Crystal Chemistry and Structural Complexity of the Uranyl Carbonate Minerals and Synthetic Compounds

Uranyl carbonates are one of the largest groups of secondary uranium(VI)-bearing natural phases being represented by 40 minerals approved by the International Mineralogical Association, overtaken only by uranyl phosphates and uranyl sulfates. Uranyl carbonate phases form during the direct alteration of primary U ores on contact with groundwaters enriched by CO2, thus playing an important role in the release of U to the environment. The presence of uranyl carbonate phases has also been detected on the surface of “lavas” that were formed during the Chernobyl accident. It is of interest that with all the importance and prevalence of these phases, about a quarter of approved minerals still have undetermined crystal structures, and the number of synthetic phases for which the structures were determined is significantly inferior to structurally characterized natural uranyl carbonates. In this work, we review the crystal chemistry of natural and synthetic uranyl carbonate phases. The majority of synthetic analogs of minerals were obtained from aqueous solutions at room temperature, which directly points to the absence of specific environmental conditions (increased P or T) for the formation of natural uranyl carbonates. Uranyl carbonates do not have excellent topological diversity and are mainly composed of finite clusters with rigid structures. Thus the structural architecture of uranyl carbonates is largely governed by the interstitial cations and the hydration state of the compounds. The information content is usually higher for minerals than for synthetic compounds of similar or close chemical composition, which likely points to the higher stability and preferred architectures of natural compounds.

A comment on “An evolutionary system of mineralogy: Proposal for a classification of planetary materials based on natural kind clustering”

The classification and nomenclature of mineral species is regulated by the Commission on New Minerals, Nomenclature and Classification of the International Mineralogical Association (IMACNMNC). This mineral species classification is necessary for Earth Sciences, as minerals constitute most planetary and interstellar materials. Hazen (2019) has proposed a classification of minerals and other Earth and planetary materials according to “natural clustering.” Although this classification is complementary to the IMA-CNMNC mineral classification and is described as such, there are some unjustified criticisms and factual errors in the comparison of the two schemes. It is the intent of the present comment to (1) clarify the use of classification schemes for Earth and planetary materials, and (2) counter erroneous criticisms or statements about the current IMA-CNMNC system of approving proposals for new mineral species and classifications.

Listvenites: new insights of a hydrothermal system fossilized in Cerro Matoso peridotites, Montelíbano, Córdoba Department, Colombia

The products of metasomatic alteration (e.g., carbonation) of peridotites are called listvenites. Based on a description of the outcrops in the laterite deposit at Cerro Matoso located in the NW of Colombia, the mineralogical composition confirmed by petrography, and a chemical analysis performed with XRF and WDS/EDS, the previous unit called tachylite is redefined as listvenite. Two types of listvenites are described: listvenite A, with the mineralogical association of quartz + siderite + phyllosilicates + goethite +/- magnetite, and listvenite B, with the association of siderite + phyllosilicates + goethite. Cr-spinel relics accompanied by Mn-siderite and neoblastic textures, indicate their origin from peridotites, where Mn-Fe would have been deposited by hydrothermal fluids. Hydrothermal reducing environments with alkaline fluids and low temperatures should have favored the formation of listvenites that are observed along a fracture zone, oriented WNW-ESE at Pit-1 in Cerro Matoso. Due to exposure to climatic conditions since the Eocene, but definitively since the last Andean Orogeny, listvenites were affected, like all the rocks in the Cerro Matoso deposit, by intense supergene weathering and leaching processes, which could make their true origin unclear.

Kishonite, VH2, and Oreillyite, Cr2N, Two New Minerals from the Corundum Xenocrysts of Mt Carmel, Northern Israel

Here, we describe two new minerals, kishonite (VH2) and oreillyite (Cr2N), found in xenoliths occurring in pyroclastic ejecta of small Cretaceous basaltic volcanoes exposed on Mount Carmel, Northern Israel. Kishonite was studied by single-crystal X-ray diffraction and was found to be cubic, space group Fm3¯m, with a = 4.2680(10) Å, V = 77.75(3) Å3, and Z = 4. Oreillyite was studied by both single-crystal X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy and was found to be trigonal, space group P3¯1m, with a = 4.7853(5) Å, c = 4.4630(6) Å, V = 88.51 Å3, and Z = 3. The presence of such a mineralization in these xenoliths supports the idea of the presence of reduced fluids in the sublithospheric mantle influencing the transport of volatile species (e.g., C, H) from the deep Earth to the surface. The minerals and their names have been approved by the Commission of New Minerals, Nomenclature and Classification of the International Mineralogical Association (No. 2020-023 and 2020-030a).