DOI

  • Igor V. Pekov
  • Natalia N. Koshlyakova
  • Dmitry I. Belakovskiy
  • Marina F. Vigasina
  • Natalia V. Zubkova
  • Atali A. Agakhanov
  • Sergey N. Britvin
  • Evgeny G. Sidorov
  • Dmitry Yu Pushcharovsky

The new alluaudite-group mineral parabezeliite was found in the Arsenatnaya fumarole, Second scoria cone of the Northern Breakthrough of the Great Tolbachik Fissure Eruption, Tolbachik volcano, Kamchatka, Russia. In the deepest zone of Arsenatnaya, paraberzeliite (holotype) is accociated with anhydrite, diopside, hematite, svabite, berzeliite, schäferite, calciojohillerite, magnesioferrite, ludwigite, fluorapatite, powellite, baryte, and rhabdoborite-group and aphthitalite-group members. In the middle zone of the fumarole, paraberzeliite occurs with hematite, calciojohillerite, badalovite, johillerite, nickenichite, tilasite, svabite, fluorophlogopite, sanidine, cassiterite, anhydrite, metathénardite and belomarinaite. Paraberzeliite forms prismatic crystals up to 0.2 × 0.2 × 1 mm3often occurring in open-work aggregates. It is transparent, brown (from light to dark brown, sometimes with purple or red hue) or green (from pale greenish to yellow-green). The mineral is brittle, cleavage was not observed. The Mohs hardness is 3 1/2. Dcalcis 3.811 g cm-3. Paraberzeliite is optically biaxial (+), α = 1.718(4), β = 1.728(4), γ = 1.742(4), 2Vmeas. = 85(5)°. The chemical composition (wt.%, electron-microprobe; holotype) is: Na2O 6.43, CaO 16.65, MgO 11.64, MnO 1.65, CuO 0.06, Fe2O32.45, V2O51.10, As2O559.46, total 99.44. The calculated empirical formula based on 12 O atoms per formula unit is (Na1.20Ca1.71Mg1.66Mn0.13Fe3+0.18)Σ4.88(As2.98V0.07)Σ3.05O12. Paraberzeliite is monoclinic, C2/c, a = 12.3143(7), b = 13.0679(5), c = 6.7717(4) Å, β = 113.657(7)°, V = 998.14(10) Å3and Z = 4. The crystal structure was solved from single-crystal X-ray diffraction data, R = 0.0349. Paraberzeliite is isostructural with other alluaudite-group minerals. Its simplified crystal chemical formula is A(1)CaA(2)'NaM(1)CaM(2)Mg2(TAsO4)3. The idealized formula is NaCa2Mg2(AsO4)3, or, according to the actual nomenclature of alluaudite-group arsenates, NaCaCaMg2(AsO4)3. The name paraberzeliite reflects the dimorphism of this alluaudite-group mineral with the arsenate garnet berzeliite, ideally (Ca2Na)Mg2(AsO4)3

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)103-111
Number of pages9
JournalMineralogical Magazine
Volume86
Issue number1
Early online date12 Jan 2022
DOIs
StatePublished - 10 Feb 2022

    Scopus subject areas

  • Geochemistry and Petrology

    Research areas

  • Alluaudite group, Arsenate, Berzeliite, Crystal structure, Fumarole sublimate, Kamchatka, New mineral, Paraberzeliite, Tolbachik volcano, alluaudite group, fumarole sublimate, paraberzeliite, new mineral, crystal structure, berzeliite, arsenate

ID: 93117551