Crystal structures of alunite family minerals: beaverite, corkite, alunite, natroalunite, jarosite, svanbergite, and woodhouseite

Authors: Sato, Eriko; Nakai, Izumi; Miyawaki, Ritsuro; Matsubara, Satoshi

Source: Neues Jahrbuch für Mineralogie - Abhandlungen, Volume 185, Number 3, April 2009 , pp. 313-322(10)

Publisher: E. Schweizerbart'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung

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Abstract:

The crystal structures have been solved and/or refined for minerals of the alunite and beudantite groups having the general formula AM₃(XO₄)₂(OH)₆: that is, Pb(Fe₂Cu)(SO₄)₂(OH)₆ [beaverite], PbFe₃(SO₄)(PO₄)(OH)₆ [corkite], KAl₃(SO₄)₂(OH)₆ [alunite], NaAl₃(SO₄)₂(OH)₆ [natroalunite], KFe₃(SO₄)₂(OH)₆ [jarosite], SrAl₃(SO₄)(PO₄)(OH)₆ [svanbergite] and CaAl₃(SO₄)(PO₄)(OH)₆ [woodhouseite]. The structure analyses revealed that the ionic radius of the M site cation affected the a axis length whereas those of the A and X site ions influenced the c axis length. Cu-bearing minerals, osarizawaite and beaverite, showed the Jahn-Teller distortion in the Cu²⁺ octahedra. The space group of corkite was found to be the centric R3m rather than the acentric R3m space group reported previously.

Keywords: ALUNITE GROUP; BEAVERITE; CORKITE; JAROSITE; NATROALUNITE; SVANBERGITE; WOODHOUSEITE; SINGLE CRYSTAL; REFINEMENT; CRYSTAL CHEMISTRY

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1127/0077-7757/2009/0128

Publication date: 2009-04-01

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