Abstract: The crystal structure of reyerite, (Na,K)2Ca14Si22Al2O58(OH)8.6H2O, Z = 1, was refined in the space group P3¯, a = 9.765, c = 19.067Å, to R = 0.064 for 1540 reflections. The structure is composed of the following structural units: (a) tetrahedral sheets S1, with composition (Si8O20)8−, characterized by six-membered rings of tetrahedra; (b) tetrahedral sheets S2, characterized by six-membered rings of tetrahedra, with six tetrahedra pointing in one direction and two pointing in the other direction—the apical oxygens of these two tetrahedra connect two inversion-related S2 sheets to build S2S¯2 double sheets, with composition (Si14Al2O38)14− and ordered distribution of aluminum cations; (c) sheets O of edge-sharing calcium octahedra. The various structural units are connected through corner sharing according to the schematic sequence …O¯S1OS2S¯2O¯…; the corresponding composition is [Ca14Si22Al2O58(OH)8]2−. The charge balance is restored by alkali cations which are placed, together with water molecules, in the cavities of the structure at the level of the double tetrahedral sheet.
Mineralogical Magazine; April 1988 v. 52; no. 365; p. 247-256; DOI: 10.1180/minmag.1988.052.365.12
© 1988, The Mineralogical Society
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