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Lavoisierite, Mn2+ 8[Al10(Mn3+Mg)][Si11P]O44(OH)12, a new mineral from Piedmont, Italy: the link between “ardennite” and sursassite

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Abstract

The new mineral species lavoisierite, ideally Mn2+ 8[Al10(Mn3+Mg)][Si11P]O44(OH)12, has been discovered in piemontite-bearing micaschists belonging to the Piedmontese Nappe from Punta Gensane, Viù Valley, Western Alps, Italy. It occurs as yellow-orange acicular to prismatic-tabular crystals up to a few millimeters in length, with white streak and vitreous luster, elongated along [010] and flattened on {001}. Lavoisierite is associated with quartz, “mica,” sursassite, piemontite, spessartine, braunite, and “tourmaline.” Calculated density is 3.576 g cm−3. In plane-polarized light, it is transparent, pleochroic, with pale yellow parallel to [010] and yellow-orange normal to this direction; extinction is parallel and elongation is positive. Birefringence is moderate; the calculated average refraction index n is 1.750. Lavoisierite is orthorhombic, space group Pnmm, with a 8.6891(10), b 5.7755(3), c 36.9504(20) Å, V 1854.3(2) Å3, Z = 2. Calculated main diffraction lines of the X-ray powder diffraction pattern are [d in Å, (I), (hkl); relative intensities are visually estimated]: 4.62 (m) (112), 2.931 (vs) (1110), 2.765 (s) (1111), 2.598 (s) (310), 2.448 (ms) (028). Chemical analyses by electron microprobe give (in wt%) P2O5 2.08, V2O5 0.37, SiO2 34.81, TiO2 0.13, Al2O3 22.92, Cr2O3 0.32, Fe2O3 0.86, Mn2O3 6.92, MnO 19.09, MgO 5.73, CaO 1.94, Na2O 0.01, H2O 5.44, sum 100.62 wt%. H2O content was calculated from structure refinement. The empirical formula, based on 56 anions, is (Mn 2+5.340 Mg1.810Ca0.686Na0.006)Σ=7.852(Al8.921Mn 3+1.739 Mg1.010Fe 3+0.214 Cr0.084Ti0.032)Σ=12.000(Si11.496P0.582V0.081)Σ=12.159O43.995(OH)12.005. The crystal structure of lavoisierite was solved by direct methods and refined on the basis of 1743 observed reflections to R 1 = 4.6 %. The structure is characterized by columns of edge-sharing octahedra running along [010] and linked to each other by means of [SiO4], [Si2O7], and [Si3O10] groups. Lavoisierite, named after the French chemist and biologist Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier (1743–1794), displays an unprecedented kind of structure, related to those of “ardennite” and sursassite.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank Antonello Barresi who provided with the first studied specimens. The constructive suggestions of Jirí Sejkora and an anonymous referee helped us in improving the paper. Financial support by MIUR (PRIN 2009 project “Structure, microstructure and properties of minerals”) is acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università di Pisa, Via S. Maria 53, 56126, Pisa, Italy

    Paolo Orlandi, Cristian Biagioni & Marco Pasero

  2. Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università di Siena, Via Laterina 8, 53100, Siena, Italy

    Marcello Mellini

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  1. Paolo Orlandi
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  2. Cristian Biagioni
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  3. Marco Pasero
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  4. Marcello Mellini
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Correspondence to Paolo Orlandi.

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Orlandi, P., Biagioni, C., Pasero, M. et al. Lavoisierite, Mn2+ 8[Al10(Mn3+Mg)][Si11P]O44(OH)12, a new mineral from Piedmont, Italy: the link between “ardennite” and sursassite. Phys Chem Minerals 40, 239–249 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00269-013-0564-x

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