Gabrielsonite revisited: crystal-structure determination and redefinition of chemical formula

• A reinvestigation of gabrielsonite from the holotype specimen from Långban, central Sweden, using single-crystal synchrotron X-ray diffraction, electron-microprobe techniques and Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, Raman and Mössbauer spectroscopies show that the mineral is an anhydrous Fe3+-bearing arsenite and not a hydrous Fe2+-bearing arsenate, as originally proposed. The revised ideal chemical formula of gabrielsonite is PbFe3(As3+O3)O. The mineral is related to the descloizite supergroup, but it differs through the valencies of the non-Pb cations Fe (M3+ vs. M2+) and As (3+ vs. 4+) and through lower coordination of Pb (4 vs. 7–8) and As (3 vs. 4). The redefinition of gabrielsonite (proposal 17-G) has been approved by the Commission on New Minerals, Nomenclature and Classification (CNMNC) of the International Mineralogical Association.

Subject headings

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

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

Keyword

The changing Earth

Den föränderliga jorden

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)