First find of a potentially new mineral, Na-dominant at M 2-site eudialyte analogue: crystal structure and significance as a marker of ultraagpaitic environment

Abstract

A potentially new mineral, M2Na-dominant analogue of eudialyte from the Khibiny alkaline massif, was investigated using the methods of electron probe microanalysis, X-ray diffraction, and IR spectroscopy. The crystal structure was refined to R = 5.7% in the anisotropic approximation of atomic displacements using 2577 independent reflections with F > 3(F). The unit-cell parameters are: a = 14.277(1), c = 30.400(1) Å, V = 5328.7(1) Å3; the space group is R-3m. The idealized formula of the mineral is (Z = 3): Na14Ca6Zr3[Na2(Fe,Mn)][Si26O72](OH)2(H2O1.0Cl0.6S2-0.5)(OH,H2O)2.5. Distribution of cations in the M2 micro-region is established: Fe in the flat-square coordination, Mn in the square pyramid and Na in the seven-vertex polyhedron. A comparative analysis of crystal chemical features of eudialyte М2Na-analogue samples from the Khibiny-Lovozero alkaline complex and Ilimaussaq alkaline pluton, Greenland is given. The mechanism of blocky isomorphism with the replacement of IVFe2+ with VIINa in the M2 micro-region is discussed. IR spectra of the М2Na-dominant eudialyte analogue are given: essentially hydrated sample (Na,H3O,H2O)15Ca6Zr3[Na2Fe][Si26O72](OH)2Cl∙2H2O from Ilimaussaq, less hydrated М2Zr-bearing sample (Na,H3O)13(Ca4Mn2)Zr3(Na2Zr)[Si26O72](OH)2Cl∙H2O from Lovozero and low-hydrated sample Na14Ca6Zr3[Na2(Fe,Mn)][Si26O72](OH)2Cl(OH,H2O)3 from Khibiny studied in this work.