Florencite-(Sm)

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Florencite-(Sm)
General
Category Phosphate mineral
Formula
(repeating unit)
SmAl3(PO4)2(OH)6
IMA symbol Flo-Sm [1]
Crystal system Trigonal
Crystal class Hexagonal scalenohedral (3m)
H-M symbol: (3 2/m)
Space group R3m
Unit cell a = 6.972, c = 16.182 [Å]; Z = 3
Identification
ColorColorless, pale pink, pale yellow
Crystal habit Sub-mm zones in florencite-(Ce) crystals
Cleavage {0001}, distinct
Fracture Uneven
Mohs scale hardness5.5-6
Luster Vitreous to greasy
Streak White
Density 3.6 (measured)
Optical propertiesUniaxal(+)
Refractive index nω=1.70, nε=1.71
References [2] [3] [4]

Florencite-(Sm) is a very rare mineral of the plumbogummite group (alunite supergroup) with simplified formula SmAl3(PO4)2(OH)6. [4] Samarium in florencite-(Sm) is substituted by other rare earth elements, mostly neodymium. It does not form separate crystals, but is found as zones in florencite-(Ce), [2] which is cerium-dominant member of the plumbogummite group. [5] Florencite-(Sm) is also a samarium-analogue of florencite-(La) (lanthanum-dominant) and waylandite (bismuth-dominant), both being aluminium-rich minerals. [4]

Contents

Occurrence and association

Florencite-(Sm) was revealed in quartz veins in the Maldynyrd Range, Subpolar Urals, Russia. It associates with xenotime-(Y). [2]

Notes on chemistry

Florencite-(Sm) has admixtures of neodymium, and small amounts of cerium, gadolinium, sulfur, strontium, praseodymium, calcium, lanthanum, europium, and silicon. [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samarium</span> Chemical element, symbol Sm and atomic number 62

Samarium is a chemical element; it has symbol Sm and atomic number 62. It is a moderately hard silvery metal that slowly oxidizes in air. Being a typical member of the lanthanide series, samarium usually has the oxidation state +3. Compounds of samarium(II) are also known, most notably the monoxide SmO, monochalcogenides SmS, SmSe and SmTe, as well as samarium(II) iodide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gadolinite</span> Nesosilicate mineral

Gadolinite, sometimes known as ytterbite, is a silicate mineral consisting principally of the silicates of cerium, lanthanum, neodymium, yttrium, beryllium, and iron with the formula (Ce,La,Nd,Y)2FeBe2Si2O10. It is called gadolinite-(Ce) or gadolinite-(Y), depending on the prominent composing element. It may contain 35.5% yttria sub-group rare earths, 2.2% ceria earths, as much as to 11.6% BeO, and traces of thorium. It is found in Sweden, Norway, and the US.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monazite</span> Mineral containing rare-earth elements

Monazite is a primarily reddish-brown phosphate mineral that contains rare-earth elements. Due to variability in composition, monazite is considered a group of minerals. The most common species of the group is monazite-(Ce), that is, the cerium-dominant member of the group. It occurs usually in small isolated crystals. It has a hardness of 5.0 to 5.5 on the Mohs scale of mineral hardness and is relatively dense, about 4.6 to 5.7 g/cm3. There are five different most common species of monazite, depending on the relative amounts of the rare earth elements in the mineral:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bastnäsite</span> Family of minerals

The mineral bastnäsite (or bastnaesite) is one of a family of three carbonate-fluoride minerals, which includes bastnäsite-(Ce) with a formula of (Ce, La)CO3F, bastnäsite-(La) with a formula of (La, Ce)CO3F, and bastnäsite-(Y) with a formula of (Y, Ce)CO3F. Some of the bastnäsites contain OH instead of F and receive the name of hydroxylbastnasite. Most bastnäsite is bastnäsite-(Ce), and cerium is by far the most common of the rare earths in this class of minerals. Bastnäsite and the phosphate mineral monazite are the two largest sources of cerium and other rare-earth elements.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jarosite</span> Alunite supergroup, potassium iron basic sulfate mineral

Jarosite is a basic hydrous sulfate of potassium and ferric iron (Fe-III) with a chemical formula of KFe3(SO4)2(OH)6. This sulfate mineral is formed in ore deposits by the oxidation of iron sulfides. Jarosite is often produced as a byproduct during the purification and refining of zinc and is also commonly associated with acid mine drainage and acid sulfate soil environments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Allanite</span> Rare-earth enriched sorosilicate mineral

Allanite (also called orthite) is a sorosilicate group of minerals within the broader epidote group that contain a significant amount of rare-earth elements. The mineral occurs mainly in metamorphosed clay-rich sediments and felsic igneous rocks. It has the general formula A2M3Si3O12[OH], where the A sites can contain large cations such as Ca2+, Sr2+, and rare-earth elements, and the M sites admit Al3+, Fe3+, Mn3+, Fe2+, or Mg2+ among others. However, a large amount of additional elements, including Th, U, Be, Zr, P, Ba, Cr and others may be present in the mineral. The International Mineralogical Association lists four minerals in the allanite group, each recognized as a unique mineral: allanite-(Ce), allanite-(La), allanite-(Nd), and allanite-(Y), depending on the dominant rare earth present: cerium, lanthanum, neodymium or yttrium.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abenakiite-(Ce)</span> Cyclosilicate mineral

Abenakiite-(Ce) is a mineral of sodium, cerium, neodymium, lanthanum, praseodymium, thorium, samarium, oxygen, sulfur, carbon, phosphorus, and silicon with a chemical formula Na26Ce6(SiO3)6(PO4)6(CO3)6(S4+O2)O. The silicate groups may be given as the cyclic Si6O18 grouping. The mineral is named after the Abenaki, an Algonquian Indian tribe of New England. Its Mohs scale rating is 4 to 5.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cerite</span> Silicate mineral group containing cerium

Cerite is a complex silicate mineral group containing cerium, formula (Ce,La,Ca)
9
(Mg,Fe3+
)(SiO
4
)
6
(SiO
3
OH)(OH)
3
. The cerium and lanthanum content varies with the Ce rich species and the La rich species. Analysis of a sample from the Mountain Pass carbonatite gave 35.05% Ce
2
O
3
and 30.04% La
2
O
3
.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ancylite</span> Group of hydrous strontium carbonate minerals

Ancylite is a group of hydrous strontium carbonate minerals containing cerium, lanthanum and minor amounts of other rare-earth elements. The chemical formula is Sr(Ce,La)(CO3)2(OH)·H2O with ancylite-Ce enriched in cerium and ancylite-La in lanthanum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plumbogummite</span> Alunite supergroup, phosphate mineral

Plumbogummite is a rare secondary lead phosphate mineral, belonging to the alunite supergroup of minerals, crandallite subgroup. Some other members of this subgroup are:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrianovite</span> Rare cyclosilicate mineral

Andrianovite is a very rare mineral of the eudialyte group, with formula Na12(K,Sr,Ce)6Ca6(Mn,Fe)3Zr3NbSi(Si3O9)2(Si9O27)2O(O,H2O,OH)5. The original formula was extended to show the presence of cyclic silicate groups and silicon at the M4 site, according to the nomenclature of eudialyte group. Andrianovite is unique among the eudialyte group in being potassium-rich (other eudialyte-group species with essential K are davinciite and rastsvetaevite). It is regarded as potassium analogue of kentbrooksite, but it also differs from it in being oxygen-dominant rather than fluorine-dominant. Also, the coordination number of Na in this representative is enlarged from 7 to 9. The name of the mineral honors Russian mathematician and crystallographer Valerii Ivanovich Andrianov.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zirsilite-(Ce)</span>

Zirsilite-(Ce) is a very rare mineral of the eudialyte group, with formula (Na,□)12(Ce,Na)3Ca6Mn3Zr3NbSi(Si9O27)2(Si3O9)2O(OH)3(CO3)·H2O. The original formula was extended to show the presence of cyclic silicate groups and the presence of silicon at the M4 site, according to the nomenclature of the eudialyte group. Zirsilite-(Ce) differs from carbokentbrooksite in cerium-dominance over sodium only. Both minerals are intimately associated. The only other currently known representative of the eudialyte group having rare earth elements (in particular cerium, as suggested by the "-Ce)" Levinson suffix in the name) in dominance is johnsenite-(Ce).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ferrokentbrooksite</span> Mineral of the eudialyte group

Ferrokentbrooksite is a moderately rare mineral of the eudialyte group, with formula Na15Ca6(Fe,Mn)3Zr3NbSi25O73(O,OH,H2O)3(Cl,F,OH)2. The original formula was extended form to show the presence of cyclic silicate groups and presence of silicon at the M4 site, according to the nomenclature of eudialyte group. As suggested by its name, it is the (ferrous) iron analogue of kentbrooksite. When compared to the latter, it is also chlorine-dominant instead of being fluorine-dominant. The original (holotype) material is also relatively enriched in rare earth elements, including cerium and yttrium.

Oneillite is a rare mineral of the eudialyte group with the chemical formula Na15Ca3Mn3Fe2+3Zr3NbSiO(Si3O9)2(Si9O27)2(O,OH,H2O)3(OH,Cl)2. The formula is based on the original one but extended to show the presence of cyclic silicate groups and domination of Si at the M4 site. The mineral has lowered symmetry (space group R3, instead of more specific for the group R3m one) due to Ca-Mn ordering. Similar feature is displayed by some other eudialyte-group members: aqualite, labyrinthite, raslakite, and voronkovite. Oneillite is strongly enriched in rare earth elements (REE, mainly cerium), but REE do not dominate any of its sites.

Reederite-(Y) is a rare mineral with the formula (Na,Mn,Fe)15(Y,REE)2(CO3)9(SO3F)Cl. It is the only known mineral with fluorosulfate (fluorosulfonate). "REE" in the formula stands for rare earth elements other than yttrium, that is mostly cerium, with traces of neodymium, dysprosium, lanthanum and erbium. The formula also includes a Levinson suffix "-(Y)" pointing to the dominance of yttrium at the corresponding site. Reederite-(Y) crystallizes in the hexagonal crystal system with the space group P6, rarely seen among minerals.

Bijvoetite-(Y) is a very rare rare-earth and uranium mineral with the formula (Y,REE)8(UO2)16(CO3)16O8(OH)8·39H2O. When compared to the original description, the formula of bijvoetite-(Y) was changed in the course of crystal structure redefinition. Bijvoetite-(Y) is an example of natural salts containing both uranium and yttrium, the other examples being kamotoite-(Y) and sejkoraite-(Y). Bijvoetite-(Y) comes from Shinkolobwe deposit in Republic of Congo, which is famous for rare uranium minerals. The other interesting rare-earth-bearing uranium mineral, associated with bijvoetite-(Y), is lepersonnite-(Gd).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fluorwavellite</span>

Fluorwavellite is a rare phosphate mineral with formula Al3(PO4)2(OH)2F•5H2O. As suggested by its name, it is a fluorine-analogue of wavellite (hence its name), a rather common phosphate mineral. Chemically similar aluminium fluoride phosphate minerals include fluellite, kingite and mitryaevaite.

Anzaite-(Ce) is a rare-earth element (REE) oxide mineral with the formula Ce4Fe2+Ti6O18(OH)2. An example of chemically related mineral is lucasite-(Ce), although it contains no iron. Cerium in anzaite-(Ce) is mainly substituted by neodymium, lanthanum, calcium and praseodymium. Titanium is substituted by niobium. Trace elements include thorium. The mineral is monoclinic, space group C2/m. Anzaite-(Ce) is hydrothermal mineral found in a carbonatite from the mineralogically prolific Kola Peninsula. The mineral name honors Anatoly N. Zaitsev, who is known for studies of carbonatites and REE.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cerianite-(Ce)</span> Oxide mineral

Cerianite-(Ce) is a relatively rare oxide mineral, belonging to uraninite group with the formula (Ce,Th)O
2
. It is one of a few currently known minerals containing essential tetravalent cerium, the other examples being stetindite and dyrnaesite-(La).

Monazite-(Sm) is an exceedingly rare representative of the monazite group, with samarium being the dominant rare earth element in its structure. It is the samarium analogue of monazite-(Ce), monazite-(La), and monazite-(Nd). It is only the second known mineral with samarium being the mineral-forming element, after florencite-(Sm). The group contains simple rare earth phosphate minerals with the general formula of ATO4, where A = Ce, La, Nd, or Sm (or, rarely, Bi), and B = P or, rarely, As. The A site may also bear Ca and Th.

References

  1. Warr, L.N. (2021). "IMA–CNMNC approved mineral symbols". Mineralogical Magazine. 85 (3): 291–320. Bibcode:2021MinM...85..291W. doi: 10.1180/mgm.2021.43 . S2CID   235729616.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Repina, S.A., Popova, V.I., Churin, E.I., Belogub, E.V., and Khiller, V.V., 2014. Florencite-(Sm)—(Sm,Nd)Al3(PO4)2(OH)6: A new mineral species of the alunite-jarosite group from the Subpolar Urals. Geology of Ore Deposits 53(7), 564-574
  3. "Florencite-(Sm) - Handbook of Mineralogy" (PDF). Handbookofmineralogy.org. Retrieved 2016-03-08.
  4. 1 2 3 "Florencite-(Sm): Florencite-(Sm) mineral information and data". Mindat.org. Retrieved 2016-03-04.
  5. "Florencite-(Ce): Florencite-(Ce) mineral information and data". Mindat.org. Retrieved 2016-03-09.l