The Virulundo carbonatite in Angola is one of the largest in the world and contains pyrochlore as an accessory mineral in all of the carbonatite units (calciocarbonatites, ferrocarbonatites, carbonatite breccias and trachytoids). The primary magmatic pyrochlore is fluorine dominant and typically contains about equal molar quantities of Ca and Na at the A site. High-temperature hydrothermal processes have resulted in the pseudomorphic replacement of the primary pyrochlore by a second generation of pyrochlore with less F and Na. Low-temperature hydrothermal replacement of the first and second generation pyrochlore, associated with quartz-carbonate-fluorite vein formation in the carbonatite, has produced a third generation of pyrochlore, with a high Sr content. The Sr appears to have been released by low-temperature hydrothermal replacement of the primary magmatic carbonates. Finally, supergene alteration processes have produced late-stage carbonates, goethite, hollandite and rare earth element (REE) minerals (mainly synchysite-(Ce), britholite-(Ce), britholite-(La), cerite-(Ce)). Cerium separated from the other REE s in oxidizing conditions and Ce4+ was incorporated into a late generation of supergene pyrochlore, which is strongly enriched in Ba and strongly depleted in Ca and Na.

For complex rocks in which the structure of minerals, rather than their chemical composition, changes with progressive evolution of the system, it makes sense to try and monitor such an evolving system through the progressive change in the crystal structures of the constituent phases. In effect, the paragenetic sequences of minerals in such complex environments should be related to the crystal structures of the constituent minerals. In order to consider variations in structure topology, we need to organize crystal structures into hierarchical schemes, using the hypothesis that structures may be hierarchically ordered according to the polymerization of the coordination polyhedra with higher bondstrengths. Structural units are organized according to the mode of polymerization: unconnected polyhedra, clusters, chains, sheets and frameworks.

The bond-valence structure of (OH) and (H2O) shows that on one side, (OH) and H2O are strong Lewis bases; on the other side, they are weak Lewis acids. As a result, a very important role of both (OH) and (H2O) is to prevent polymerization of the structural unit in specific directions. Thus, the dimensionality of the structural unit is controlled primarily by the amount and role of hydrogen in the structure. The way in which we have formulated these ideas also allows development of a predictive framework within which specific aspects of the chemistry and structure of phosphates can be considered.

This approach to mineral structure, applied via the idea of a structural unit, can play a major role in developing structural hierarchies in order to bring about some sort of order to the plethora of hydroxyhydrated-phosphate structures. Furthermore, by combining the idea of binary structural representation with bond-valence theory, we see the eventual possibility of predicting stoichiometry and structural characteristics of these minerals, particularly those in complex low-temperature hydrothermal environments

The southern part of the Cretaceous Kohistan island arc is occupied by an extensive belt dominantly comprised of amphibolites. These include banded amphibolites of partly meta-volcanic parentage, and non-banded amphibolites derived from intrusive rock. In addition to being relict, banding has also been produced by shear deformation, metamorphic/metasomatic segregation and, possibly, by lit-par-lit injection of plagiogranitic material. Non-banded amphibolites also occur as retrograde products of noritic granulites forming the lopolithic Chilas complex. The chemistry of 37 rocks has been compared with those of known tectonic environments. The amphibolites have chemical characteristics similar to volcanic rocks found in island arcs and most of the analyses apparently support affinity with the calc-alkaline series. The amphibolites consist essentially of hornblende, plagioclase and/or epidote. Garnet and clinopyroxene have developed locally in rocks of appropriate bulk composition. Metamorphism may have taken place during the mid-Cretaceous under conditions of 550 to 680°C and 4.5 to 6.5 kbar PH2O. The metamorphic grade appears to increase from the centre of the southern belt toward the Chilas complex to the north and Indus-Zangbo suture (IZS) to the south. In the vicinity of the IZS, garnet-clinopyroxene ± amphibole assemblage developed locally in response to high P-T.

Zones of albitization 20 m wide are developed in the peraluminous, undeformed Proterozoic Bastfallshöjden granite, W. Bergslagen, central Sweden. During albitization Na, Si, Mg, Ni, Zn, and Ga are added, while Fe2+, Fe3+, Mn, K, Sc, Rb, Cs, Ba, Pb, U, and F are lost, together with the rare earth elements (REE) in decreasing amounts with increasing atomic number. Ti, Al, P, and Y were immobile. Trace element data for chlorites separated from hydrothermally altered country rocks and from a quartz-chlorite vein in the albitized granite show similar REE patterns indicating a common origin: the most altered granite has a similar REE pattern, probably resulting from interaction with the same hydrothermal fluid which produced the chlorites, in which seawater is thought to have been an important constituent.

The Late Cretaceous Itatiaia complex is made up of nepheline syenite grading to peralkaline varieties, quartz syenite and granite, emplaced in the metamorphic rocks of the Serra do Mar, SE Brazil. The nepheline syenites are characterized by assemblages with alkali feldspar, nepheline, Fe-Ti oxides, clinopyroxene, amphibole, apatite and titanite, while the peralkaline nepheline syenites have F-disilicates (rinkite, wöhlerite, hiortdahlite, låvenite), britholite and pyrophanite as the accessory phases. The silica-oversaturated rocks have alkali feldspar, plagioclase, quartz, amphibole, clinopyroxene and Fe-Ti oxides; the chevkinite-group minerals are the featured accessory phases and are found with allanite, fluorapatite, fluorite, zircon, thorite, yttrialite, zirconolite, pyrochlore and yttrocolumbite. The major- and trace-element composition of the Itatiaia rocks have variations linked to the amount of accessory phases, have smooth, enriched chondritenormalized rare-earth element (REE) distribution patterns in the least-evolved nepheline syenites and convex patterns in the most-evolved nepheline syenites. The REE distribution patterns of the quartz syenites and granites show a typical pattern caused by fractional crystallization of feldspar and amphibole, in an environment characterized by relatively high oxygen fugacity (>NiNiO buffer) and high concentrations of H2O and F, supporting the crystallization of hydrous phases, fluorite and F-disilicates. The removal of small amounts of titanite in the transition from the least-evolved to the most-evolved nepheline syenites stems from petrogenetic models involving REE, and is shown to be a common feature of the magmatic evolution of many other syenitic/ trachytic/ phonolitic complexes of the Serra do Mar and elsewhere.

Volatile species analysis of fluid inclusions in metamorphic quartz veins from the Llanbedr Formation, North Wales, show nitrogen to be an important component. Microthermometric and Laser Raman analysis indicates that the N2 is resident in a generation of very N2-rich inclusions and demonstrates the presence of both N2-rich and aqueous fluids during metamorphism of the Llanbedr Formation. N2-rich fluids do not appear to have been present in adjacent lithologies. Isotopic analysis of N2 in fluid inclusions and in the slates indicates that the N2 in the slates (thought to be present as substituting for K+ in muscovite and for Na+ in ) was probably originally derived from organic matter in the sediment and subsequently released to the fluid phase during metamorphism.

Mineral-fluid and fluid-phase equilibrium calculations show that the mineral assemblage in the slates could be in equilibrium with either N2-rich or aqueous fluid depending on redox conditions. The N2-rich and aqueous fluids in the veins could, therefore, have been trapped at different times under different conditions, though their coexistence as immiscible fluids is a possibility.

Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Leg 147 recently drilled at Site 895 in Hess Deep (eastern Equatorial Pacific), where a structurally dissected section of the East Pacific Rise (EPR) is preserved, and intersected the mantle-crust transition zone of a fast-spreading centre for the first time. The core from Hole 895D (latitude 2°16.635′N, longitude 101°26.777′W) revealed that harzburgite is predominant over dunite in the top section of the Hole, but the reverse relationship is found lower in the section where dunite is closely associated with gabbroic rocks (gabbro and troctolite). Texture, mineralogy and mineral chemistry suggest a two-stage evolution for harzburgite preserved at the transition zone. Harzburgite with a porphyroclastic texture was produced by partial melting of peridotite to, or beyond the clinopyroxene-out phase boundary before or during asthenospheric (>1000°C) flow, which suggests a higher degree of mantle melting than normally expected below mid-ocean ridges. Subsequently, basaltic melt(s) interacted with this refractory harzburgite (olivine + orthopyroxene + spinel), which resulted in dissolution of orthopyroxene, re-equilibration and formation of olivine and spinel, and formation of clinopyroxene ± plagioclase, this is manifested as a progressive conversion of harzburgite to gabbroic rock through an intermediate dunite. At low melt/peridotite ratios, harzburgite was refertilised as the plagioclase component of the melt completely reacted with the peridotite matrix to produce clinopyroxene-spinel intergrowths and Al enrichment in ferromagnesian minerals. At high ratios, orthopyroxene completely dissolved incongruently, plagioclase appeared, and spinel was partially to completely resorbed; this produced olivine-bearing and olivine-free gabbroic rocks. Residual minerals in peridotites adjacent to gabbroic zones were enriched in Fe and Ti and depleted in Al.

The compositions of trioctahedral micas from 51 samples of granitoids with different geochemical affiliations and grades of differentiation from the Bohemian Massif, Central Europe, were analysed using electron microprobe (major elements) and laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (Li, Sc, Ga, Ge, Nb, In, Sn, Cs, Ta, W, Tl). The micas form a continuous evolutionary series from phlogopite to zinnwaldite. The phlogopites and biotites from the I-type rocks are characterized by 5.5–5.7 Si, 2.4–2.6 Al, <0.1 Li atoms per formula unit [apfu] and Mg/(Mg + Fe) = 0.4–0.8. The biotites from the S-type granites usually contain 5.3–5.7 Si, 3.2–3.6 Al, 0.1–0.3 Li apfu and Mg/(Mg + Fe) = 0.15–0.4. The annites and zinnwaldites from the rare-metal granites contain 5.7–6.8 Si, 3.2–3.8 Al, 0.6–2.6 Li apfu and Mg/(Mg + Fe) < 0.1. The concentrations of F, Rb, Cs and Tl increase from the phlogopites and biotites to zinnwaldites: F 0.1 → 8 wt.%, Rb2O 0.05 → 1.7 wt.%, Tl 2 → 50 ppm and Cs 40 → 2000 ppm. The concentrations of Sn, Nb, Ta and W in phlogopites and biotites from the I- and S-type granitoids generally correlate with those of the parent rocks and reach values of (in ppm) 20–100 Sn, 20–250 Nb, 1–20 Ta and <5 W. The highest concentrations were found in the Li-annites in the relatively early facies of rare-metal granites (in ppm): 250–600 Sn, 400–600 Nb, 60–120 Ta and 50– 120 W. The zinnwaldites in the late rare-metal granites facies are impoverished in these elements, which is explained by contemporaneous crystallization of cassiterite and columbite. Lithium enters the crystal lattice of trioctahedral micas via the exchange vector Li3□Si3Fe–6Al–1 up to concentrations of ∼2.5 wt.% Li2O (1.5 apfu Li). At higher Li concentrations, Li is incorporated through the exchange vector Li3Si1□–1 Fe–2Al–1.

Hydrohonessite has a composition that can be expressed by the formula [Ni8-x2+Fex+(OH)16] [x/2SO2-4.yH2O.zNiSO4], where x is approximately 2.6, y is 7, and z is 1. The X-ray powder diffraction pattern has strongest lines at 11.0 (10), 5.56 (5), 3.68 (4), and 2.709 Å (3), and can be indexed on a hexagonal unit cell with a = 3.09 Å and c = 10.80 Å. It is optically uniaxial negative with ɛ = 1.59 and ω = 1.63; bright yellow in hand specimen and transmitted light. Hydrohonessite is the hydrated equivalent of honessite, and is related to carrboydite, motukoreaite, and mountkeithite. These minerals are related to brucite and pyroaurite-type minerals in that they have a layered structure consisting of brucite-like layers separated by about 7 Å of interlayer material consisting predominantly of water, but also containing anions that balance the charge of the brucite-like layer. Hydrohonessite is a secondary mineral resulting from the weathering of Ni-Fe sulphides, and appears to be stable between pH 6 and 7.

A suite of experimentally deformed single-crystal pyrite samples has been investigated using electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD). Single crystals were loaded parallel to <100> or <110> and deformed at a strain rate of 10-5 s-1, confining pressure of 300 MPa and temperatures of 600°C and 700°C. Although geometrically (Schmid factor) the {001}<100> slip system should not be activated in <100> loaded samples, lattice rotation and boundary trace analyses of the distorted crystals indicate this slip system is easier to justify. Determination of 75 MPa as the critical resolved shear stress (CRSS) for {001}<100> activation, in the <110> loaded crystals, suggests a crystal misalignment of ~5—15° in the <100> loaded crystals would be sufficient to activate the {001}<100> slip system. Therefore, {001}<100> is considered the dominant slip system in all of the single-crystal pyrite samples studied. Slip-system analysis of the experimentally deformed polycrystalline pyrite aggregates is consistent with the single-crystal findings, with the exception that {001}<11̄> also appears to be important, although less common than the {001}<100> slip system. The lack of crystal preferred orientation (CPO) development in the polycrystalline pyrite aggregates can be accounted for by the presence of two independent symmetrically equivalent slip systems more than satisfying the von Mises criterion.

Mesothermal, gold-bearing quartz veins are widespread within allochthonous terranes of Alaska that are composed dominantly of greenschist-facies metasedimentary rocks. The most productive lode deposits are concentrated in south-central and southeastern Alaska; small and generally nonproductive gold-bearing veins occur upstream from major placer deposits in interior and northern Alaska. Oreforming fluids in all areas are consistent with derivation from metamorphic devolatilisation reactions, and a close temporal relationship exists between high-T tectonic deformation, igneous activity, and gold mineralization. Ore fluids were of consistently low salinity, CO2-rich, and had δ18O values of 7‰- 12‰ and δD values between −15‰ and −35‰. Upper-crustal temperatures within the metamorphosed terranes reached at least 450-500°C before onset of significant gold-forming hydrothermal activity. Within interior and northern Alaska, latest Paleozoic through Early Cretaceous contractional deformation was characterised by obduction of oceanic crust, low-T/high-P metamorphism, and a lack of gold vein formation. Mid-Cretaceous veining occurred some 50-100 m.y. later, during a subsequent high-T metamorphic/magmatic event, possibly related to extension and uplift. In southern Alaska, gold deposits formed during latter stages of Tertiary, subduction-related, collisional orogenesis and were often temporally coeval with calc-alkaline magmatism.

New field observations of certain harrisite occurrences are presented, including: interruption of layers; splitting of very thick layers into several smaller ones; existence of small isolated lenses and pods of harrisite and of upwardly extending tongues of harrisite; harrisite forming parts of the matrix of breccias; and isolated pods of harrisite along the western margin of the intrusion. These layers, lenses, tongues, and pods seem to have crystallized within the cumulus mush rather than at the mush magma boundary. It is proposed that the rock in these instances represents segregated, intercumulus melt which ‘ponded’ beneath relatively impermeable layers in the cumulus mush. Several ways in which supercooling may have arisen to cause skeletal olivine growth are considered and previous estimates are thought to need reduction by 10–20°C. It is suggested that segregation of upward-filtering melt in other layered intrusions might produce layers indistinguishable from ‘uniform’ cumulate.

All samples of silica sinter, <2 y old taken from the discharge drain of the Wairakei geothermal power station and the Rainbow Terrace of Orakei Korako, consist of non-crystalline opal-A. This silica phase deposits directly upon the concrete drain wall and filamentous templets, extending from this wall, afforded by the microbial community present in the drain, whose nature was determined by a culture- independent strategy that entailed construction, fingerprinting and sequencing of a 16S clone library. The bacterial community is dominated by five major groups of organisms, present in approximately equal proportions, and which account for ∼50% of the community. None of the 16S sequences from these dominant groups yielded a perfect match with 16S sequences for named organisms in the international databases. However one dominant group clusters with Hydrogenophilus thermoluteus, a thermophilic filamentous bacterium, and two cluster with putatively thermophilic members of the Cyanobacteria and green non-sulphur bacteria respectively. Initial opal-A deposits rapidly as agglomerations of silica nanospheres that, in turn, form chains of coalesced, oblate, microspheres <0.4 x 0.2 mm about the barbicel-like filaments, to produce a mat of fine woven strands. The majority of individual filaments are <8 μm long and 0.8 mm wide but may be up to 55 mm long by 1 mm wide. Where laminar flow dominates, most strands develop parallel to the drain current but some strands crisscross while others protrude above the mat surface. Where flow is turbulent, strands lack preferred orientation and some adopt a helical form. In general, following deposition, the values of the scattering broadband at half (FWHM) and three quarters (FWTM) of the maximum intensity decrease with increasing sample age. The behaviour of the band at one quarter maximum intensity (FWQM) is less consistent, but, in general, the youngest sinters possess the highest FWQM, FWHM and FWTM values that prove independent of fabric type. Opal-A silica matures following its removal from the parent fluid, especially where the sinter surface is filmed by water. A continual movement of silica is shown by a second generation of microspheres formed on the silica mat surface, by an increase in size of the initial microspheres, and by an increase in maximum intensity of the X-ray scattering broadbands. Similar silica aging behaviour occurs among young sinters developed upon microbial mats at Orakei Korako. The deposition and aging processes accord with the known behaviour of juvenile opaline silica in both natural and artificial systems whose pH, temperature and dissolved salt content are similar to Wairakei and Rainbow terrace: gelling of silica is favoured by the high pH (∼8.3) and temperature (∼60°C) of the Wairakei discharge fluid but the high dissolved salt content of the water (Na+ = 930 μg/g, Ca2+ = 12 μg/g, Cl = 1500 μg/g) and abundant microbial community facilitate rapid and copious flocculation of solid silica within the drain, in contrast to the slower accumulation on the natural sinter terrace at lower temperature (30—45°C) from less saline dilute bicarbonate-chloride waters (Na+ = 180 μg/g, Ca2+ = 0.2 μg/g, Cl = 400 μg/g, pH = 8.1).

A calcite-rich block in nephelinitic agglomerate at Oldoinyo Lengai comprises Sr-calcite, apatite, fluorite, a Ba-Mn oxide akin to romanrchite, and a distinctive Mn-Fe spinel. Formerly reported as sövite, on textural, mineralogical and stable isotope grounds it is now re-interpreted as a highly-altered natrocarbonatite lava. An implication of this study is that natrocarbonatite is not just a modern phenomenon, but has been extruded from Oldoinyo Lengai for at least around 1250 years.

Minute crystals of pure Mg-sapphirine approximating (Mg3.23Al4.74)vi(Al4.69Si1.31)ivO20, and thus having more aluminous compositions than the hitherto accepted 7:9:3 end member, were formed together with Mg-cordierite and corundum along narrow zones of the schist through reaction of the pre-existing high-pressure assemblages kyanite-gedrite and kyanite-talc. These sapphirines are considered to be metastable intermediate products growing under the influence of the structurally similar host mineral kyanite. Under equilibrium conditions they continued to react with kyanite to form the stable assemblage cordierite-corundum. Peraluminous sapphirines including those most recently synthesized may be metastable phases under all conditions of crystallization.

Losses of Fe and Na from a typical basaltic liquid during experiments using the wire-loop method have been determined for both Pt and Ag40Pd60 alloy wire by electron-microprobe analyses of the quenched glasses. The amount of Fe lost is dependent on the duration of the experiment and is particularly sensitive to the ratio of sample to metal in direct contact with it. Fe losses can be minimized by using the thinnest wire possible in conjunction with the largest amount of sample that will adhere to the wire and, if Ag-Pd wire is used, can be kept below the 1% level even in long experiments. Much more serious in terms of changes in the bulk composition are losses of Na, which appear to be in direct linear proportion to the length of the experiment and in inverse proportion to the mass of the sample. Even when samples in excess of 200 mg are used the Na losses are unlikely to be less than 5% except in experiments of less than a few days' duration or on samples with very low initial Na contents.

Fahlores [~(Cu,Ag)10(Zn,Fe)2Sb4S13] from the Keno Hill mining district, central Yukon, Canada record virtually the entire petrogenetic history of a Cretaceous hydrothermal system extending over 40 km outward from the Mayo Lake granitic pluton. These fahlores are an essential constituent of polymetallic sulphide veins developed in a graphitic Mississippian quartzite, where they occur in association with sphalerite, pyrargyrite, galena and siderite. Fahlores exhibit pronounced east-west zoning in average Ag/(Ag+Cu) and Zn/(Zn+Fe) values, with these simultaneously increasing and decreasing from east to west over 20 km of hydrothermal activity. These zonations are coupled with average Ag/(Ag+Cu) and Zn/(Zn+Fe) values in fahlore roughly paralleling the 300°C isotherm for fahlores in equilibrium with pyrargyrite, miargyrite and sphalerite in the simple system Ag2S-Cu2S-ZnS-FeS-Sb2S3. Early high-Ag, high-Zn fahlores from the eastern and western mines have Ag/(Ag+Cu) and Zn/(Zn+Fe) values requiring temperatures ≥400°C, in agreement with temperatures established from the As-content of arsenopyrite coexisting with pyrite, pyrrhotite and sphalerite. Ag/(Ag+Cu) and Zn/(Zn + Fe) values in later, main-stage fahlores are consistent with the 250–310°C range of temperatures established for boiling of Keno Hill fluids. Finally, Ag- and Fe-rich fahlores were produced by retrograde Fe-Zn exchange with sphalerite or crystallized from late-stage epithermal fluids which produced polybasite, stephanite, acanthite and wire silver. One such fahlore exhibits unmixing into high-Ag and low-Ag varieties. This is the first reported miscibility gap for freibergite fahlores and confirms the earlier prediction of such gaps.

The petrographical, crystal-chemical and petrogenetical aspects of rutile rich in antimony (up to 33.75 wt.% Sb2O5; equal to 0.2 Sb5+ per O = 2) from St. Marcel-Praborna in the Aosta Valley, Italy, were re-examined. These compositions occur in two different petrographical environments (within the rock matrix or as microinclusions within Sb-rich titanite) in the manganese concentrations at this locality. The new data confirm our earlier hypothesis that two distinct petrogenetical/crystal-chemical processes both occurred: 1. Sb-metasomatism of pre-existing Sb-free rutile inclusions; and 2. creation of neoblastic Sb-rich rutile by the expulsion of Ti from pre-existing Sb-free titanite being metasomatized by Sb to form Sb-rich titanite. In the literature, Sb in minerals is variably considered as being trivalent and/or pentavalent. This work demonstrates that within rutile it is entirely Sb5+, substituting for Ti4+ by the following heterovalent cation exchange mechanism which is also the dominant one in the host Sb-rich titanite: 2 viR4+ = viR3+ + viR5+, where viR3+ = (Al,Cr,Mn,Fe)3+. A near-perfect correlation of ΣR5+vs. ΣR3+ (r > 0.98) is perturbed only by the presence of trace amounts of Ca2+, Sr2+ and Ba2+. Traces of Mn4+, Si4+ and/or (OH)− might also be present. These alkaline earth cations are the largest cations ever recorded in the rutile structure and are seemingly too large to occupy normal octahedral sites. The cation exchange mechanism involved might be that found in the ‘trirutile’ mineral group: 3 viR4+ = viR2+ + 2 viR5+. Alternatively these large divalent cations may be situated in the lozenge-shaped tunnels of the rutile structure, by analogy with other large cations occupying the wider subrectangular tunnels in the analogous cryptomelane/hollandite/priderite, romanéchite and todorokite mineral groups. This leads to a possible new cation exchange mechanism for the rutile structure: 2 viR4+ + tunelvacant = 2 viR3+ + tunnelR2+.

The stabilityand structure of aqueous complexes formed by pentavalent antimony (SbV) with simple organic ligands (acetic, adipic, oxalic, citric acids, catechol and xylitol) having O-functional groups (carboxyl, alcoholic hydroxyl, aliphatic and aromatic hydroxyl) typical of natural organic matter (NOM), were determined at 25°C from potentiometric and X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy (XAFS) measurements. In organic-free aqueous solutions, spectroscopic data are consistent with the dominant formation of SbV hydroxide species, Sb(OH)5 and Sb(OH)6-, at acid and near-neutral to basic pH, respectively. Potentiometric measurements demonstrate negligible complexing with mono-functional organic ligands (acetic) or those having non-adjacent carboxylic groups (adipic). In contrast, in the presence of poly-functional carboxylic, hydroxyl carboxylic acids and aliphatic and phenolic hydroxyl, SbV forms stable 1:1 or 1:3 complexes in coordination 6 with the studied organic ligands, over a wide pH range pertinent to natural waters (3 ≤ pH ≤ 9). The XAFS measurements show that in these species the central SbV atom has an octahedral geometry with 6 oxygen atoms from hydroxyl moieties and adjacent functional groups (O = C—OH and/or C—OH) of the ligand, forming bidendate chelate cycles. Stability constants for SbV-oxalate complexes generated from potentiometric experiments were used to model SbV complexing with di-carboxylic functional groups of natural humic acids. Our predictions show that in an aqueous solution of pH between 1 and 4 containing 1 μg/l of Sb and 5 mg/l of dissolved organic carbon (DOC), up to 15% of total dissolved Sb maybe bound to aqueous organic matter via di-carboxylic groups.

Electron-microscope observations have been used to follow the low-temperature dehydration of boehmite, and show that a coherent skeleton of γ-Al2O3 with a porous texture is produced. For material fired in air the development of a number of pore systems is described. Of these the most important, as far as the dehydration process is concerned, is a lamellar pore system parallel to (001)γ and having a regular spacing of the order of 35–40. Å. A much faster dehydration process is induced by exposure to the electron beam and results in the formation of a more randomly oriented pore structure. The observed microstructure and the calculated internal surface area are compared with the results of previous adsorption studies.