Whiteite, Ca(Fe,Mn)2+Mg2Al2(OH)2 (H2O)8[PO4]4, a 14·90(4) Å, b 6·98(2) Å, c 10·13(2) Å, β 113° 07(10)′, Z = 2, space group P2/a, α 1·580(5), β 1·585(5), γ 1·590(5), 2V 40–50°, specific gravity 2·58, is a new species from the Ilha de Taquaral, Minas Gerais, Brazil. It is the Al3+-analogue of jahnsite. The mineral occurs as up to 5 mm tan crystals flattened on {001}. Twinning by reflection on {001} leads to pseudoorthorhombic development. Rather pure material also occurs from Blow River, Yukon Territory, Canada.

For the general formula XM(1)M(2)2M(3)2(OH)2 (H2O)8[PO4]4, it is proposed that for M(3), Al3+ > Fe3+, the established members of the series are whiteite—(CaFe2+Mg) and whiteite—(Mn2+Fe2+Mg); and for Fe3+ > Al3+, jahnsite—(CaMn2+Mg), jahnsite—(CaMn2+Fe2+), and possibly jahnsite—(Mn2+Mn2+Mn2+).

Xanthoxenite of Laubmann and Steinmetz (1920) is probably stewartite (in part) on the basis of morphological, optical, physical, and paragenetic evidence. The xanthoxenite of Frondel (1949) is proposed as the species type. It is triclinic, P or P1, a 6·70(4) Å, b8·85(4) Å, c 6·54(3) Å, α 92·1(2)°, β 110·2(2)°, γ 93·2(2)°, Z = 1 for composition .

Salmonsite, c. from Pala, California, is shown to be an intimate mixture of hureaulite and jahnsite on the basis of calculated and observed powder patterns and on reinterpretation of the original chemical analysis published by Schaller (1912). It is a breakdown product resulting from oxidation of Fe2+ in the original hureaulite (‘palaite’) along with further aquation followed by fine-grained recrystallization. The reaction proposed is:

Gold mineralization at the Ashanti Mine occurs in shear zones which are second-order components of a major transcrustal shear zone. However, gold-rich telluride mineralization in veins in the hangingwall of the Obuasi ore zone at Ashanti appears to have post-dated development of the major gold-bearing shear zone. Complex assemblages of goethite, chalcocite, coloradoite, calaverite, sylvanite, kostovite, petzite, stutzite, hessite, altaite, rickardite, weissite and henryite were succeeded by a relatively simple assemblage of altaite-petzite-hessite ± sylvanite ± coloradoite. Precipitation occurred over a temperature range of approximately 220°C to 165°C from a CO2-bearing, low salinity (<5 wt. % NaCl equiv.) fluid under conditions of high ƒo2 and high ƒTe2/ƒS2. Replacement of earlier gold-sulphide mineralization is indicated.

The fluids were introduced during late activation of the Obuasi shear zone, which evolved during the c.2000 Ma Eburnean tectonothermal event that marked the onset of cratonization of the West African shield. The localized and time-specific distribution of the telluride mineralization may be indicative of a late influx of tellurium-rich fluid linked to emplacement of a synorogenic, Cape Coast-type granitoid intrusion.

Soda-rich pyroxenes in felsic rocks from the Warrumbungle Volcano, central New South Wales, contain up to 14.5 wt. % ZrO2, which is more than double the previously reported maximum ZrO2 in pyroxene. Zr is believed to enter aegirine as the component Na(Fe2+,Mn,Mg)0.5Zr0.5Si2O6 via the coupled substitution: (Fe2+,Mn,Mg)VI+ZrVI = 2(Fe3+)VI. This component exceeds 50 mol. % in some analyses.

Pronounced pyroxene Zr-enrichment is restricted to rocks in which sodic amphibole is the major ferromagnesian mineral, with pyroxene only a minor late-stage phase. The Zr-rich pyroxenes resulted from a combination of host lava peralkalinity, low oxygen fugacity, rapid disequilibrium crystallization and low mobility of the Zr ion. These factors collectively led to the development of interstitial Zr-enriched microdomains in the felsic hosts during their final stages of crystallization.

Far-from-equilibrium dissolution rates of crystalline basalt were measured in a mixed-flow reactor at pH 4 and 10, and at temperatures from 25 to 75ºC. The material used was obtained from a dyke on Stapafell Mountain on Reykjanes peninsula in Iceland because of its similarity with previous experiments on dissolution rates on basaltic glass by Oelkers and Gislason (2001) and Gislason and Oelkers (2003). Comparison of dissolution rates of basaltic glass and of crystalline basalt of similar chemical composition (from Gislason and Oelkers, 2003) indicates lower rates for crystalline material.

The Fen Complex in Norway consists of a ~583 Ma composite carbonatite-ijolite-pyroxenite diatreme intrusion. Locally, high grades (up to 1.6 wt.% total REE) of rare-earth elements (REE) are found in a hydrothermally altered, hematite-rich carbonatite known as rødbergite. The progressive transformation of primary igneous carbonatite to rødbergite was studied here using scanning electron microscopy and inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry trace-element analysis of 23 bulk samples taken along a key geological transect. A primary mineral assemblage of calcite, dolomite, apatite, pyrite, magnetite and columbite with accessory quartz, baryte, pyrochlore, fluorite and REE fluorocarbonates was found to have transformed progressively into a secondary assemblage of dolomite, Fe-dolomite, baryte, Ba-bearing phlogopite, hematite with accessory apatite, calcite, monazite-(Ce) and quartz. Textural evidence is presented for REE fluorocarbonates and apatite breaking down in igneous carbonatite, and monazite-(Ce) precipitating in rødbergite. The importance of micro-veins, interpreted as feeder fractures, containing secondary monazite and allanite, is highlighted. Textural evidence for included relics of primary apatite-rich carbonatite are also presented. These acted as a trap for monazite-(Ce) precipitation, a mechanism predicted by physical-chemical experiments. The transformation of carbonatite to rødbergite is accompanied by a 10-fold increase in REE concentrations. The highest light REE (LREE) concentrations are found in transitional vein-rich rødbergite, whereas the highest heavy REE (HREE) and Th concentrations are found within the rødbergites, suggesting partial decoupling of LREE and HREE due to the lower stability of HREE complexes in the aqueous hydrothermal fluid. The hydrothermal fluid involved in the formation of rødbergite was oxidizing and had probably interacted with country-rock gneisses. An ore deposit model for the REE-rich rødbergites is presented here which will better inform exploration strategies in the complex, and has implications for carbonatite-hosted REE resources around the world.

Published chemical analyses demonstrate that the nepheline formula should be written KxNayCaz□s-(x+y+z)Alx+y+2zSi16-(x+y+2z)O32, where □ stands for vacant sites. X-ray data are presented for the nepheline phase in four binary systems: Ne-CaAl2O4, Ne-An, Ne-Ab, Ne-Kp. Only in two of these systems do the cell-dimensions change with composition. In the first one, the cell-volume V increases linearly with increasing calcium content; in the last one, two singularities in the curve of V against x divide the phase Na8-xKxAl8Si8O32 into three subphases: subpotassic (0 < x < 0·25), mediopotassic (0·25 < x < 2·00), and perpotassic (2·00 < x < 4·73). Only in the subpotassic range are both high- and low-temperature forms found. Twenty-eight natural nephelines, for which chemical analyses and X-ray data are available in the literature, show that only the potassium content affects cell-dimensions. Although all analysed natural nephelines fall outside the subpotassic range, the re-examination of a Monte Somma specimen studied by Bannister (1931) reveals a few euhedral crystals of subpotassic nepheline in a mediopotassic phase.

The layer structure of the kaolin mineral dickite has been shown to differ significantly from the idealized arrangement of regular tetrahedra and octahedra. Since the structure of kaolinite can be studied only by X-ray powder methods, it cannot be refined beyond the idealized arrangement. By applying the dickite type of layer structure to the ease of kaolinite, an explanation for the triclinic symmetry of kaolinite has been obtained, and also an improved agreement with the observed X-ray intensities.

In the Rose-Tschermak-Brezina classification of meteorites the intermediate class of stony-irons, in which iron and stony matter occur in approximately equal amounts and to which Maskelyne gave the name siderolites, is divided into (1) siderolites proper, including the groups of the pallasites and the siderophyres, and (2) lithosiderites, comprising the groups of tile mesosiderites, glahamites, and ]odranites. Mesosiderites are defined as consisting of iron and crystalline olivine and bronzite, and grahamites of the same constituents with the addition of plagioclasefelspar.

According to the accounts which have been published by members of the Egyptian Geological Survey, a number of meteoric stones fell to earth on June 28, 1911, at about 9 in the morning, in the hamlets to the west and north of the village of El Nakhla El Baharia (31° 19′ N., 30° 21′ E.) in the district of Abu Hommos, about twenty-four miles east of Alexandria, Egypt.

‘Blue John’ andother purple fluorites have been studied by a wide range of techniques. Hydrocarbons are not the cause of the colour of these fluorites. No significant difference in the concentrations of 73 elements between the purple and colourless zones of Blue John has been detected. The spectroscopic and thermal bleaching behaviour of the purple zones is consistent with the presence of ‘colloidal’ calcium as colouring agent, and coloration of fluorites with calcium vapour gives material showing similar properties. The distribution of colour suggests trapping of the calcium in lattice defects along {111} (cleavage) planes through {001} (growth) zones. The ‘colloids’ could be produced by aggregation of calcium atoms liberated by irradiation from sources found in the geological environment of Blue John. The banding could arise from variations in the concentration of lattice defects caused by variations in growth rates of the fluorite.

Discordant veins, pipes and occasionally subconcordant sheets of iron-rich ultramafic pegmatite disrupt the layered cumulate sequence of the Upper Critical Zone, Rustenburg Layered Suite, Bushveld Complex. These pegmatite bodies have been studied where they replace the Merensky Reef footwall at Northam Platinum Mine, situated in the Swartklip Facies of the western lobe of the Rustenburg Layered Suite. Composed chiefly of ferroaugite and fayalitic olivine, the pegmatites appear to be formed by the preferential replacement of plagioclase-rich cumulates within the layered sequence. Fe-Ti oxides, sulphide (pyrrhotite and chalcopyrite) and plagioclase also occur in variable quantities. Differentiation within the pegmatite is observed where it has spread laterally beneath the impervious Merensky chromitite layer, with the development of subparallel cm-scale layers of massive magnetitite, massive sulphide and sulphide pegmatite. While some Fe-rich mobile phase must have been responsible for the pegmatites, it is concluded that the pegmatite bulk composition does not represent the original liquid. Furthermore the mode of occurrence precludes the injection of a crystal mush. Rather it is argued, mainlyon geochemical and isotopic grounds, that Fe-rich residual melts derived from the Upper Zone in the downward crosscutting gap areas migrated laterallyand upwards into the adjacent Upper Critical Zone. Variable reaction with the layered cumulates produced the anastomosing pegmatite bodies.

A new protocol for the quantitative determination of zeolite-group mineral compositions by electron probe microanalysis (wavelength-dispersive spectrometry) under ambient conditions, is presented. The method overcomes the most serious challenges for this mineral group, including new confidence in the fundamentally important Si-Al ratio. Development tests were undertaken on a set of natural zeolite candidate reference samples, representing the compositional extremes of Na, K, Cs, Mg, Ca, Sr and Ba zeolites, to demonstrate and assess the extent of beam interaction effects on each oxide component for each mineral. These tests highlight the variability and impact of component mobility due to beam interaction, and show that it can be minimized with recommended operating conditions of 15 kV, 2 nA, a defocused, 20 μm spot size, and element prioritizing with the spectrometer configuration. The protocol represents a pragmatic solution that works, but provides scope for additional optimization where required. Vital to the determination of high-quality results is the attention to careful preparations and the employment of strict criteria for data reduction and quality control, including the monitoring and removal of non-zeolitic contaminants from the data (mainly Fe and clay phases). Essential quality criteria include the zeolite-specific parameters of R value (Si/(Si + Al + Fe3+), the 'E%' charge-balance calculation, and the weight percent of non-hydrous total oxides. When these criteria are applied in conjunction with the recommended analytical operating conditions, excellent inter-batch reproducibility is demonstrated. Application of the method to zeolites with complex solid-solution compositions is effective, enabling more precise geochemical discrimination for occurrence-composition studies. Phase validation for the reference set was conducted satisfactorily with the use of X-ray diffraction and laser-ablation inductively-coupled plasma mass spectroscopy.

A nephelinite from the extinct volcano Mt. Shaberu, North Kivu, Belgian Congo, contains two new minerals: Götzenite is triclinic with a 10·93, b 7·32, c 5·74 Å, α 90°, β 100°, γ 120°; the unit-cell contents approximate to (Ca,Na,Al)7 (Si,Ti)5O15F3·5, and the optical constants are α 1·660, β 1·662, γ 1·670, 2Vγ 52°; sp.gr. 3·138. Götzenite is related to the rinkite series, and, less closely, to wollastonite and pectolite. Combeite is rhombohedral, space-group R3m, R32, or R¯3m, a 10·43, c 13·14 Å., the unit cell containing approximately 3[Na4(Ca,Al,Fe)3Si6O15(O,OH,F)2]; optically uniaxial positive, ε = ω = 1·598±0·002; sp.gr. 2·844.

An ‘Al-thermometer’ was applied to agate samples of volcanic parent rocks to provide information about the temperature of agate formation. The temperatures were calculated from concentrations of [AlO4]0 centres determined by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) measurements. The calculations for agate bands in some cases yield temperatures of up to 655°C, which are assumed to be invalid; they are thought to be artifacts resulting from non-equilibrium crystallization processes. In contrast, the formation temperatures (60–198°C) estimated for associated quartz incrustations within the agate geodes are in good accord with those calculated from oxygen isotope data. Direct estimation of the formation temperatures of agates is problematic. The best results will be obtained by analyses of associated phanerocrystalline quartz incrustations.

Diamond and coesite occur in granulites of the Internal Zone of the Rif belt in northwest Africa. Diamond, identified by optical microscopy, electron microprobe analysis, Raman spectroscopy, cathodoluminescence and microstructural electron backscattered diffraction, is present as inclusions up to 20 μm across in garnet, K-feldspar, coesite relics and quartz. Thermobarometric estimates yield P >4.3 GPa and T >1100°C, which corresponds to a depth of formation >150 km. The estimates suggest that the diamond-bearing peridotites and adjacent crustal rocks experienced similar P–T conditions. If this is correct, there is an old (undated) core in the Betic–Rif cordillera and the current models of the tectonic evolution of the area, which are based on 'full Alpine' evolution, must be revised. This discovery provides further valuable information about the complex geotectonic environment of the southeast Spain and north Moroccan collisional orogen.

At least five successive intrusions of nepheline-bearing magmas fractionated in situ and developed repeatedly overlapping, yet distinct chemical trends in the mafic silicates. Representative electron probe analyses are given for olivine, clinopyroxene, amphibole, biotite, and aenigmatite and their variations discussed. Increasing Na with fractionation produced aegirine-rich clinopyroxene and caused Na/K in amphibole to increase from 2.4 to 7.0. Siz/Alz increased in both amphibole and in the less abundant mica. Mn-enrichment is common to all of the mafic silicates, including the olivines and it is suggested that the parent magmas were initially Mn-rich.

Mineralogically the Motzfeldt centre is evolved and similar to the other centres in the Igaliko complex. However, the Motzfeldt centre contains the most fractionated rocks (lujavrites) and is in this respect similar to the peralkaline Ilimaussaq intrusion. The compositional ranges and trends of the mafic silicates in Motzfeldt thus provide links between the uncommon peralkaline plutons and the more abundant and typical nepheline syenites.

The authors report the first occurrence of awaruite in Pakistan, in the Sakhakot-Qila ultramafites. Electron-microprobe analysis reveals a considerable variation in the compositions of awaruites from different parts of the complex. The presence of copper in awaruite, in amounts up to 5 atomic percent, is also reported for the first time. In one chromitite body, an iridian awaruite with up to 27 wt% of iridium occurs in association with ‘normal’ awaruite and a new Ru-Os-Ir-Ni-Fe alloy. The awaruites are discussed in relation to those from other localities.

A peralkaline nephelinite lava ([Na+K]/Al 2.15) from the active carbonatite volcano Oldoinyo Lengai, contains combeite, Ba lamprophyllite, a phase with affinities to delhayelite, CeSrNb perovskite, a CaNa phosphate high in Sr, Ba and K, and peralkaline glass; in addition to Fe-rich nepheline, aegirine-rich clinopyroxene and FeK-rich sodalite. The high alkali concentrations relative to alumina in the bulk rock could not have been achieved by fractionational crystallisation of the known Al-rich phenocryst phases (nepheline and sodalite) and some other process must be invoked.

To produce a lattice expansion readily detectable by conventional X-ray photographic means in α-irradiated diamond, a dose of order 1018α.cm−2 is required. Such a dose could be produced by pitchblende in ∼2 × 108 yr. and a previously reported lattice expansion in a natural diamond could therefore have occurred by long-term contact with a radioactive material. α-particle doses greater than ∼1014 cm−2 produce observable green colouration on the surface of an initially colourless diamond.

New data on rare earth element (REE) concentrations and distribution patterns of columbite-tantalite minerals from Ta-ore provinces worldwide are presented. The REE geochemistry was studied by laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS). Five major types of chondrite-normalized REE distribution patterns are defined for columbite-group minerals (CGM) from lithium-caesium-tantalum (LCT) pegmatites and rare-metal granites. Features to discriminate between the types include (1) the shape of the pattern (e.g. flat or concave), (2) calculated ratios between groups of the REE (e.g. heavy REEN/middle REEN), and (3) the presence and intensity of anomalies (e.g. Ce*, Eu*). Four pegmatites in central and southern Africa are used as case studies to discuss application of the types of REE patterns in individual deposits. The REE fractionation during progressive evolution of the melt in a pegmatite body (either Nb → Ta or Fe → Mn fractionation lines, or both) results in smaller heavy REEN/middle REEN ratios whereas replacement of primary CGM by secondary CGM produces modifications in the light REEN patterns and the heavy REEN/middle REEN ratios also. Critical features of REE patterns such as highly variable heavy REEN/middle REEN ratios or striking differences in the appearance of Eu anomalies are discussed considering structural data of the host minerals and the differentiation behaviour of the pegmatitic melt. In general, CGM from each individual Ta-ore province are characterized by a predominance of one type of REE distribution pattern. Consequently, these patterns are suitable for tracing the origin of tantalum ore concentrates (e.g. as a forensic tool).