Crystal chemistry of Sr–rich piemontite from manganese ore deposit of the Tone mine, Nishisonogi Peninsula, Nagasaki, southwest Japan

• Published in: Journal of Mineralogical and Petrological Sciences 2020, Vol.115(5), pp.391-406
• Main Authors: NAGASHIMA, Mariko, SANO, Yuko, KOCHI, Takako, AKASAKA, Masahide, SANO–FURUKAWA, Asami
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aluminum; Analytical methods; Crystal structure; Electron probe microanalysis; Electron probes; Iron; Iron 57; Manganese; Manganese ores; Mineral deposits; Mossbauer spectroscopy; Mössbauer analysis; Oxidation; Quadrupoles; Rhenium; Single crystals; Strontian Piemontite; Strontium; TOF neutron diffraction; Tone mine; Valence; X–ray diffraction
• ISSN: 1345-6296; 1349-3825
• DOI: 10.2465/jmps.191122

The crystal chemistry of Sr–rich piemontite from a layered manganese ore deposit of the Tone mine, Nishisonogi Peninsula, Japan, was studied using methods of electron microprobe analysis, single crystal X–ray structural refinement, 57Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy, and X–ray and Time–of–Flight neutron Rietveld analyses to elucidate the intracrystalline distributions of Sr, Mn, and Fe and the general and individual features on the structural changes with Sr contents in piemontite and epidotes. Piemontite in the most piemontite–dominant layer of an ore is [Ca1.73(15)Sr0.22(13)]Σ1.95[Al1.99(9)Mn3+0.68(8)Fe3+0.37(8)Mg0.01(0)]Σ3.05 Si2.99(1)O12(OH) (Z = 2) in the average chemical formula. A single crystal X–ray structural refinement (R1 = 2.51% for 2417 unique reflections) resulted in the unit–cell parameters of a = 8.8942(1), b = 5.6540(1), c = 10.1928(2) Å, and β = 115.100(1)°; and the occupancies of Ca0.711(3)Sr0.289, Al0.898(4)(Mn + Fe)0.102, and (Mn + Fe)0.949(4)Al0.051 at the XA2, VIM 1, and VIM 3 sites, respectively. All Fe in a powdered piemontite sample was Fe3+ as indicated by the two Mössbauer doublets (isomer shift = 0.351 and 0.367 mm/s and quadrupole splitting = 2.189 and 1.93 mm/s, respectively) assigned to Fe3+ at the M 3 site. The neutron Rietveld refinement of the powder sample (Rwp = 2.11%; Re = 0.88%) resulted in the occupancies of M 1[Al0.902(5)Mn0.098] and M 3[Mn0.534(5)Fe0.267Al0.20], where M 3Al was fixed to 0.20Al obtained by X–ray Rietveld refinement (Rwp = 2.95%; Re = 2.13%). By applying the oxidation state of Fe and the distributions of Al, Fe, and Mn in the M 1 and M 3 sites in the powder sample, the site occupancies in the piemontite single crystal are constructed as A2[Ca0.711(3)Sr0.289], M 1[Al0.898(4)Mn3+0.102] and M 3[Mn3+0.633Fe3+0.316Al0.051]. The A2–O7, –O2’, and –O10 distances, 2.303(2), 2.562(1), and 2.592(2) Å, respectively, are longer than those of Ca–piemontites. The mean and distances, 2.050 and 1.923 Å, respectively, are close to the published data of Ca–piemontites and Sr–rich and –bearing piemontites with Mn3+ + Fe3+ contents in the M 3 and M 1 sites similar to those of the Tone piemontite.