Low-grade metamorphic rocks from the Meliata unit (Western Carpathians) are characterized by the presence of typical blueschist-facies minerals. In metabasalt, an early low-pressure assemblage (<0.5 GPa at 350°C characterized by muscovite and zoisite, is followed by high-pressure glaucophane, phengite, Na-pyroxene, chlorite, clinozoisite and Al-poor titanite, indicating pressures of >1.2 GPa at 450°C Na-pyroxene shows strong compositional variations between the end-members Jd4–70, Aeg10–49 and Q17–49, respectively. Phengite has high Si content of 3.5 a.p.f.u. The zoisite with Al2Fe (100[Fetot/(−2+Altot+Fetot)]) = 3–5%, is rimmed by clinozoisite, with a maximum of 75% Al2Fe, as well as being enclosed by glaucophane. The occurrence of clinozoisite, rimming zoisite, suggests that the transformation of orthorhombic to monoclinic epidote depends not only on the temperature but also on the pressure. In the studied metabasalt, retrograde phases reflecting greenschist-facies conditions are albite and chlorite. Some neighbouring metabasites may additionally contain actinolite and biotite.

Eudialyte-group minerals (EGM) are very common in highly evolved SiO2-undersaturated syenites and are characteristic minerals of agpaitic rocks. Conversely, they are extremely rare in peralkaline granites, with only a handful of EGM occurrences reported worldwide. Here, we study two new examples of EGM occurrence in two types of peralkaline pegmatitic granites from the Cenozoic Ambohimirahavavy complex, and assess the magmatic conditions required to crystallize EGM in peralkaline SiO2-oversaturated rocks. In the transitional granite (contains EGM as accessory minerals) EGM occur as late phases and are the only agpaitic and major rare-earth element (REE) bearing minerals. In the agpaitic granite (contains EGM as rock-forming minerals) EGM are early-magmatic phases occurring together with two other agpaitic minerals, nacareniobsite-(Ce) and turkestanite. In these granites, EGM are partly-to-completely altered and replaced by secondary assemblages consisting of zircon and quartz in the transitional granite and an unidentified Ca-Na zirconosilicate in the agpaitic granite. Ambohimirahavavy EGM, as well as those from other peralkaline granites and pegmatites, are richer in REE and poorer in Ca than EGM in nepheline syenites. We infer that magmatic EGM are rare in SiO2-oversaturated rocks because of low Cl concentrations in these melts. At Ambohimirahavavy, contamination of the parental magma of the agpaitic granite with Ca-rich material increased the solubility of Cl in the melt promoting EGM crystallization. In both granite types, EGM were destabilized by the late exsolution of a fluid and by interaction with an external Ca-bearing fluid.

Previous interpretations relating to precipitation of anorthoclase megacrysts from alkaline basaltic magmas under high-pressure conditions are contradicted. It is proposed that these feldspars were crystallized above the solvus from hydrous melts at shallow depths, under low-pressure equilibrium conditions. These melts had been considerably enriched with volatiles of sodium, strontium, and barium, and to some extent also of rubidium.

Pegmatite cutting chlorite schist in the Minas fault at McKay Head, Nova Scotia, consists of Cl-rich (2.7–3.8 wt.% Cl) marialitic scapolite (EqAn21–32) with interstitial, apparently primary analcite, hematite and rutile, and later (including vug-lining) analcite, pyrite, chlorite, titanite and calcite, and cross-cutting epidote veins. Some of the latter phases might have crystallized from residual pegmatitic fluids. Unlike many other primary scapolite-bearing igneous rocks, the McKay Head occurrence has compositional affinities with mafic (rather than felsic) systems: it is enriched in transition metals (e.g. Cr≤53 ppm), and has very low LILE concentrations (e.g. Rb<10 ppm; U<1 ppm; Th<2 ppm; Ba<20 ppm) and Rb/Sr ratios (~0.05). The presence of interstitial rutile and hematite rather than ilmenite indicates that the pegmatitic fluid was oxygenated late (T~400°C) in its crystallization history.

The pegmatite is interpreted to be related to highly sodic hydrothermal solutions derived from (or affected by) early Carboniferous evaporites of the Windsor or Horton groups. Compositionally-similar fluids, perhaps also related to an evaporite source, may be responsible for a regional, early Carboniferous Na-metasomatic event that altered a suite of alkaline granitoid intrusions shortly after their emplacement.

The close interrelation between sintering and grain growth is discussed critically, and the necessity for control, but not suppression, of grain growth is established. A distinction between discontinuous and exaggerated grain growth is drawn, and the superiority of grain boundary films as grain-growth control agents is demonstrated. Work on the establishment of tentative criteria for the selection of grain-growth control additives for alumina is reviewed and discussed, and the extension of these ideas to the selection of NaF as a successful aid for magnesia is described.

Crystals of Co2CO3(OH)2 have been synthesized under ambient conditions, in contrast to hydrothermal methods reported previously. We have developed a simple but efficient methodology to obtain an initial amorphous phase that evolves to a crystalline cobalt hydroxide carbonate after one week of maturation. X-ray diffraction analysis indicates that this phase crystallizes in the space group P21/a (a = 12.886(6), b = 9.346(3), c = 3.156(1) Å, β = 110.358(6)°). The platelet morphology of Co2CO3(OH)2 agrees with its lamellar crystal structure. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) reveals that each individual platelet is comprised of nanodomains disoriented with respect to their neighbours. The kinetics and the activation energy (Ea = 6.26 kJ mol–1) of the transformation process have been estimated using the rate constant method. The precipitation of solids leads to a decrease in the cobalt concentration in the solution (∼88%) reaching values of ∼150 ppm, which can be considered a successful reduction from the perspective of water quality. The calcination in air of the synthetized platelets produced exclusively Co3O4. The thermo-X-ray difraction results confirm that Co2CO3(OH)2 is transformed over a small range of temperatures (225–235°C) into pure Co3O4. HRTEM images show that the lamellar nanomorphology is preserved in the Co3O4 phase. Therefore, understanding the crystallization behaviour of Co2CO3(OH)2 can help to minimize environmental problems caused by cobalt pollution and may facilitate the management of methods to obtain phases with specific nanomorphologies used widely in material sciences.

A 230 g kaersutite xenocryst from basalt at San Carlos, Arizona, has the composition SiO2 40·10 %, TiO2 4·44, Al2O3 14·53, Fe2O3 3·24, FeO 10·05, MnO 0·14, MgO 11·00, CaO 11·06, Na2O 2·99, K2O 1·62, H2O + 0·73, H2O − 0·10; D = 3·28; α 1·680, β 1·700, γ 1·715; a 9·858 Å, b 18·063 Å, c 5·315 Å, β 105° 14′. Kaersutite occurring as xenocrysts in basic volcanic rocks and tuffs, and as a phase in garnet-pyroxene xenoliths from such rocks, is probably of upper mantle origin, and may be the important potassium-bearing phase in this region.

The purpose of this account is to review, from the literature, figures for the replacement of silicon by aluminium in biotites, calciferous amphiboles, and clinopyroxenes. Atomic ratios to be quoted have been calculated on a basis of 24(O,OH,F) in biotites, hornblendes, and pyroxenes alike. This facilitates comparison and the higher factor magnifies differences. It may be emphasized, to avoid possible confusion, that in this discussion it is the amount of silicon replaced by aluminium that will be under review. The ratio of tetrahedrally co-ordinated Al to octahedrally co-ordinated A1 will not be considered, although for the sake of completeness, figures for AI in Y groups will be furnished to show total A1 values. Machatschki's group notation is employed. Comparison between biotites, hornblendes, and clinopyroxenes, for present purposes, may best be made between minerals that crystallized under the same pressure-temperature conditions, to reduce variables. Few analyses of specimens of these three minerals, that have crystallized together in the same rock, are available however. One such paragenesis is quoted below. This association occurs as gneiss-like inclusions in calcite, taken from the Tiree marble.

Enrichments in Ba, REE and Y abundances, occurrences of REE, Y-bearing phosphate, depletions in K and Rb, and negative Ce anomalies in some lavas on Kahoolawe (Hawaii) reflect secondary mobilization of Ba, REE, Y, K and Rb. Hollandite (Ba-Mn-oxide) in the groundmass of a Kahoolawe lava contains nearly 10 wt.% BaO, ∼ 1.1 wt.% CeO2, and small amounts of La, Nd, Y, K, Na, P, Cl and Cu to provide an example of where elements mobilized during weathering processes on the Hawaiian Islands find residence. Fe-vernadite, a second Mn-oxide, also hosts mobilized REE and Ba. A positive Ce anomaly in the hollandite complements the negative Ce anomaly in some Kahoolawe lavas, this is analogous to Ce accumulation in todorokite of manganese nodules complementing Ce-depleted seawater. Mn-oxides, then, can serve as links between lavas depleted and enriched in certain elements.

Some structural analogies found in tsumebite, vauquelinite, fornacite, and brackebuschite make it possible to place these secondary lead minerals in the same series with general formula Pb2MeII(Z)(XO4)(YO4), where MeII is a bivalent cation as Cu2+ or Mn2+, Z is the hydroxyl group or the water molecule, X is S, Cr, or V, and Y is P, As, or V. Some crystallochemical considerations are developed in order to explain how the replacement of these elements affects the crystal structure in these substances.

Euhedra of weddellite have been recognized in modern, unconsolidated sediments collected from depths of water not exceeding one fathom, along the south-east coast of Florida. For weddellite, the following data have been determined: crystals simple with r {011} accompanied by a {010} in some cases; goniometric axial ratio is a:c = 1:0·593 (meas.), 1:0·5938 (calc.); a0 12·360 Å, c0 = 7·340 Å; space group I4/m, I4 or I4̅; α 1·529, γ = 1·544, δ = 0·015, uniaxial, positive; d22°C = 1·941. Heat treatment of weddellite led to development of whewellite, calcite, and calcium oxide in turn as higher temperatures were employed; fully indexed X-ray diffraction powder data are given for weddellite, in addition to d-spacings and intensities for whewellite.

It is suggested that weddellite developed in the calcareous Florida sediments under conditions of storage over a two-year period, and ahnost certainly was not a constituent of those sediments at the time of collection. This raises the question whether weddellite was present in the Weddell Sea material at the actual time they were recovered by members of the Scotia Expedition.

This hydrothermal process has been studied using single crystal X-ray methods. A crystal of tobermorite (Ca5Si6O22H10), treated with water at 380° C. and 250 atmospheres, gives a preferred orientation aggregate ofxonotlite (Ca6Si6O17(OH)2), together probably with unoriented silica. The relationship of orientations of product and starting material was established. The change occurs without intermediate dehydration of the tobermorite to the 9·35Å. state. The structural basis of the relationship is discussed, and it is compared with those already reported for the transformations of tobermorite into β-CaSiO3 and of xonotlite into β-CaSiO3. A simple experimental procedure for the single-crystal study of hydrothermal reactions is described.

This paper describes the occurrence of myrmekite in a graphic quartz-microcline-rock from the mica-bearing pegmatites of Kodarma, Bihar, India. The myrmekite has grown out from the quartz-mierocline junctions into the potash-felspar with the appearance of having replaced the latter. The two are in optical and crystallographic continuity and, owing to the large ‘single crystal’ character of the microcline, definitely oriented sections can readily be prepared. A detailed study of these sections shows that the myrmekite has been formed by the segregation and coalescence of microperthitic albite formerly held in solid solution in the potash-felspar. Successive stages in this process of segregation can be observed.

These sections also provide evidence of the paragenetic relationship between the quartz rods, the vein perthite, and the body microcline. This is supplemented by additional evidence from graphic granites and vein perthites obtained from other localities.

The feldspar phenocrysts of some British and Icelandic Tertiary acid glasses have been studied optically and chemically. Six new analyses of the feldspar phenocrysts are presented together with an anorthoclase from a glassy pantellerite. The analysed feldspars and all the other feldspar phenocrysts that have been examined show high-temperature optics, and confirm the results of previous investigations of plagioclase feldspar determinative curves. The relationship of the feldspar phenoerysts to the plagioclase components in the analysed residual glasses conforms to the synthetic plagioelase system, and the crystallization of feldspar in natural acid melts is considered.

Wroewolfeite is a new mineral from the Loudville lead mine in Loudville, Massachusetts, U.S.A. The mineral occurs as blue, monoclinic crystals, twinned on {001}, very similar in appearance to posnjakite and langite. It is formed as small isolated pinacoidal crystals (up to 1.0 mm) implanted on covelline and chalcosine. There are three cleavages of equal facility of production. The cell dimensions are a 6.058 Å, b 5.654 Å, c 14.360 Å, β 93° 28′, space group Pc or P2/c. The strongest diffraction lines (in Å) are 7.152 (100), 3.581 (70), 2.628 (35), 2.004 (30), 2.431 (20), 2.379 (20), 2.278 (20). Electronmicroprobe analysis gives CuO 64.22 %, SO3 16.48 %, water by difference 19.30 %. Empirical cell contents are Cu7.88(SO4)2.00(OH)11.76.(H2O)4.22 or Cu4(SO4)(OH)6.2H2O with Z = 2. Wroewolfeite is strongly pleochroic with a light blue, β deep greenish blue, and γ, medium greenish blue. Absorption β > γ ≫ α. The mineral is biaxial with α 1.637, β 1.682, and γ 1.694, 2Vα = 53° The name is for C. Wroe Wolfe, American crystallographer, educator, and philosopher.

Gold-silver vein deposits in the Taebaeksan district, Korea, coexist in time and space with a variety of other deposit types such as skarns, hydrothermal carbonate replacement bodies and Carlin-like deposits and reflect proximity to a magmatic source. The seven gold-silver deposits within the district show common features such as multiple complex veins, an abundance (up to 30% in ore) of base-metal sulphides, a wide range of Ag/Au ratios and the common occurrence of carbonate. Quartz-vein textures indicate open-space-filling at shallow crustal levels. On the basis of Ag/Au ratios of ore, mode of occurrence, and associated mineral assemblages, the seven deposits studied can be classified as follows; Au-dominant type (Group I), Au-Ag type (Group II), Ag-dominant type (Group IIIA) and base-metal and Ag-dominant type (Group IIIB). Group I is characterized by paragenetically early Pb-Zn basemetal sulphides with electrum and late, rare Ag-sulphides and Ag-sulphosalts, whereas Group III contains more Ag-sulphides and/or Ag-sulphosalts. Group II is gold-rich, but transitional to Group III. The Au contents and FeS contents of electrum and sphalerite, respectively, from all of the deposits decreased as mineralization proceeded. Temperature and log fS2 conditions of gold-silver mineralization tend to decrease from Group I and II to Group III deposits (i.e. 340–270°C, –9.3 to –11.8 bar, 320–240°C, –9.5 to –10.3 bar, 250–160°C, –12.5 to –16.9 bar, respectively) as well as from the main to late stages of mineralization in each deposit. The systematic mineralogy and variation of physicochemical conditions in Groups I, II and III are thought to be due to their relative positions with respect to a magma source that is genetically related to a low-to-intermediate-sulphidation porphyry system. Au-rich deposits are proximal to a magmatic source, whereas Ag-rich deposits are more distal.

The new ferric sulphate mineral, mikasaite, the Fe analogue of millosevichite was found in Ikushunbe tsu, Mikasa city, Hokkaido, Japan. Mikasaite occurs as a sublimate around fractures from which coal gas escapes. The white-light brown coloured mineral shows aggregates of fine porous crystals. The SEM micrographs indicate that the aggregates are hollow spherical crystals of 100 µm average diameter and 1–5 µm thickness. Microprobe analysis, SO3 by wet analysis and H2O by moisture evolution analyser gives Fe2O3 24.3, Al2O3 4.3, Mn2O3 0.5, SO3 46.8, H2O(−) 23.0, total = 98.9 wt.%. The specimen adsorbed a large amount of H2O on its surface because of its strong deliquescence. As H2O is not essential to the mikasaite structure, the empirical formula on the basis of 3SO4 is (Fe1.56Al0.44Mn0.03)Σ2.03(SO4)3.00, ideally Fe2(SO4)3. The strongest 10 lines in the X-ray powder diffraction patterns, indexed on a hexagonal unit cell are (d,I/Io,hkl): 3.56, 100, 113; 5.99, 28, 012; 4.35, 23, 104; 2.97, 20, 024; 2.72, 20, 116; 2.64, 11, 211; 2.35, 7, 300; 2.24, 6, 303; 1.78, 6, 226; 3.68, 5, 006. It has space group R with hexagonal lattice parameters of a= 8.14(1) and c = 21.99(8) Å.

Microprobe analyses of members of the erlichmanite-laurite series from Guma Water and Senduma, Sierra Leone and Tanah Laut, Borneo, indicate that complete solid solution is possible between OsS2 and RuS2 with considerable substitution of Os and Ru by Ir, Rh, and Pt. The cell size of the erlichmanite from Guma Water is a = 5.6183±0.0003 Å at a composition (Os0.61Ru0.30Ir0.06Rh0.03)Σ0.93S2 whilst the laurite from Senduma has a composition of (Ru0.88Os0.05Ir0.04 Rh0.03)Σ0.93S2 and a cell size of a = 5.6089±0.0005 Å. Substitution of Os for Ru provides the predominant cause of the variation of cell size. Substitution by other elements of the platinum group appears to produce little effect on cell size and is presumably controlled by genesis rather than considerations of crystal chemistry or structure. The recorded analyses for these elements indicate a pre-dominance of Ir over Rh for members of the series containing more than about 15% of the laurite molecule. For the remainder of the series Rh is more important than Ir. The reflectance in air and oil of the members of the series from Sierra Leone and Borneo are presented and the microhardness of the erlichmanite from Guma Water shown to be 1854 kg/mm2. This is the first report of laurite from Senduma, Sierra Leone.

Hodrushite, a new sulphosalt of copper and bismuth, was found in the Rosalia ore vein at Banská Hodrušá near Banská Štiavnica, Czechoslovakia. It has chemical composition Cu8·12Bi11·54Fe0·29S22 (as determined by electron-microprobe method) close to Cu8Bi12S22. Symmetry is monoclinic, space group A2/m, lattice constants a 27·21, b 3·93, c 17·58 Å, β 92° 9′, measured density 6·35, calculated density 6·45 g/cm3. Microhardness 200 kg/mm2, anisotropic, weak bireflectance, creamy with pinkish tint, maximum reflectivity about 6000 Å. Crystals needle-shaped and striated along [010], colour steel-grey, quickly tarnishing to bronze. Associated with quartz, hematite, and chalcopyrite. Closely related to cuprobismutite.

Tennantite-(Hg), Cu6(Cu4Hg2)As4S13, was approved as a new mineral species (IMA2020-063) from the Lengenbach quarry, Imfeld, Binn Valley, Canton Valais, Switzerland. It was identified as an aggregate of black metallic tetrahedral crystals, less than 0.1 mm in size, intimately associated with sinnerite, and grown on realgar. In reflected light, tennantite-(Hg) is isotropic, grey in colour, with creamy tints. Minimum and maximum reflectance data for COM wavelengths in air are [λ (nm): R (%)]: 470: 29.1; 546: 29.1; 589: 28.5; 650: 27.7. Electron microprobe analysis gave (in wt.% – average of 7 spot analyses): Cu 32.57(42), Ag 6.38(19), Tl 0.29(14), Zn 0.04(5), Hg 17.94(2.27), Pb 0.70(51), As 17.83(61), Sb 0.34(8), S 24.10(41), total 100.19(1.04). The empirical formula of the sample studied, recalculated on the basis of ΣMe = 16 atoms per formula unit, is (Cu4.69Ag1.04Tl0.03)Σ5.76(Cu4.35Hg1.58Pb0.06Zn0.01)Σ6.00(As4.20Sb0.05)Σ4.25S13.26. Tennantite-(Hg) is cubic, I$\overline 4$3m, with a = 10.455(7) Å, V = 1143(2) Å3 and Z = 2. The crystal structure of tennantite-(Hg) has been refined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction data to a final R1 = 0.0897 on the basis of 214 unique reflections with Fo > 4σ(Fo) and 22 refined parameters. Tennantite-(Hg) is isotypic with other members of the tetrahedrite group. Mercury is hosted at the tetrahedrally coordinated M(1) site, in accord with the relatively long M(1)–S(1) distance (2.389 Å), similar to that observed in tetrahedrite-(Hg). Minor Ag is located at the triangularly-coordinated and split M(2) site. Other occurrences of tennantite-(Hg) are briefly reviewed and the Lengenbach finding is described within the framework of previous knowledge about the Hg mineralogy at this locality.