Structural systematics of Ge substitution in primitive pyroxenes |
| |
| Authors: | M D Welch A R Pawley |
| |
| Institution: | 1.Department of Earth Sciences,Natural History Museum,London,UK;2.School of Earth, Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences,University of Manchester,Manchester,UK |
| |
| Abstract: | Pyroxenes of general stoichiometry Mg(Ge x Si1?x )O3 were encountered in attempts to synthesise Ge-substituted talcs at 0.2 GPa, 650–700 °C. Orthopyroxenes (Pbca) of compositions x = 0.21, 0.30, and 0.34 were identified, and also a P21/c clinopyroxene of composition x = 0.63, and C2/c clinopyroxenes of compositions x = 0.91 and 1. End-member clinoenstatite MgSiO3-P21/c synthesised at 16 GPa, 1300 °C and transformed from C2/c was also included in the study. Crystal structure refinements using single-crystal XRD data showed that unit-cell parameters vary linearly with Si–Ge for the Pbca and P21/c pyroxenes, both of which have two symmetrically non-equivalent tetrahedral chains. Refinement of Si–Ge occupancies at tetrahedral sites showed that the two chains of all primitive pyroxenes have very different compositions, with XGe(TB) ? XGe(TA). This difference arises from the greater flexibility of the B-chain to rotate in response to tetrahedral expansion due to increasing Ge content. The TA-M2 shared polyhedral edge imposes significant constraints on the flexibility of the A-chain, which can accommodate much less Ge than the B-chain. Linear trends of cell parameters, site occupancies, and structural parameters for the primitive pyroxenes, when extrapolated to published data for MgGeO3–Pbca, extend across the entire Si–Ge join. |
| |
| Keywords: | |
| 本文献已被 SpringerLink 等数据库收录！ |
|
