Number Of Mineral Species Research Articles

The Yadovitaya fumarole, Tolbachik volcano: A comprehensive mineralogical and geochemical study and driving factors for mineral diversity

Active volcanic fumaroles are one of the most spectacular natural objects in terms of mineral diversity. The Great Tolbachik Fissure Eruption (GTFE) (Kamchatka) fumaroles are renowned for its exceptional number of mineral species. The total number of minerals that have been reliably identified from this particular locality exceeds 400, which is approximately 6.5 % of all known minerals to date. In this study, we employ a comprehensive approach (bulk chemistry, microprobe analysis, powder X-ray diffraction, HR X-ray computed tomography, and 34S, 18O, and 65Cu isotope measurements) to study the distribution of primary exhalation and secondary mineral assemblages and to reveal the driving factors responsible for the unique mineral diversity in the Yadovitaya fumarole. High oxygen fugacity, the interaction of minerals with atmospheric oxygen and water from seasonal precipitation (leading to abundant hydrated mineral associations), temperature conditions controlling the spatial distribution of mineral-forming components, gas-rock interactions, and basaltic scoria morphology perfect for the crystallization of various minerals are some of the factors revealed. The combination of these factors caused a stepwise mineralization resulting in 12 zones of the Yadovitaya fumarole with characteristic mineral assemblages. The described mineralogy of the Yadovitaya fumarole demonstrates a consistent spatial evolution of fumarolic mineral assemblages that vary in complexity, chemistry, and interaction patterns with the surrounding environment. The examination of mineralogical and geochemical data yields novel insights into the active volcanic systems that are associated with the formation of distinct oxidation-type fumaroles.

Prediction of grade and recovery in flotation from physicochemical and operational aspects using machine learning models

Machine learning (ML) models for predicting flotation behavior focus on operational variables. Fundamental aspects, e.g., physicochemical variables that describe mineral surfaces for bubble–particle interactions, are largely neglected in these models; however, these physicochemical variables of mineral particles, including bubbles and pulp, influence the flotation behavior. Thus, this study aimed to advance the prediction of flotation behavior by including physicochemical variables. Among four ML models used for the prediction, the random forest model had the best performance and was therefore subsequently used to investigate variable importance. Contact angle, particle diameter, bubble diameter, particle charge, collector concentration, flotation time, and number of mineral species were the most important variables. Limitations (e.g., assumptions and empiricism) and implications of our study were presented. Finally, our expectation was to encourage more attention to physicochemistry in flotation using ML for a more generalized empirical flotation model.

Tellurium Minerals: Structural and Chemical Diversity and Complexity

The chemical diversity and complexity of tellurium minerals were analyzed using the concept of mineral systems and Shannon informational entropy. The study employed data for 176 Te mineral species known today. Tellurium minerals belong to six mineral systems in the range of one-to-six species-defining elements. For 176 tellurium minerals, only 36 chemical elements act as essential species-defining constituents. The numbers of minerals of main elements are calculated as follows (the number of mineral species is given in parentheses): O (89), H (48), Cu (48), Pb (43), Bi (31), S (29), Ag (20), Fe (20), Pd (16), Cl (13), and Zn (11). In accordance with their chemistry, all Te minerals are classified into five types of mineral systems: tellurium, oxides, tellurides and intermetalides, tellurites, and tellurates. A statistical analysis showed positive relationships between the chemical, structural, and crystallochemical complexities and the number of essential species-defining elements in a mineral. A positive statistically significant relationship between chemical and structural complexities was established. It is shown that oxygen-free and oxygen-bearing Te minerals differ sharply from each other in terms of chemical and structural complexity, with the first group of minerals being simpler than the second group. The oxygen-free Te minerals (tellurium, tellurides, and intermetallides) are formed under reducing conditions with the participation of hydrothermal solutions. The most structurally complex oxygen-bearing Te minerals originate either from chemical weathering and the oxidation of ore deposits or from volcanic exhalations (Nabokoite).

Mineral Systems, Their Types, and Distribution in Nature: 2. Products of Contemporary Fumarole Activity at Tolbachik Volcano (Russia) and Vulcano (Italy)

The number of mineral species in which a certain chemical element is species-defining (according to statistical data up to 2015) has been specified. Seventy chemical elements are species-defining for 5044 minerals. The following chemical elements lead in the composition of minerals (number of mineral species in parentheses): oxygen (4115), hydrogen (2800), silicon (1471), calcium (1167), sulfur (1056), aluminium (985), sodium (949), iron (945), copper (636), phosphorus (597), arsenic (594), and magnesium (571). The distribution of mineral species by various systems in the products of contemporary fumarole activity at two volcanoes, Tolbachik in Kamchatka, Russia, and Vulcano in Sicily, Italy, has been compared. These locations were also compared for the distribution of species-defining elements. Thus, it has been determined that in fumaroles of both volcanoes, Tl, S, Cl, F and Na are “excessive,” present in minerals in elevated amounts, whereas H, Ca, Fe, and Mn are “deficient.” The abundance of Cu, Se, V, Mg, Zn, As, and F in minerals at Tolbachik is higher than the global mean values of these elements in the Earth’s crust, whereas the abundance is significantly lower at Vulcano. Sn, I, Br, K, Pb, Al, Fe, and Bi demonstrate the opposite behavior. Comparison of the Yadovitaya and Arsenatnaya fumaroles at the Tolbachik volcano showed that the products of the former are richer in H, Cl, Cu, S, K, O, Al, Fe, and Pb, and poorer in As, Ca, Mg, and Na as species-defining elements. In addition, V-and Mo-bearing minerals are found only at Yadovitaya, whereas minerals containing F, Ti, В, Те, and Zn are known only at Arsenatnaya.

Ash Fusibility Based on Modes of Occurrence and High-Temperature Behaviors of Mineral Matter in Coals

Complete quantitative data of the chemical (proximate, ultimate, and ash analyses) and mineral (in low-temperature ash (LTA) and various high-temperature ashes (HTA)) compositions of 21 coals were used to investigate the modes of occurrences and high-temperature behaviors of the minerals in coals and their influence on ash fusibility. The common minerals present in the low-temperature ashes (LTA) are kaolinite, quartz, muscovite, calcite, gypsum, pyrite, and siderite. The samples were divided into two groups according to the hemispherical temperature for a comparative study of the behavior of mineral matters. Results show that the average number of mineral species (ANMS) and amorphous substances (AS) in the LTAs of the two groups are essentially the same. The ANMS in both the low and high (ash fusion temperatures, AFT) ash samples go through the same tendency of a slight reduction at first, an increase, and finally, a significant reduction. As the temperature increases, the ANMS in the low-AFT ash is initially higher and then lower than the high-AFT ash, whereas the tendency of the AS is quite the opposite. The ash melting process is divided into three stages, and the AFTs are related to different degrees of the eutectic stage.

Causes of anomalous mineralogical diversity in the Periodic Table

AbstractWhen crustal abundance (A, measured in atomic parts per million) of a chemical element is plotted vs. number of mineral species in which that element is an essential constituent (S), a significantly positive correlation is obtained, but with considerable scatter. Repeated exclusion of outliers at the 90% confidence level and re-fitting leads, after the sixth iteration, to a steady state in which 40 of the 70 elements initially considered define a trend with logS= 1.828 + 0.255 log a (r= 0.96), significantly steeper than the original. Three other methods for reducing the effect of outliers independently reproduce this steeper trend. The 'diversity index'Dof an element is defined as the ratio of observed mineral species to those predicted from this trend.Dseparates elements into three groups. More than half of the elements (40 of 70) haveD= 0.5–2.0. Apart from these 'typical' elements, a group of 15 elements (Sc, Cr, Ga, Br, Rb, In, Cs, La, Nd, Sm, Gd, Yb, Hf, Re and Th) form few species of their own due to being dispersed as minor solid solution constituents, and a hitherto unrecognized group of 15 elements are essential components in unusually large numbers of minerals. The anomalously diverse group consists of H, S, Cu, As, Se, Pd, Ag, Sb, Te, Pt, Au, Hg, Pb, Bi and U, with Te and Bi by far the most mineralogically diverse elements (D= 22 and 19, respectively). Possible causes and inhibitors of diversity are discussed, with reference to atomic size, electronegativity and Pearson softness, and particularly outer electronic configurations that result in distinctive stereochemistry. The principal factors encouraging mineral diversity are: (1) Particular outer electronic configurations that lead to a preference for unique coordination geometries, enhancing an element's ability to form distinctive chemical compounds and decreasing its ability to participate in solid solutions. This is particularly noteworthy for elements possessing geometrically flexible 'lone-pair cations' with ans2outer electronic configuration. (2) Siderophilic or chalcophilic geochemical behaviour and intermediate electronegativity, allowing elements to form minerals that are not oxycompounds or halides. (3) Access to a wide range of oxidation states. The most diverse elements can occur as anions, native elements and in more than one cationic valence state.

Number of minerals of various chemical elements: Statistics 2012 (a new approach to an old problem)

A list of all mineral species (4809) approved by IMA to 2012 inclusive has been compiled. The crystal chemical formulae of these minerals has been reviewed; each mineral species is marked by a set of the n-component chemical system (where n = 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10). The leading chemical elements by number of mineral species in the Earth’s crust are as follows (number of mineral species is in parentheses): oxygen (3929), hydrogen (2700), silicon (1420), calcium (1130), sulfur (978), aluminum (959), iron (920), sodium (850), copper (588), phosphorus (559), magnesium (547), and arsenic (536). The taxonomy of mineral species is discussed. The important advantage of the proposed systematics is the possibility to range mineral species in strict order, in which each of them would have a unique position. A simple way of ordering minerals opens up possibilities for computer indexing of thermodynamic information. Within each system, minerals are arranged in order of the number of atoms of the first element and, within the group of compounds with the same number of atoms of the first element, in order of the number of atoms of the second element, and so on.

Extreme chemical conditions of crystallisation of Umbrian Melilitolites and wealth of rare, late stage/hydrothermal minerals

Abstract Melilitolites of the Umbria Latium Ultra-alkaline District display a complete crystallisation sequence of peculiar, late-stage mineral phases and hydrothermal/cement minerals, analogous to fractionated mineral associations from the Kola Peninsula. This paper summarises 20 years of research which has resulted in the identification of a large number of mineral species, some very rare or completely new and some not yet classified. The progressive increasing alkalinity of the residual liquid allowed the formation of Zr-Ti phases and further delhayelitemacdonaldite mineral crystallisation in the groundmass. The presence of leucite and kalsilite in the igneous assemblage is unusual and gives a kamafugitic nature to the rocks. Passage to non-igneous temperatures (T<600 °C) is marked by the metastable reaction and formation of a rare and complex zeolite association (T<300 °C). Circulation of low-temperature (T<100 °C) K-Ca-Ba-CO2-SO2-fluids led to the precipitation of sulphates and hydrated and/or hydroxylated silicate-sulphate-carbonates. As a whole, this mineral assemblage can be considered typical of ultra-alkaline carbonatitic rocks.

Mossbauer parameters of iron in sulfate minerals

Although Fe-sulfate minerals occur only rarely on Earth as alteration products of sulfidic basalts or in hydrothermal systems, multiple lines of evidence point to the importance of Fe- (and other) sulfate minerals on the surface of Mars. One such martian data set comes from the MIMOS II Mössbauer spectrometers on the Mars Exploration Rovers, which acquired hundreds of spectra from the martian surface at two locations. Interpretation of those spectra has been limited by the lack of a comprehensive set of laboratory analog spectra of the broad range of naturally occurring sulfate minerals. Accordingly, this study reports Mössbauer data of 98 samples representing 47 different sulfate mineral species, all containing six- or higher-coordinated Fe. The resultant Mössbauer parameters are related to the local polyhedral environment around the Fe cation in each mineral to explain variations in spectral characteristics. Results show that the size of the coordination polyhedron is the best predictor of quadrupole splitting, which increases with both octahedral volume and mean bond length. Species within groups of structurally similar minerals are shown to have comparable spectral peaks that generally fall within small ranges. Although coordination polyhedron geometry is not necessarily unique to any particular mineral species or group, Mössbauer data can be used to help constrain mineral identifications from martian spectra. The number of mineral species is large, but the range of crystal structures and hyperfine parameters may be small, so that in many cases, individual minerals cannot be uniquely fingerprinted. Examples would include quenstedtite, coquimbite, kornelite, and lausenite, which have indistinguishable spectra, as do apjohnite, bilinite, dietrichite, and römerite. Overlap of Mössbauer parameters is a particular complication for identification of Fe 3+ -rich phases because the range of Mössbauer parameters for Fe3+ in any coordination number is so small. Previous analyses of martian Mössbauer spectra reported the presence of jarosite (Klingelhöfer et al. 2004; Morris et al. 2004) and an unspecific ferric sulfate (Morris et al. 2008). New data presented here indicate that botryogen, metasideronatrite, and slavikite exhibit Mössbauer spectra similar to those attributed to jarosite at Meridiani Planum. Fibroferrite and rhomboclase have parameters similar to those observed at Arad Samra, and copiapite and parabutlerite could be present at Tyrone Mount Darwin and Berkner Island. Unique mineral identifications are generally not possible from Mössbauer data alone, particularly for paramagnetic phases, although combining Mössbauer results with other data sets enables a greater level of confidence in constraining mineralogy. This study provides a new expansive data set for future interpretation of iron sulfates on Mars

The current system of natural minerals and prospects for its expansion

The principle of an unlimited number of mineral species (NMS) is stated. Its scope includes unique types of rocks and ores with their structurally and compositionally complex minerals, in particular nanometersized ones. The unlimited NMS is determined not so much by the vast number of possible combinations of chemical elements as by the infinite multiplicity of structural forms of these combinations, and is associated not so much with the macro- as with the micro-world of minerals, which is still in the early stages of investigation. The number of IMA-approved mineral species is currently about 4300. Predictions for the next few decades suggest that their number will increase to 5000 by 2020 and to 10000–11000 by 2050.

Natural selection of mineral species

The old issue of the limited number of mineral species is being brought up again and requires explanation. The review of successive calculations of the number of mineral species and their main varieties is given in this paper with allowance for the contemporary view on this problem. The natural selection of mineral species develops under the effect of geochemical differentiation of mineral matter, a multitude of chemical elements and their substitutions, and acid-alkali equilibria. It is noteworthy that water, oxygen, carbon dioxide, and other volatiles make a crucial contribution to the increase in the number of mineral species in the Earth’s crust.

Spectral reflectance properties of minerals exposed to simulated Mars surface conditions

A number of mineral species were exposed to martian surface conditions of atmospheric pressure and composition, temperature, and UV light regime, and their evolution was monitored using reflectance spectroscopy. The stabilities for different groups varied widely. Phyllosilicate spectra all showed measurable losses of interlayer H 2O, with some structural groups showing more rapid H 2O loss than others. Loss of OH from the phyllosilicates is not always accompanied by a change in metal–OH overtone absorption bands. OH-bearing sulfates, such as jarosite and alunite, show no measurable change in spectral properties, suggesting that they should be spectrally detectable on Mars on the basis of diagnostic absorption bands in the 0.4–2.5 μm region. Fe 3+- and H 2O-bearing sulfates all showed changes in the appearance and/or reduction in depths of hydroxo-bridged Fe 3+ absorption bands, particularly at 0.43 μm. The spectral changes were often accompanied by visible color changes, suggesting that subsurface sulfates exposed to the martian surface environment may undergo measurable changes in reflectance spectra and color over short periods of time (days to weeks). Organic-bearing geological materials showed no measurable change in C H related absorption bands, while carbonates and hydroxides also showed no systematic changes in spectral properties. The addition of ultraviolet irradiation did not seem to affect mineral stability or rate of spectral change, with one exception (hexahydrite). In some cases, spectral changes could be related to the formation of specific new phases. The data also suggest that hydrated minerals detected on Mars to date retain their diagnostic spectral properties that allow their unique identification.

The distribution of minerals in hyper-agpaitic rocks in terms of symmetry: evolution of views on the number and symmetry of minerals

Among the unique mineral localities of the Earth the complexes of nepheline syenites with hyper-agpaitic differentiates are of special interest due to their extreme diversity of mineral species. The four best studied complexes of this type – Khibina, Lovozero, Ilímaussaq and Mont Saint-Hilaire – have yielded more than 700 mineral species of which about 200 are new. The great mineral diversity is due to the combination of several factors, the most important of which is the extremely high alkalinity of agpaitic magmas, causing about half of the elements of the periodic table to be concentrated together. Minerals from hyper-agpaitic rocks are characterised by the predominance of highly ordered, low-symmetry crystal structures resulting, in particular, from the markedly extended temperature range of crystallisation. Generalisation of available data for unique mineral localities underpins the hypothesis that there is no natural limit to the number of mineral species. It is predicted that by the middle of the 21st century, the overall number of minerals recorded in nature will exceed 10 000, with the proportion of triclinic species increasing from the present 9% to 14.5%, and that of cubic species decreasing from 10% to 5%.

Comparison of Evolution of Trioctahedral Chlorite/Berthierine/Smectite in Coeval Metabasites and Metapelites from Diagenetic to Epizonal Grades

AbstractThe evolution of texture, structure and chemical composition of chloritic clays in coeval pairs of metabasites and metapelites of a prograde sequence from the Bükk Mountains has been investigated using electron microscopy techniques. Samples are from the Bükkium (innermost Western Carpathians, Hungary) that underwent Alpine metamorphism, ranging from late diagenesis to epizone for pelites and from prehnite-pumpellyite to greenschist facies for the metabasites.Although bulk-rock compositions, textures and primary minerals are different, chlorite evolved at similar rates in coeval metabasites and metasediments, but along different paths. The principal similarities in the prograde sequence are a decrease in the percentage of interstratified material in both dioctahedral and trioctahedral phyllosilicates and increase in thicknesses of chlorite and illite crystallites. The principal difference is in the type of interstratification in chlorite, with berthierine in metapelites, and smectite (saponite) in metabasites, although smectitic mixed layers also occur in the former. The evolution of trioctahedral phyllosilicates is marked by a decrease in the number of mineral species with increasing grade, chlorite, sensu stricto, being the only trioctahedral mineral at higher grades. This is consistent with the trend in reaction progress where both metastable systems (metabasites and metapelites) tend toward the same end-member, thermodynamically stable chlorite, as well as texture (crystal size), and where all intermediate states are metastable, and determined by the Ostwald step rule.

Crustal Abundances of Elements and Species Diversity of Minerals

A plot of the logarithm of crustal abundance of elements versus the logarithm of the number of mineral species in which the elements are essential constituents shows an unexpected positive correlation within a wide band. However, diversity (the number of mineral species per element) does not reach a minimum at the lowest elemental abundances, but at intermediate values. This distribution results from the tendency of some trace elements to reside in a large number of uncommon accessory minerals in which they are essential components, and of other trace elements to occur as nonessential substituents in a few abundant minerals. Widening use of backscattered electron imaging and energy-dispersive spectra is making geologists increasingly aware of these two contrasting styles of trace-element behavior.

Fifth supplementary list of British minerals (Scottish)

THE number of mineral species known to occur in the British Isles increases yearly and details of their localities and assemblages are scattered throughout the literature. For ready-reference purposes Spencer produced lists of British minerals (1898, 1931, and 1958) to complement the species detailed by Greg and Lettsom (1858) in their Manual of the Mineralogy of Great Britain and Ireland. The listing tradition was continued by Embrey (1977 and 1978) and at the latter dates the total number of known British species was approximately 600. Some entries in the earlier lists require revision in view of later work (Deer et al., 1962, 1963, and 1979; Fleischer 1980; and Hey, 1962 and 1963; and Hey and Embrey 1974). The present authors undertook the task of revising entries in Heddle's (1901) Mineralogy of Scotland endeavouring to produce an up-to-date glossary of Scottish mineral species. This work 'Glossary of Scottish Mineral Species 1981' (Macpherson and Livingstone, 1982), entailed examination of many specimens in the Scottish Mineral Collection of the Royal Scottish Museum as well as specimens in other museum collections. Contact was made with other mineralogists in order to obtain specimens or unpublished data. In works of this nature the value of museum collections is paramount for without their existence certain entries could not be made. The Scottish Glossary contains 443 entries detailing mineral name, ideal formula, crystal system, assemblage, locality (preRegionalization County names are retained) and reference details, following the style of the Spencer and Embrey lists. In the Scottish Glossary we consider that 399 valid species occur in Scotland. Many of these species are substantiated by X-ray diffraction identification or electron probe microanalysis data or both. When comparing the Greg and Lettsom, Spencer and Embrey lists with the Scottish Glossary it became apparent that some 16~o of Scottish minerals (sixty-four minerals) had not been previously listed or recorded for the British Isles; a

Persistence of Heavy Minerals and Geologic Age

The apparent increase in complexity of the heavy-mineral suites of arenaceous sediments with decrease in age of the deposit is confirmed by compilation from published records. Such increase in number of mineral species in the younger deposits is due to (a) greater complexity of terrane from which the younger sediments were derived or (b) disappearance by solution of the less stable species in the older deposits. The latter alternative is shown to be the correct explanation, since the order of persistence of the common rock-making heavy minerals worked out from the tabulation is identical with Goldich's series, which is the order of survival of minerals subject to weathering. The stability series is expanded to twenty-five common constituents of sediments.

Petrography of Various Soils Derived from Volcanic Ejecta

Soils derived mainly from volcanic ejecta can be recognized generally by the presence of glass particles, when such particles occur in noticeable quantity. From the data here presented, it appears that the soils examined fall into three general classes: (a) Very silicious soils containing large proportions of isotropic material of low refractive index and associated with comparatively large proportions of quartz. Illustrations are furnished by the samples from Nebraska and Kansas. (b) Soils containing isotropic material of higher refractive index, relatively large proportions of olivine, and little or no quartz. Examples are the Hawaiian soils. (c) Soils characterized by the relatively larger number of mineral species readily recognized, and especially by the occurrence of well-developed lime-soda feldspars. Examples are the samples from Washington. The presence of relatively large proportions of glasses in certain soils derived mainly from volcanic ejecta, owing to the chemical characteristics of glasses in general, suggests that, with such soils, the inorganic soil material would be more readily and quickly modified than with soils of other origin.

XV.–Note on the Minerals of the Island of Cyprus

I have lately had the opportunity of conversing with one of our members, Mr. Jos. Jewell, who has been making an inspection of some parts of the island of Cyprus for mining purposes, and having been called upon by other parties to report on a number of mineral specimens brought from that island, I have thought that a short note on the subject might be of some interest to the members generally.So much has been said of the mineral riches of the island, that I was astonished at the comparative poverty of the specimens brought home, and also at the very small number of mineral species which the island has so far yielded.