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Name: Merrillite RRUFF ID: R150063 Ideal Chemistry: Ca9NaMg(PO4)7 Locality: Suizhou L6 chondrite, Dayanpo, 12.5 km southeast of the city of Suizhou, Hubei Province, China (35°18’N, 113°35’E) Source: Xiande Xie and Xiangping Gu Owner: RRUFF Description: Colorless aggregates of irregular grains, associated with forsterite, enstatite, maskelynite, FeNi metal, troilite, chlorapatite, chromite and ilmenite. Status: The identification of this mineral is confirmed by single-crystal X-ray diffraction and chemical analysis. |
Mineral Group: [ Cerite (11) ] |
CHEMISTRY | ||||||||||
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RAMAN SPECTRUM | ||||||||||||
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BROAD SCAN WITH SPECTRAL ARTIFACTS | ||||||||||||
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POWDER DIFFRACTION | |||||||
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RRUFF ID: | R150063.9 | ||||||
Sample Description: | Single crystal, powder profile is calculated | ||||||
Cell Refinement Output: |
a: 10.3444(3)Å b: 10.3444(3)Å c: 37.0182(11)Å alpha: 90° beta: 90° gamma: 120° Volume: 3430.5(2)Å3 Crystal System: hexagonal |
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REFERENCES for Merrillite | |
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American Mineralogist Crystal Structure Database Record: [view record] |
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Merrill G P (1917) On the calcium phosphate in meteoric stones, American Journal of Science, 43, 322-324 [view file] |
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Wherry E T (1917) Merrillite, meteoritic calcium phosphate, American Mineralogist, 2, 119-119 [view file] |
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Dowty E (1977) Phosphate in Angra Dos Reis: Structure and composition of the Ca3(PO4)2 minerals, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 35, 347-351 [view file] |
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Xie X, Minitti M E, Chen M, Mao H-K, Wang D, Shu J, Fei Y (2003) Tuite, ϒ-Ca3(PO4)2: a new mineral from the Suizhou L6 chondrite, European Journal of Mineralogy, 15, 1001-1005 [view file] |
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Hughes J M, Jolliff B L, Gunter M E (2006) The atomic arrangement of merrillite from the Fra Mauro Formation, Apollo 14 lunar mission: The first structure of merrillite from the Moon, American Mineralogist, 91, 1547-1552 [view file] |
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Jolliff B L, Hughes J M, Freeman J J, Zeigler R A (2006) Crystal chemistry of lunar merrillite and comparison to other meteoritic and planetary suites of whitlockite and merrillite, American Mineralogist, 91, 1583-1595 [view file] |
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Hughes J M, Jolliff B L, Rakovan J (2008) The crystal chemistry of whitlockite and merrillite and the dehydrogenation of whitlockite to merrillite, American Mineralogist, 93, 1300-1305 [view file] |
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Adcock C T, Hausrath E M, Forster P M, Tschauner O, Sefein K J (2014) Synthesis and characterization of the Mars-relevant phosphate minerals Fe- and Mg-whitlockite and merrillite and a possible mechanism that maintains charge balance during whitlockite to merrillite transformation, American Mineralogist, 99, 1221-1232 |
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McCubbin F M, Shearer C K, Burger P V, Hauri E H, Wang J, Elardo S M, Papike J J (2014) Volatile abundances of coexisting merrillite and apatite in the martian meteorite Shergotty: Implications for merrillite in hydrous magmas, American Mineralogist, 99, 1347-1354 |
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Shearer C K, Burger P V, Papike J J, McCubbin F M, Bell A S (2015) Crystal chemistry of merrillite from Martian meteorites: mineralogical recorders of magmatic processes and planetary differentiation, Meteoritics and Planetary Science, 50, 649-673 |
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Xie X, Yang H, Gu X, Downs R T (2015) Chemical composition and crystal structure of merrillite from the Suizhou meteorite, American Mineralogist, 100, 2753-2756 |
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Britvin S N, Krivovichev S V, Armbruster T (2016) Ferromerrillite, Ca9NaFe2+(PO4)7, a new mineral from the Martian meteorites, and some insights into merrillite-tuite transformation in shergottites, European Journal of Mineralogy, 28, 125-136 [view file] |
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McCubbin F M, Phillips B L, Adcock C T, Tait K T, Steele A, Vaughn J S, Fries M D, Atudorei V, Vander Kaaden K E, Hausrath E M (2018) Discreditation of bobdownsite and the establishment of criteria for the identification of minerals with essential monofluorophosphate (PO3F2-), American Mineralogist, 103, 1319–1328 [view file] |
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Kaminsky F V, Zedgenizov D A (2022) First find of merrillite, Ca3(PO4)2, in a terrestrial environment as an inclusion in lower-mantle diamond, American Mineralogist, 107, 1652 |
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Atencio D, Azzi A A, Qu K, Miyawaki R, Bosi F, Momma K (2023) Changes to the cerite group nomenclature, European Journal of Mineralogy, 35, 1027-1030 [view file] |
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