DOI

Hingganite from theWanni glacier (Switzerland) was studied by means of energy dispersive and wavelength-dispersive spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and low-temperature single-crystal X-ray diffraction. According to its chemical composition, the investigated mineral should be considered as hingganite-(Y). It showed a relatively high content of Gd, Dy, and Er and had limited content of lighter rare-earth element (REE), which is typical for Alpine gadolinite group minerals. The most intense Raman bands were 116, 186, 268, 328, 423, 541, 584, 725, 923, 983, 3383, and 3541 cm -1. Based on data of low-temperature [(-173)-(+7) °C] in situ single-crystal X-ray diffraction, it was shown that the hingganite-(Y) crystal structure was stable in the studied temperature range and no phase transitions occurred. Hingganite-(Y) demonstrated low volumetric thermal expansion (αV = 9(2) x 10 -6 °C -1) and had a high thermal expansion anisotropy up to compression along one of the directions in the layer plane. Such behavior is caused by the shear deformations of its monoclinic unit cell.

Original languageEnglish
Article number322
Number of pages16
JournalMinerals
Volume10
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - 4 Apr 2020

    Research areas

  • Crystal structure, Gadolinite-group, Hingganite-(y), Low-temperature, Raman spectroscopy, Single crystal x-ray diffraction, Thermal expansion, Wanni glacier

    Scopus subject areas

  • Geotechnical Engineering and Engineering Geology
  • Geology

ID: 52780485