Jarosite

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Jarosite
Jarosite on quartz Potassium iron sulfate Arabia District, Pershing County, Nevada 2779.jpg
Jarosite on quartz from the Arabia District, Pershing County, Nevada
General
Category Sulfate minerals
Formula
(repeating unit)
KFe3(SO4)2(OH)6
IMA symbol Jrs [1]
Strunz classification 7.BC.10
Dana classification30.2.5.1
Crystal system Trigonal
Crystal class Rhombohedral (3m)
H-M symbol: (3m)
Space group R3m
Unit cell a = 7.304  Å, c = 17.268 Å; Z = 3
Identification
Formula mass 500.8 g/mol
ColorAmber yellow or dark brown
Crystal habit Crystals are usually pseudocubic or tabular, also as granular crusts, nodules, fibrous masses or concretionary.
Cleavage Distinct on {0001}
Fracture Uneven to conchoidal
Tenacity Brittle
Mohs scale hardness2.5–3.5
Luster Subadamantine to vitreous, resinous on fractures
Streak light yellow
Diaphaneity Transparent to translucent
Specific gravity 2.9 to 3.3
Optical propertiesUniaxial (−), usually anomalously biaxial with very small 2V
Refractive index nω = 1.815 to 1.820; nε = 1.713 to 1.715
Birefringence 0.102 to 0.105
Pleochroism E colorless, very pale yellow, or pale greenish yellow, O deep golden yellow or reddish brown
Solubility Insoluble in water. Soluble in HCl.
Other characteristicsStrongly pyroelectric. Non-fluorescent. Barely detectable radioactivity
References [2] [3] [4]

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.

Contents

Physical properties

Jarosite crystals from Sierra Pena Blanca, Aldama, Chihuahua, Mexico (5.6 x 3.1 x 1.6 cm) Jarosite-34304.jpg
Jarosite crystals from Sierra Peña Blanca, Aldama, Chihuahua, Mexico (5.6 × 3.1 × 1.6 cm)

Jarosite has a trigonal crystal structure and is brittle, with basal cleavage, a hardness of 2.5–3.5, and a specific gravity of 3.15–3.26. It is translucent to opaque with a vitreous to dull luster, and is colored dark yellow to yellowish-brown. It can sometimes be confused with limonite or goethite with which it commonly occurs in the gossan (oxidized cap over an ore body). Jarosite is an iron analogue of the potassium aluminium sulfate, alunite.

Solid solution series

The alunite supergroup includes the alunite, jarosite, beudantite, crandallite and florencite subgroups. The alunite supergroup minerals are isostructural with each other and substitution between them occurs, resulting in several solid solution series. The alunite supergroup has the general formula AB3(TO4)2(OH)6. In the alunite subgroup B is Al, and in the jarosite subgroup B is Fe3+. The beudantite subgroup has the general formula AB3(XO4)(SO4)(OH)6, the crandallite subgroup AB3(TO4)2(OH)5•H2O and the florencite subgroup AB3(TO4)2(OH)5or6.

Crystal structure of jarosite Color code: Potassium, K: purple; Sulfur, S: olive; Iron, Fe: violet-blue; Cell: sky-blue. Jarosite crystal structure.png
Crystal structure of jarosite Color code: Potassium, K: purple; Sulfur, S: olive; Iron, Fe: violet-blue; Cell: sky-blue.

In the jarosite-alunite series Al may substitute for Fe and a complete solid solution series between jarosite and alunite, KAl3(SO4)2(OH)6, probably exists, but intermediate members are rare. The material from Kopec, Czech Republic, has about equal Fe and Al, but the amount of Al in jarosite is usually small.

When jarosite forms from pyrite oxidation in sedimentary clays, the main sources of K+ are illite, a non-swelling clay, or K-feldspar. In other geological settings mica's alteration can also be a source of potassium.

In the jarosite-natrojarosite series Na substitutes for K to at least Na/K = 1:2.4 but the pure sodium end member NaFe3(SO4)2(OH)6 is not known in nature. Minerals with Na > K are known as natrojarosite. End member formation (jarosite and natrojarosite) is favoured by a low temperature environment, less than 100 °C, and is illustrated by the oscillatory zoning of jarosite and natrojarosite found in samples from the Apex Mine, Arizona, and Gold Hill, Utah. This indicates that there is a wide miscibility gap between the two end members, [5] and it is doubtful whether a complete series exists between jarosite and natrojarosite.

In hydroniumjarosite [6] the hydronium ion H3O+ can also substitute for K+, with increased hydronium ion content causing a marked decrease in the lattice parameter c, although there is little change in a. [7] Hydroniumjarosite will only form from alkali-deficient solutions, as alkali-rich jarosite forms preferentially.

Divalent cations may also substitute for the monovalent cation K+ in the A site. [8] Charge balance may be achieved in three ways.

Firstly by replacing two monovalent cations by one divalent cation, and leaving an A site vacancy, as in plumbogummite, Pb2+Al3(PO4)2(OH)5.H2O, which is a member of the crandallite subgroup.
Secondly by incorporating divalent ions in the B sites, as in osarizawaite, Pb2+Cu2+Al2(SO4)2(OH)6, alunite subgroup, and beaverite, Pb2+Cu2+(Fe3+,Al)2(SO4)2(OH)6, jarosite subgroup.
Thirdly by replacing divalent anions with trivalent anions, as in beudantite, PbFe3+3(AsO4)3−(SO4)(OH)6, beudantite subgroup.

History

Jarosite was first described in 1852 by August Breithaupt in the Barranco del Jaroso in the Sierra Almagrera (near Los Lobos, Cuevas del Almanzora, Almería, Spain). The name jarosite is directly derived from "jara", the Spanish name of a yellow flower that belongs to the genus Cistus and grows in the sierra. The mineral and the flower have the same color.

Mysterious spheres of clay, 1.5 to 5 inches (40 to 125 mm) in diameter and covered with jarosite, have been found beneath the Temple of the Feathered Serpent, an ancient six-level stepped pyramid 30 miles (50 km) from Mexico City. [9]

Mars exploration

Ferric sulfate and jarosite have been detected by three martian rovers: Spirit , Opportunity and Curiosity . These substances are indicative of strongly oxidizing conditions prevailing at the surface of Mars. In May 2009, the Spirit rover became stuck when it drove over a patch of soft ferric sulfate that had been hidden under a veneer of normal-looking soil. [10] Because iron sulfate has very little cohesion, the rover's wheels could not gain sufficient traction to pull the body of the rover out of the iron sulfate patch. Multiple techniques were attempted to extricate the rover, but the wheels eventually sank so deeply into the iron sulfate that the body of the rover came to rest on the Martian surface, preventing the wheels from exerting any force on the material below them. As the JPL team failed to recover the mobility of Spirit, it signified the end of the journey for the rover.

Antarctica deep borehole

On Earth, jarosite is mainly associated with the ultimate stage of pyrite oxidation in clay environment, and can also be found in mine tailings waste where acidic conditions prevail. Against all expectations, jarosite has also been fortuitously discovered in minute quantities in the form of small dust particles in ice cores recovered from a deep borehole in Antarctica. That surprising discovery was made by geologists who were searching for specific minerals capable of indicating ice age cycles within the layers of a 1620-meter-long ice core. [11] Geologists speculate that jarosite dust could also have accumulated within ice in glaciers on Mars. [12] However, that hypothesis is a matter of controversy because, on Mars, jarosite deposits can be very thick (up to 10 meters). However, Mars is also a very dusty planet and, in the absence of plate tectonics on Mars, glacial dust deposits might have accumulated over long periods of time.

Use in materials science

Jarosite is also a more generic term denoting an extensive family of compounds of the form AM3(OH)6(SO4)2, where A+ = Na, K, Rb, NH4, H3O, Ag, Tl and M3+ = Fe, Cr, V. In condensed matter physics and materials science they are renowned for containing layers with kagome lattice structure, relating to geometrically frustrated magnets. [13] [14]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alunite</span> Aluminium potassium sulfate mineral

Alunite is a hydroxylated aluminium potassium sulfate mineral, formula KAl3(SO4)2(OH)6. It was first observed in the 15th century at Tolfa, near Rome, where it was mined for the manufacture of alum. First called aluminilite by J.C. Delamétherie in 1797, this name was contracted by François Beudant three decades later to alunite.

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

Kalinite is a mineral composed of hydrated potassium aluminium sulfate. It is a fibrous monoclinic alum, distinct from isometric potassium alum, named in 1868. Its name comes from kalium (derived from Arabic: القَلْيَه al-qalyah "plant ashes", which is the Latin name for potassium, hence its chemical symbol, "K".

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

Arthurite is a mineral composed of divalent copper and iron ions in combination with trivalent arsenate, phosphate and sulfate ions with hydrogen and oxygen. Initially discovered by Sir Arthur Russell in 1954 at Hingston Down Consols mine in Calstock, Cornwall, England, arthurite is formed as a resultant mineral in the oxidation region of some copper deposits by the variation of enargite or arsenopyrite. The chemical formula of Arthurite is CuFe23+(AsO4,PO4,SO4)2(O,OH)2·4H2O.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Columbus (crater)</span> Crater on Mars

Columbus is a crater in the Terra Sirenum of Mars. It is 119 km in diameter and was named after Christopher Columbus, Italian explorer (1451–1506). The discovery of sulfates and clay minerals in sediments within Columbus crater are strong evidence that a lake once existed in the crater. Research with an orbiting near-infrared spectrometer, which reveals the types of minerals present based on the wavelengths of light they absorb, found evidence of layers of both clay and sulfates in Columbus crater. This is exactly what would appear if a large lake had slowly evaporated. Moreover, because some layers contained gypsum, a sulfate which forms in relatively fresh water, life could have formed in the crater.

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

Ashburtonite is a rare lead copper silicate-bicarbonate mineral with formula: HPb4Cu2+4Si4O12(HCO3)4(OH)4Cl.

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

Bílinite (Fe2+Fe23+(SO4)·22H2O) is an iron sulfate mineral. It is a product of the oxidation of pyrite in water. It is an acidic mineral that has a pH of less than 3 and is harmful to the environment when it comes from acid rock drainage (Keith et al., 2001).

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

Woodhouseite belongs to the beudantite group AB3(XO4)(SO4)(OH)6 where A = Ba, Ca, Pb or Sr, B = Al or Fe and X = S, As or P. Minerals in this group are isostructural with each other and also with minerals in the crandallite and alunite groups. They crystallise in the rhombohedral system with space group R3m and crystals are usually either tabular {0001} or pseudo-cubic to pseudo-cuboctahedral. Woodhouseite was named after Professor Charles Douglas Woodhouse (1888–1975), an American mineralogist and mineral collector from the University of California, Santa Barbara, US, and one-time General Manager of Champion Sillimanite, Inc.

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

Meridianiite is the mineral consisting of magnesium sulfate undecahydrate, MgSO
4
·11H
2
O
. It is colorless transparent crystalline salt that precipitates from solutions saturated in Mg2+ and SO42− ions at temperatures less than 2 °C. The synthetic compound was formerly known as Fritzsche's salt.

The mineralogy of Mars is the chemical composition of rocks and soil that encompass the surface of Mars. Various orbital crafts have used spectroscopic methods to identify the signature of some minerals. The planetary landers performed concrete chemical analysis of the soil in rocks to further identify and confirm the presence of other minerals. The only samples of Martian rocks that are on Earth are in the form of meteorites. The elemental and atmospheric composition along with planetary conditions is essential in knowing what minerals can be formed from these base parts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beudantite</span> Secondary mineral of the alunite group

Beudandite is a secondary mineral occurring in the oxidized zones of polymetallic deposits. It is a lead, iron, arsenate, sulfate with endmember formula: PbFe3(OH)6SO4AsO4.

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

Tsumebite is a rare phosphate mineral named in 1912 after the locality where it was first found, the Tsumeb mine in Namibia, well known to mineral collectors for the wide range of minerals found there. Tsumebite is a compound phosphate and sulfate of lead and copper, with hydroxyl, formula Pb2Cu(PO4)(SO4)(OH). There is a similar mineral called arsentsumebite, where the phosphate group PO4 is replaced by the arsenate group AsO4, giving the formula Pb2Cu(AsO4)(SO4)(OH). Both minerals are members of the brackebuschite group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walfordite</span> Tellurite mineral

Walfordite is a very rare tellurite mineral that was discovered in Chile in 1999. The mineral is described as orange with orange-yellow streak, and is determined to have a chemical formula of Fe3+,Te6+Te4+3O8 with minor titanium and magnesium substitution resulting in an approximate empirical formula of (Fe3+,Te6+,Ti4+,Mg)(Te4+)3O8.

This list gives an overview of the classification of non-silicate minerals and includes mostly International Mineralogical Association (IMA) recognized minerals and its groupings. This list complements the List of minerals recognized by the International Mineralogical Association series of articles and List of minerals. Rocks, ores, mineral mixtures, not IMA approved minerals, not named minerals are mostly excluded. Mostly major groups only, or groupings used by New Dana Classification and Mindat.

Carlosruizite is a sulfate or selenate–iodate mineral with chemical formula: K6(Na,K)4Na6Mg10(SeO4)12(IO3)12·12H2O. It has a low density (specific gravity of 3.36), colorless to pale yellow, transparent mineral which crystallizes in the trigonal crystal system. It forms a series with fuenzalidaite.

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

Hidalgoite, PbAl3(AsO4)(SO4)(OH)4, is a rare member of the beudantite group and is usually classified as part of the alunite family. It was named after the place where it was first discovered, the Zimapán mining district, Hidalgo, Mexico. At Hidalgo where it was initially discovered, it was found as dense white masses in alternating dikes of quartz latite and quartz monzonite alongside other secondary minerals such as sphalerite, arsenopyrite, cerussite and trace amounts of angelsite and alamosite, it was then rediscovered at other locations such as Australia where it occurs on oxidized shear zones above greywacke shales especially on the anticline prospects of the area, and on fine grained quartz-spessartine rocks in Broken Hill, Australia. Hidalgoite specimens are usually associated with copper minerals, clay minerals, iron oxides and polymetallic sulfides in occurrence.

Florencite-(Sm) is a very rare mineral of the plumbogummite group (alunite supergroup) with simplified formula SmAl3(PO4)2(OH)6. 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), which is cerium-dominant member of the plumbogummite group. Florencite-(Sm) is also a samarium-analogue of florencite-(La) (lanthanum-dominant) and waylandite (bismuth-dominant), both being aluminium-rich minerals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Segnitite</span> Common iron oxide mineral

Segnitite is a lead iron(III) arsenate mineral. Segnitite was first found in the Broken Hill ore deposit in Broken Hill, New South Wales, Australia. In 1991, segnitite was approved as a new mineral. Segnitite has since been found worldwide near similar locality types where rocks are rich in zinc and lead especially. it was named for Australian mineralogist, gemologist and petrologist Edgar Ralph Segnit. The mineral was named after E. R. Segnit due to his contributions to Australian mineralogy.

Gallium(III) sulfate refers to the chemical compound, a salt, with the formula Ga2(SO4)3, or its hydrates Ga2(SO4)3·xH2O. Gallium metal dissolves in sulfuric acid to form solutions containing [Ga(OH2)6]3+ and SO42− ions. The octadecahydrate Ga2(SO4)3·18H2O crystallises from these solutions at room temperature. This hydrate loses water in stages when heated, forming the anhydrate Ga2(SO4)3 above 150 °C and completely above 310 °C. Anhydrous Ga2(SO4)3 is isostructural with iron(III) sulfate, crystallizing in the rhombohedral space group R3.

Gallobeudantite is a secondary, Gallium-bearing mineral of beudantite, where the Iron is replaced with Gallium, a rare-earth metal. It was first described as a distinct mineral by Jambor et al in 1996. Specific Gallium minerals are generally rare and Gallium itself is usually obtained as a by-product during the processing of the ores of other metals. In particular, the main source material for Gallium is bauxite, a key ore of aluminium. However, Gallobeudantite is too rare to be of economic value. Its main interest is academic and also among mineral collectors.

References

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  6. American Mineralogist (2007) 92:1464–1473
  7. American Mineralogist (1965) 50:1595–1607
  8. American Mineralogist (1987) 72:178–187
  9. "Discovery News (2013) "Robot Finds Mysterious Spheres in Ancient Temple"". Archived from the original on 2015-03-19. Retrieved 2013-04-30.
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