krenner, who found the mineral on silver ores from Felsöbánya, Hungary, added to Schrauf's physical data, and identified it as an aluminium phosphate. It was not until 1959 that Mrose and Wappner showed that it is scandium phosphate, ScPO4 · 2H2O, and essentially identical with kolbeckite, described by Edelmann in 1926 as a phosphate and silicate of beryllium, aluminium, and calcium from Saxony, and with sterrettite, described by Larsen and Montgomery in 1940 as an aluminium phosphate from Fairfield, Utah.

In 1980 the IMA Commission on New Minerals and Mineral Names, while accepting the identity of the three minerals and rejecting the name sterrettite, were almost equally divided over the names eggonite and kolbeckite, which are thus both acceptable; since eggonite has 47 years priority, we suggest that it should have preference.

The available physical and chemical data on eggonite are summarized and added to, and two new occurrences, at Potash Sulfur Springs, Arkansas, and at Sakpur, Gujarat, India, are described.

Gypsum (CaSO4·2H2O) and brushite (CaHPO4·2H2O) are minerals with similar structures, despite not being isostructural. They both belong to the monoclinic system, but crystallize in different space groups. It is known that, to some extent, phosphate and sulphate groups can substitute for each other within the structure of these minerals. In the present work, the dehydration behaviour of experimentally produced Ca(SO4,HPO4)·2H2O solid solutions is assessed from thermogravimetrical (TG and DTG) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) analyses. For the applied experimental conditions it was not possible to obtain homogenous precipitates with compositions within 0.27 < XBr < 0.53, where XBr is the brushite mole fraction. The results reveal that the dehydration behaviour of solid solutions with compositions within the 0 < XBr < 0.27 interval tend to approach the dehydration process of pure gypsum. On the other hand, solid solutions with compositions within 0.53 < XBr < 1 involve higher dehydration temperatures than the brushite end-member, in a two-step process.

A major debris flow, the Trig Point Hill flow, originating from Kerimasi volcano (Tanzania) contains numerous blocks of extrusive/pyroclastic carbonatites similar to those exposed at the rim of the currently inactive crater. The blocks of calcite carbonatite consist of: (1) large clasts of corroded and altered coarse grained calcite; (2) primary prismatic inclusion bearing phenocrystal calcite; and (3) a matrix consisting primarily of fine-grained prismatic calcite. The large clasts are inclusion free and exhibit a ‘corduroy-like’ texture resulting from solution along cleavage planes. The resulting voids are filled by brown Fe–Mn hydroxides/oxides and secondary calcite. The prismatic or lath-shaped phenocrystal calcite is not altered and contains melt inclusions consisting principally of primary Na–Ca carbonates which contain earlier-formed crystals of monticellite, periclase, apatite, Mn–Mg-magnetite, Mn–Fe-sphalerite and Nb-perovskite. Individual Na–Ca carbonate inclusions are of uniform composition, and the overall range of all inclusions analysed (wt.%) is from 28.7 to 35.9 CaO; 16.7–23.6 Na2O; 0.5–2.8 K2O, with minor SO3 (1.1–2.2) and SrO (0.34–1.0). The Na–Ca carbonate compositions are similar to that of shortite, although this phase is not present. The Na–Ca carbonates are considered to be primary deuteric phases and not secondary minerals formed after nyerereite. Monticellite shows limited compositional variation and contains 2–4 wt.% MnO and 12 wt.% FeO and is Mn-poor relative to monticellite in Oldoinyo Lengai natrocarbonatite. Periclase is Fe-bearing with up to 13 wt.% FeO. Spinels are Cr-free, Mn-poor and belong to the magnetite–magnesioferrite series in contrast to Mn-rich spinels of the magnetite–jacobsite series occurring in Oldoinyo Lengai natrocarbonatite. The matrix in which the ‘corduroy’ clasts and phenocrystal calcite are set consists of closely packed small prisms of calcite lacking melt inclusions, with interstitial fine-grained apatite, baryte, strontianite and minor fluorite. Pore spaces are filled with secondary Mn–Fe hydroxides/oxides, anhydrite and gypsum. The hypothesis that flow-aligned calcite in volcanic calciocarbonatites from Kerimasi, Tinderet, Homa and Catanda is altered nyerereite is discussed and it is considered that these calcite are either primary phases or altered melilite. The nyerereite alteration hypothesis is discussed with respect to the volumetric and compositional aspects of pseudomorphism by dissolution–precipitation replacement mechanisms. This study concludes that none of the volcanic calciocarbonatites containing flow-aligned calcite phenocrysts are altered natrocarbonatite.

The Precambrian Redskin stock is a high-silica alkalic granite that forms a late pluton related to the 1000 Ma-old Pikes Peak batholith. Zircon, fluorite, fluocerite, ilmenorutile, columbite, biotite, magnetite, and hematite are the most abundant accessory minerals. Thorite, monazite, and xenotime are sparse, and cassiterite and topaz very rare. The principal residences of Sn, Nb, and Ta are ilmenorutile and columbite. The occurrence of cassiterite intergrown with biotite and columbite and the high contents of Nb and Ta in cassiterite are evidence that cassiterite is also a primary mineral. The high concentrations of certain trace elements indicate a high degree of fractionation of magma prior to emplacement of the Redskin Granite. An extremely low crystallization temperature for the granite is indicated by the compositions of albite and K-feldspars, the presence of Fe-rich dioctahedral mica, the absence of Ti in magnetite, and the low content of Ti in biotite. This low crystallization temperature seems due largely to the high concentrations of F, Rb, and other volatile elements in the magma.

Barium-rich silicates were recently found in the lower Cambrian black shale sequence of Anhui Province, South China. The Ba silicates can be divided into Ba-poor K-feldspar, Ba-rich K-feldspar and cymrite, on the basis of occurrence and composition. The Ba-poor K-feldspar have low BaO contents (<1.00 wt.%) and occur as sporadic grains in mudstone. In contrast, the Ba-rich K-feldspar have higher BaO contents (1.36–20.51 wt.%) and occur mainly as rims around grains of Ba-poor K-feldspar in mudstone, as void fillings in dolostone, and as grains dispersed in chert. The cymrite is observed only in chert and occurs as dispersed euhedral tabular crystals. Analyses of the Ba-poor K-feldspar and Ba-rich K-feldspar provide compositions that total <100 wt.% and show non-stoichiometry characterized by (Na + K + Ba + Ca)apfu less than 1.00 and (Al + Si)apfu slightly higher than 4.00. Raman and infrared (IR) spectroscopy has revealed the presence of ${\rm NH}_{\rm 4}^{\rm +} $ and H2O in the Ba-rich K-feldspar, which accounts for the unusual composition of these feldspars. We suggest that the formation processes of the Ba-poor K-feldspar, Ba-rich K-feldspar and cymrite were closely associated with multi-stage hydrothermal fluids enriched in Ba and NH4, consistent with an extensional tectonic setting during the early Cambrian. The Ba-poor K-feldspars might have formed through interactions between pre-existing K-feldspars and hydrothermal fluids. The Ba-rich K-feldspars in mudstone and dolostone formed mainly by precipitation from hydrothermal fluids that infiltrated the sediments, and we suggest the Ba-rich K-feldspars and cymrite in the chert are of exhalative hydrothermal origin.

Sapphirine-bearing assemblages occur in paragneisses in a 200 km long block in the Grenville province in Labrador-Quebec. The occurrence of some of these rocks was previously known, but their considerable extent is now recognised from regional mapping. The mineral assemblages, reactions, and compositions and the tectonic structure in the paragneisses of this block are surprisingly uniform. Within feldspar-quartz layers we recognise assemblages with sapphirine, quartz, iron titanium oxides, spinel, corundum, diaspore, orthopyroxene, sillimanite, cordierite, garnet, and biotite in metre to millimetre-thick layers. These minerals reacted with their matrix, especially quartz, during cooling and uplift. At least 11 retrograde reactions gave rise to spectacular corona textures and define a P-T-time trajectory from c. 8 kbar at 900 °C to 6 kbar at 700 °C which changed from early isobaric to late isothermal. Based on successive generations of sapphirine and orthopyroxene with constant XMg and decreasing Fe3+/Fe2+ ratio in recalculated formulae, we deduce an accompanying change from high to low oxygen fugacity along this trajectory. The isothermal section of the trajectory is consistent with predicted rapid uplift and with field evidence for thrust tectonics and mylonitisation.

Raman spectra of synthetic ‘braggite’ ((Pd,Pt,Ni)S) vary systematically with changes in Pt/Pd ratios, but this change is less pronounced than in ‘cooperite’ ((Pt,Pd,Ni)S). Compared to ‘vysotskite’ (ideally PdS), the incorporation of Pt leads to broadening of bands but the spectra of ‘vysotskite’ and ‘braggite’ are similar, and spectra of ‘cooperite’ and the ‘braggite/vysotskite’ solid-solution series are sufficiently different to facilitate distinction of these platinum group minerals by Raman spectroscopy.

A hygroscopic, soft, pink mineral was discovered in Sinjar town, west of Mosul city. Wet chemical and X-ray diffraction analyses proved that the mineral has a composition of calcium chloride dihydrate CaCl2·2H2O, which has not been known in nature before. It is therefore a new mineral, and is named sinjarite after its locality.

A fundamental difference exists between the textures of chromite crystals in chromitites in layered complexes and ophiolites. Those in layered complexes generally have euhedral octahedral shapes except where sintered, whereas those in ophiolites generally have rounded shapes accompanied commonly by nodular and more rarely dendritic chromite. Here we describe another texture characteristic of ophiolitic chromitite. The analysis of high-resolution X-ray computed tomography images of chromitite from Harold's Grave in the Shetland ophiolite has revealed 3D hopper structures on chromite grains. In 2D, these hopper structures appear at the surface of the chromite grain as stepped inward facing edges. A study of chromitites in 2D from ten ophiolite complexes has shown that all commonly contain chromite grains displaying these stepped edges. They occur mainly in protected enclaves surrounded by chromite grains that otherwise have rounded edges. The hopper crystals and the often associated clusters of inclusions represent periods of chromite crystal growth in a chromite supersaturated magma due to the presence of a more supercooled and more volatile-rich magma than that present in most layered complexes. Subsequent exposure of chromite crystals to chromite-undersaturated magma caused corrosion, resulting in the characteristic rounded shape of the ophiolitic chromite grains.