Silicate minerals

About: Silicate minerals is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 1794 publications have been published within this topic receiving 67064 citations.

Comet Grains: Their IR Emission and Their Relation to ISM Grains

Abstract: Comets and the chondritic porous interplanetary dust particles (CP IDPs) that they shed in their comae are reservoirs of primitive solar nebula materials. The high porosity and fragility of cometary grains and CP IDPs, and anomalously high deuterium contents of highly fragile, pyroxenerich Cluster IDPs imply these aggregate particles contain significant abundances of grains from the interstellar medium (ISM). IR spectra of comets (3–40 μm) reveal the presence of a warm (near-IR) featureless emission modeled by amorphous carbon grains. Broad and narrow resonances near 10 and 20 microns are modeled by warm chondritic (50% Fe and 50% Mg) amorphous silicates and cooler Mg-rich crystalline silicate minerals, respectively. Cometary amorphous silicates resonances are well matched by IR spectra of CP IDPs dominated by GEMS (0.1 μm silicate spherules) that are thought to be the interstellar Fe-bearing amorphous silicates produced in AGB stars. Acidetched ultramicrotomed CP IDP samples, however, show that both the carbon phase (amorphous and aliphatic) and the Mg-rich amorphous silicate phase in GEMS are not optically absorbing. Rather, it is Fe and FeS nanoparticles embedded in the GEMS that makes the CP IDPs dark. Therefore, CP IDPs suggest significant processing has occurred in the ISM. ISM processing probably includes in He+ ion bombardment in supernovae shocks. Laboratory experiments show He+ ion bombardment amorphizes crystalline silicates, increases porosity, and reduces Fe into nanoparticles. Cometary crystalline silicate resonances are well matched by IR spectra of laboratory submicron Mg-rich olivine crystals and pyroxene crystals. Discovery of a Mg-pure olivine crystal in a Cluster IDP with isotopically anomalous oxygen indicates that a small fraction of crystalline silicates may have survived their journey from AGB stars through the ISM to the early solar nebula. The ISM does not have enough crystalline silicates (<5%), however, to account for the deduced abundance of crystalline silicates in comet dust. An insufficient source of ISM Mg-rich crystals leads to the inference that most Mg-rich crystals in comets are primitive grains processed in the early solar nebula prior to their incorporation into comets. Mg-rich crystals may condense in the hot (∼1450 K), inner zones of the early solar nebula and then travel large radial distances out to the comet-forming zone. On the other hand, Mg-rich silicate crystals may be ISM amorphous silicates annealed at ∼1000 K and radially distributed out to the comet-forming zone or annealed in nebular shocks at ∼5–10 AU. Determining the relative abundance of amorphous and crystalline silicates in comets probes the relative contributions of ISM grains and primitive grains to small, icy bodies in the solar system. The life cycle of dust from its stardust origins through the ISM to its incorporation into comets is discussed.

First-principles calculations of equilibrium fractionation of O and Si isotopes in quartz, albite, anorthite, and zircon

Abstract: In this study, we used first-principles calculations based on density functional theory to investigate silicon and oxygen isotope fractionation factors among the most abundant major silicate minerals in granites, i.e., quartz and plagioclase (including albite and anorthite), and an important accessory mineral zircon. Combined with previous results of minerals commonly occurring in the crust and upper mantle (orthoenstatite, clinoenstatite, garnet, and olivine), our study reveals that the Si isotope fractionations in minerals are strongly correlated with SiO4 tetrahedron volume (or average Si–O bond length). The 30Si enrichment order follows the sequence of quartz > albite > anorthite > olivine ≈ zircon > enstatite > diopside, and the 18O enrichment follows the order of quartz > albite > anorthite > enstatite > zircon > olivine. Our calculation predicts that measurable fractionation of Si isotopes can occur among crustal silicate minerals during high-temperature geochemical processes. This work also allows us to evaluate Si isotope fractionation between minerals and silicate melts with variable compositions. Trajectory for δ30Si variation during fractional crystallization of silicate minerals was simulated with our calculated Si isotope fractionation factors between minerals and melts, suggesting the important roles of fractional crystallization to cause Si isotopic variations during magmatic differentiation. Our study also predicts that δ30Si data of ferroan anorthosites of the Moon can be explained by crystallization and aggregation of anorthite during lunar magma ocean processes. Finally, O and Si isotope fractionation factors between zircon and melts were estimated based on our calculation, which can be used to quantitatively account for O and Si isotope composition of zircons crystallized during magma differentiation.

Reduction of gold(III) chloride to gold(0) on silicate surfaces.

Abstract: The mechanism of adsorption and reduction of the gold chloride complex on silicate minerals is investigated. Gold chloride, supplied as HAuCl(4) solution, is rapidly adsorbed on the silicate surfaces, the Au(III) is reduced to metallic gold, and gold particles grow on the surface. SEM images show agglomerates of gold unevenly distributed on the surface of the silicates, including in some areas forming agglomerates, especially on quartz and feldspar. Silica gel forms via dissolution of silicates in acidic conditions and also has strong adsorption/reduction potential for gold. A mechanism for the adsorption and reduction is proposed, involving ligand substitution between gold chloride and OH() groups on defect sites in silicate surfaces. Consequently, gold can be reduced by hydrogen or silicon radicals at the defect sites. Adsorption of Au(III) by silicate minerals, followed by reduction, could play an important role in the deposition of gold in natural systems, as well as causing loss of gold from leaching processes during hydrometallurgical gold recovery.

Parabolic dissolution kinetics of silicate minerals: An artifact of nonequilibrium precipitation processes?

Abstract: The rate-limiting step for the dissolution of many primary silicate minerals is thought to be a surface-controlled reaction. This should result in dissolution rates that are linear functions of time. However, the observed dissolution rates for aluminosilicate minerals have commonly been characterized as “parabolic”—that is, the apparent rates of release of silicon and of the alkali ions are linear functions of the square root of time ( t ½). Here, data are presented which suggest that this discrepancy may result in part from the precipitation of secondary aluminosilicates during the dissolution experiments. In simulated dissolution studies, the kinetics of formation and the stoichiometries of precipitates can be studied unambiguously as functions of time, component concentrations, and pH. Results of these studies indicate that significant amounts of silicon are incorporated into amorphous aluminum-rich precipitates at dissolved silicon concentrations greater than 170 μm. At higher concentrations, silicon precipitation rates increase. These precipitation reactions result in apparent rates of addition of dissolved silicon to solution which are linear functions of t ½. As a result of the type of precipitation reactions observed here, estimates for the rates of dissolution obtained for aluminum-rich silicate minerals may be low by as much as a factor of two.