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Bobcookite, NaAl(UO2)2(SO4)4·18H2O and wetherillite, Na2Mg(UO2)2(SO4)4·18H2O, two new uranyl sulfate minerals from the Blue Lizard mine, San Juan County, Utah, USA

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Anthony R. Kampf ,
Jakub Plášil ,
Anatoly V. Kasatkin  and
Joe Marty
Anthony R. Kampf*
Affiliation:
Mineral Sciences Department, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, 900 Exposition Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90007, USA
Jakub Plášil
Affiliation:
Institute of Physics ASCR, v.v.i., Na Slovance 1999/2, 18221 Prague 8, Czech Republic
Anatoly V. Kasatkin
Affiliation:
Fersman Mineralogical Museum of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Leninsky Prospekt, 18-2, 119071, Moscow, Russia
Joe Marty
Affiliation:
5199 East Silver Oak Road, Salt Lake City, UT 84108, USA
*
*E-mail: akampf@nhm.org
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Abstract

The new minerals bobcookite (IMA 2014-030), NaAl(UO2)2(SO4)4·18H2O and wetherillite (IMA 2014-044), Na2Mg(UO2)2(SO4)4·18H2O, were found in the Blue Lizard mine, San Juan County, Utah, USA, where they occur together as secondary alteration phases in association with boyleite, chalcanthite, dietrichite, gypsum, hexahydrite, johannite, pickeringite and rozenite.

Bobcookite descriptive details: lime green to greenish-yellow massive veins and columnar crystals; transparent; vitreous lustre; bright greenish-white fluorescence; pale greenish yellow streak; hardness (Mohs) 2½; brittle; conchoidal fracture; no cleavage; moderately hygroscopic; easily soluble in cold H2O; densitycalc = 2.669 g cm–3. Optically, biaxial (–), α = 1.501(1), β = 1.523(1), γ = 1.536(1) (white light); 2Vmeas. = 78(1)°; 2Vcalc. = 74°; dispersion r < v, moderate. Pleochroism: X colourless, Y very pale yellow-green, Z pale yellow-green; X < Y < Z. EDS analyses yielded the empirical formula Na0.97Al1.09(U1.02O2)2(S0.98O4)4(H2O)18. Bobcookite is triclinic, P1, a = 7.7912(2), b = 10.5491(3), c = 11.2451(8) Å , α = 68.961(5), β = 70.909(5), γ = 87.139(6)°, V = 812.79(8) Å3 and Z = 1. The structure (R1 = 1.65% for 3580 Fo > 4σF) contains [(UO2)(SO4)2(H2O)] chains linked by NaO4(H2O)2 octahedra to form layers. Hydrogen bonds to insular Al(H2O)6 octahedra and isolated H2O groups hold the structure together. The mineral is named for Dr Robert (Bob) B. Cook of Auburn University, Alabama, USA.

Wetherillite descriptive details: pale greenish-yellow blades; transparent; vitreous lustre; white streak; hardness (Mohs) 2; brittle; two cleavages, {101} perfect and {010} fair; conchoidal or curved fracture; easily soluble in cold H2O; densitycalc = 2.626 g cm–3. Optically, biaxial (+), α = 1.498(1), β = 1.508(1), γ = 1.519(1) (white light); 2Vmeas. = 88(1)°, 2Vcalc. = 87.9°; dispersion is r < v, distinct; optical orientation: Z = b, X ∧ a = 54° in obtuse β; pleochroism: X colourless, Y pale yellow-green, Z pale yellow-green; X < Y ≈ Z. EDS analyses yielded the empirical formula Na1.98(Mg0.58Zn0.24Cu0.11Fe0.092+)Σ1.02(U1.04O2)2(S0.98O4)4(H2O)18. Wetherillite is monoclinic, P21/c, a = 20.367(1), b = 6.8329(1), c = 12.903(3) Å, β = 107.879(10)°, V = 1709.0(5) Å3 and Z = 2. The structure (R1 = 1.39% for 3625 Fo > 4σF) contains [(UO2)(SO4)2(H2O)] sheets parallel to {100}. Edge-sharing chains of Na(H2O)5O polyhedra link adjacent uranyl sulfate sheets forming a weakly bonded three-layer sandwich. The sandwich layers are linked to one another by hydrogen bonds through insular Mg(H2O)6 octahedra and isolated H2O groups. The mineral is named for John Wetherill (1866–1944) and George W. Wetherill (1925–2006).

Keywords

bobcookitewetherillitenew mineraluranyl sulfatecrystal structureBlue Lizard mineUtahUSA
Type
Research Article
Information
Mineralogical Magazine , Volume 79 , Issue 3 , June 2015 , pp. 695 - 714
Copyright
Copyright © The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 2015

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