Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-xtgtn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-25T04:38:22.141Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Scenicite, a new uranyl-sulfate mineral from the White Canyon district, San Juan County, Utah, USA

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 May 2022

Anthony R. Kampf Open the ORCID record for Anthony R. Kampf [Opens in a new window] ,
Jakub Plášil Open the ORCID record for Jakub Plášil [Opens in a new window] ,
Travis A. Olds Open the ORCID record for Travis A. Olds [Opens in a new window] ,
Chi Ma Open the ORCID record for Chi Ma [Opens in a new window]  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
Travis A. Olds
Affiliation:
Section of Minerals and Earth Sciences, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, 4400 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213, USA
Chi Ma
Affiliation:
Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, USA
Joe Marty
Affiliation:
Mineral Sciences Department, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, 900 Exposition Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90007, USA
*
*Author for correspondence: Anthony R. Kampf, Email: *E–mail: akampf@nhm.org
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The new mineral scenicite (IMA2021-057), [(UO2)(H2O)2(SO4)]2⋅3H2O, was found in the Green Lizard, Giveaway–Simplot, Markey and Scenic mines, White Canyon district, San Juan County, Utah, USA, where it occurs as a secondary phase on granular quartz matrix in association with various combinations of deliensite, gypsum, natrozippeite, rietveldite and shumwayite. Scenicite crystals are transparent, light green yellow, poorly formed blades or prisms, up to 0.1 mm in length. The mineral has white streak and vitreous lustre. It exhibits bright greenish-white fluorescence (405 nm laser). It is brittle with irregular, curved fracture and a Mohs hardness of ~2. It has excellent {100} and good {001} cleavages. The calculated density is 3.497 g cm–3. Optically, the mineral is biaxial (–) with α = 1.556(2), β = 1.573(2), γ = 1.576(2) (white light); 2V = 45(3)°; extreme r < v dispersion; orientation: X = c, Y = a, Z = b; pleochroism: X and Y = colourless, Z = light green–yellow; and X = Y < Z. The Raman spectrum exhibits bands consistent with UO22+, SO42– and O–H. Electron microprobe analysis provided the empirical formula U1.996S2.005O19H13.997. The five strongest powder X-ray diffraction lines are [dobs Å(I)(hkl)]: 7.69(70)(201), 5.63(100)(111), 4.92(84)(202,310), 4.80(93)(401) and 3.398(55)(020,120,511,601). Scenicite is orthorhombic, Pca21, a = 21.2144(15), b = 6.8188(3) c = 11.2554(6) Å, V = 1628.18(16) Å3 and Z = 4. In the structure of scenicite (R1 = 0.0365 for 1259 I > 2σI), linkages of pentagonal bipyramids and tetrahedra form an infinite neutral [(UO2)(SO4)(H2O)2] chain. The structure of shumwayite contains topologically identical chains.

Keywords

scenicitenew mineraluranyl sulfatecrystal structureRaman spectroscopyGreen Lizard mineScenic mineWhite Canyon districtUtahUSA
Type
Article
Information
Mineralogical Magazine , Volume 86 , Issue 5 , October 2022 , pp. 743 - 748
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

Associate Editor: Oleg I Siidra

References

Bartlett, J.R. and Cooney, R.P. (1989) On the determination of uranium-oxygen bond lengths in dioxouranium(VI) compounds by Raman spectroscopy. Journal of Molecular Structure, 193, 295–300.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burns, P.C. (2001) A new uranyl sulfate chain in the structure of uranopilite. The Canadian Mineralogist, 39, 1139–1146.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burns, P.C. (2005) U6+ minerals and inorganic compounds: insights into an expanded structural hierarchy of crystal structures. The Canadian Mineralogist, 43, 1839–1894.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Čejka, J., Sejkora, J., Mrazek, Z., Urbanec, Z. and Jarchovsky, T. (1996) Jáchymovite, (UO2)8(SO4)(OH)14⋅13H2O, A new uranyl mineral from Jáchymov, the Krusne Hory Mts., Czech Republic, and its comparison with uranopilite. Neues Jahrbuch für Mineralogie – Abhandlungen, 170, 155–170.Google Scholar
Chenoweth, W.L. (1993) The Geology and Production History of the Uranium Deposits in the White Canyon Mining District, San Juan County, Utah. Utah Geological Survey Miscellaneous Publication, 93–3.Google Scholar
Colmenero, F., Plášil, J. and Němec, I. (2020) Uranosphaerite: Crystal structure, hydrogen bonding, mechanics, infrared and Raman spectroscopy and thermodynamics. Journal of Physics and Chemistry of Solids, 141, 109400.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cordfunke, E.H.P. (1972) The system uranyl sulphate-water—ii: Phase relationships and thermochemical properties of the phases in the system UO3–SO3–H2O. Journal of Inorganic and Nuclear Chemistry, 34, 1551–1561.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ferraris, G. and Ivaldi, G. (1988) Bond valence vs bond length in O⋯O hydrogen bonds. Acta Crystallographica Section B, 44, 341–344.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frondel, C. (1952) Studies of uranium minerals (X): Uranopilite. American Mineralogist, 37, 950–959.Google Scholar
Gagné, O.C. and Hawthorne, F.C (2015) Comprehensive derivation of bond-valence parameters for ion pairs involving oxygen. Acta Crystallographica, B71, 562–578.Google ScholarPubMed
Higashi, T. (2001) ABSCOR. Rigaku Corporation, Tokyo.Google Scholar
Kampf, A.R., Plášil, J., Kasatkin, A.V., Marty, J. and Čejka, J. (2017a) Klaprothite, péligotite and ottohahnite, three new sodium uranyl sulfate minerals with bidentate UO7–SO4 linkages from the Blue Lizard mine, San Juan County, Utah, USA. Mineralogical Magazine, 80, 753–779.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kampf, A.R., Plášil, J., Kasatkin, A.V., Marty, J. Čejka, J. and Lapčák, L. (2017b) Shumwayite, [(UO2)(SO4)(H2O)2]2⋅H2O, a new uranyl sulfate mineral from Red Canyon, San Juan County, Utah, USA. Mineralogical Magazine, 81, 273–285.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kampf, A.R., Olds, T.A., Plášil, J., Nash, B.P. and Marty, J. (2021a) Uranoclite, a new uranyl-chloride mineral from the Blue Lizard mine, San Juan County, Utah, USA. Mineralogical Magazine, 85, 438–443.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kampf, A.R., Plášíl, J., Olds, T.A., Ma, C. and Marty, J. (2021b) Scenicite, IMA 2021-057. CNMNC Newsletter 63. Mineralogical Magazine, 85, 910–915, https://doi.org/10.1180/mgm.2021.74Google Scholar
Leroy, J.-M., Tudo, J. and Tridot, G. (1965) Sur les hydrates du sulfate d'uranyle. Comptes Rendus Hebdomadaires des Séances de L'Académie Des Sciences, 260, 5802–5805.Google Scholar
Libowitzky, E. (1999) Correlation of O–H stretching frequencies and O–H⋅⋅⋅O hydrogen bond lengths in minerals. Monatshefte für Chemie, 130, 1047–1059.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mandarino, J.A. (1976) The Gladstone-Dale relationship – Part 1: derivation of new constants. The Canadian Mineralogist, 14, 498–502.Google Scholar
Mandarino, J.A. (2007) The Gladstone–Dale compatibility of minerals and its use in selecting mineral species for further study. The Canadian Mineralogist, 45, 1307–1324.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Plášil, J., Buixaderas, E., Čejka, J., Sejkora, J., Jehlička, J. and Novák, M. (2010) Raman spectroscopic study of the uranyl sulphate mineral zippeite: low wavenumber and U–O stretching regions. Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry, 397, 2703–2715.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sheldrick, G.M. and IUCr (2015a) SHELXT – Integrated space-group and crystal-structure determination. Acta Crystallographica, A71, 3–8.Google Scholar
Sheldrick, G.M. and IUCr (2015b) Crystal structure refinement with SHELXL. Acta Crystallographica, C71, 3–8.Google Scholar
Vlček, V., Čejka, J., Císařová, I., Goliáš, V. and Plášil, J. (2009) Crystal structure of UO2SO4⋅2.5H2O: Full anisotropic refinement and vibration characterization. Journal of Molecular Structure, 936, 75–79.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zalkin, A., Ruben, H. and Templeton, D.H. (1978). Structure of a new uranyl sulfate hydrate. Α-2UO2SO4. 7H2O. Inorganic Chemistry, 17, 3701–3702.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Kampf et al. supplementary material

Table S1

Download Kampf et al. supplementary material(File)
File 52.9 KB