Laboratory Synthesis of Dawsonite and its Natural Occurrences

Abstract

DAWSONITE (NaAlCO3(OH)2) was first discovered in Canada1 and has since been found at widely scattered localities throughout the world. Most occurrences suggest a hydrothermal origin for the mineral2 but in at least three places an authigenic origin seems likely. Thus in the Pleistocene deposits of the Olduvai Gorge, in the Green River formation of Colorado and in the Greta Coal Measures and the Berry formation of the Sydney Basin of New South Wales there is clear field evidence of the formation of dawsonite in Earth surface conditions.