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Nioboixiolite-(Fe3+), (Nb0.5Fe3+0.5)O2, a new ixiolite-group mineral from the Eifel palaeovolcanic region, Germany

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 February 2025

Nikita V. Chukanov ,
Natalia V. Zubkova ,
Igor V. Pekov ,
Anatoly V. Kasatkin Open the ORCID record for Anatoly V. Kasatkin [Opens in a new window] ,
Atali A. Agakhanov ,
Alla A. Virus ,
Marina F. Vigasina ,
Bernd Ternes ,
Willi Schüller  and
Sergey N. Britvin Open the ORCID record for Sergey N. Britvin [Opens in a new window]
Nikita V. Chukanov*
Affiliation:
Federal Research Center of Problems of Chemical Physics and Medicinal Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Chernogolovka, 142432 Moscow Region, Russia
Natalia V. Zubkova
Affiliation:
Faculty of Geology, Moscow State University, Leninskie Gory, 1, 119991 Moscow, Russia
Igor V. Pekov
Affiliation:
Faculty of Geology, Moscow State University, Leninskie Gory, 1, 119991 Moscow, Russia
Anatoly V. Kasatkin
Affiliation:
Fersman Mineralogical Museum of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Leninsky Prospekt 18-2, 119071 Moscow, Russia
Atali A. Agakhanov
Affiliation:
Fersman Mineralogical Museum of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Leninsky Prospekt 18-2, 119071 Moscow, Russia
Alla A. Virus
Affiliation:
D.S. Korzhinskii Institute of Experimental Mineralogy, Russian Academy of Sciences, Chernogolovka, 142432 Moscow Region, Russia
Marina F. Vigasina
Affiliation:
Faculty of Geology, Moscow State University, Leninskie Gory, 1, 119991 Moscow, Russia
Bernd Ternes
Affiliation:
Independent Researcher, Bahnhofstrasse 45, 56727 Mayen, Germany
Willi Schüller
Affiliation:
Independent Researcher, Im Straußenpesch 22, 53518 Adenau, Germany
Sergey N. Britvin
Affiliation:
Saint Petersburg State University, 7/9 Universitetskaya nab., 199034 St. Petersburg, Russia
*
Corresponding author: Nikita V. Chukanov; Email: nikchukanov@yandex.ru
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Abstract

The new ixiolite-group mineral nioboixiolite-(Fe3+), ideally (Nb0.5Fe3+0.5)O2, was discovered in nosean sanidinite of the Laach Lake (Laacher See) volcano, Eifel region, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The associated minerals are sanidine, K-bearing albite, nosean, biotite, Nb-rich ilmenite, Ti-rich magnetite, hercynite, corundum, samarskite-(Y), ekebergite and columbite-(Fe). Nioboixiolite-(Fe3+) forms long prismatic to acicular crystals up to 0.03 × 0.06 × 1 mm and epitaxial intergrowths with ilmenite and intermediate members of the samarskite–ekebergite series. Both colour and streak are black and the lustre is submetallic. The new mineral is brittle, with the Vickers’ micro-indentation hardness of 499 kg mm–2 which corresponds to the Mohs’ hardness of 5. No cleavage is observed. The fracture is conchoidal. The calculated density is 5.033 g·cm–3. In reflected light, nioboixiolite-(Fe3+) is grey, no pleochroism is observed. The reflectance values (Rmin, %/Rmax, %/λ, nm) are: 14.7/16.4/470, 14.3/15.9/546, 14.1/15.7/589 and 14.0/15.8/650. The Raman spectrum shows bands corresponding to stretching vibrations of (Nb,Ti)–O–(Nb,Ti) and (Nb,Ti)–O–Mn2+ and the absence of bands of OH groups. The chemical composition is (electron microprobe data, wt.%): MgO 0.41, MnO 3.52, Al2O3 0.42, Cr2O3 0.75, Fe2O3 20.23, TiO2 22.26, ZrO2 0.76, Nb2O5 51.82, total 100.17. The empirical formula is (Mg0.04Mn2+0.20)Σ0.24(Al0.03Cr0.04Fe3+1.01)Σ1.08(Ti1.11Zr0.02)Σ1.13Nb1.55O8 (Z = 1). The strongest lines of the powder X-ray diffraction pattern [d, Å (I, %) (hkl)] are: 3.586 (29) (110), 2.917 (100) (111), 2.503 (18) (002), 2.170 (18) (121), 1.738 (22) (130), 1.689 (26) (221). The crystal structure was determined using single-crystal X-ray diffraction data and refined to R = 0.0447. Nioboixiolite-(Fe3+) is orthorhombic with space group Pbcn, a = 4.6578(6), b = 5.6230(7), c = 5.0182(5) Å and V = 131.43(3) Å3. The new mineral is isostructural with other members of the ixiolite group.

Keywords

nioboixiolite-(Fe3+)new mineralixiolite groupcolumbite supergroupcrystal structureRaman spectroscopyLaach Lake volcanoEifel palaeovolcanic region

Information

Type
Article
Information
Mineralogical Magazine , Volume 89 , Issue 5 , October 2025 , pp. 602 - 608
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Mineralogical Society of the United Kingdom and Ireland.

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Footnotes

Associate Editor: Michael Rumsey

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