Crystal chemistry and defect structure of ekmanite : New data from transmission electron microscopy and Mossbauer spectroscopy

• Ekmanite is a member of the 2:1 type modulated layer silicates such as ganophyllite and bannisterite. Its chemical composition can be represented by K(M20)[Si32O76](OH)16 (M = Fe2+, Mg2+, Mn2+) where three of eight Si-tetrahedra are inverted across the interlayer sharing an apical oxygen with similarly inverted tetrahedra from the adjacent layers. The arrangement of the regular, D, and inverted, R, tetrahedra has the configuration 4D2R1D1R4D... along the b-axis. In local regions of possibly high Mg/(Mn+Fe) ratio, this configuration is interrupted by the absence of inverted tetrahedra. Ekmanite typically contains a multitude of defects; twinning and both regular and irregular stacking arrangements are the most common ones. Ekmanite is sensitive to oxidation and an unidentified phase, chemically related to it, is always found lining its grain boundaries. This texture results in intergrown rods defining polygons where the central parts do not contain ekmanite. The Mossbauer spectrum consists of Fe2+ and Fe3+ absorption doublets with the Fe2+ absorption composed of two Gaussian line pairs and the Fe3+ absorption of a single but broad line pair.

Subject headings

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Geovetenskap och miljövetenskap -- Geokemi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Earth and Related Environmental Sciences -- Geochemistry (hsv//eng)

Keyword

ekmanite

HRTEM

Mossbauer spectroscopy

modulated structure

defects

image processing

Publication and Content Type

art (subject category)

ref (subject category)