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Paradimorphite, β-As4S3, a vintage new mineral from Solfatara di Pozzuoli and Vesuvius, Napoli, Italy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 May 2022

Italo Campostrini ,
Carlo Castellano ,
Francesco Demartin Open the ORCID record for Francesco Demartin [Opens in a new window] ,
Ivano Rocchetti ,
Massimo Russo Open the ORCID record for Massimo Russo [Opens in a new window]  and
Pietro Vignola Open the ORCID record for Pietro Vignola [Opens in a new window]
Italo Campostrini
Affiliation:
Università degli Studi di Milano, Dipartimento di Chimica, via Golgi 19, I-20133 Milano, Italy
Carlo Castellano
Affiliation:
Università degli Studi di Milano, Dipartimento di Chimica, via Golgi 19, I-20133 Milano, Italy
Francesco Demartin*
Affiliation:
Università degli Studi di Milano, Dipartimento di Chimica, via Golgi 19, I-20133 Milano, Italy
Ivano Rocchetti
Affiliation:
MUSE, Museo delle Scienze di Trento, Corso del Lavoro e della Scienza 3, I-38122 Trento, Italy
Massimo Russo
Affiliation:
Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Sezione di Napoli | Osservatorio Vesuviano, Via Diocleziano, 328, I–80124 Napoli, Italy
Pietro Vignola
Affiliation:
CNR-Istituto di Geologia Ambientale e Geoingegneria, Via Mario Bianco 9 - 20131 Milano, Italy
*
*Author for correspondence: Francesco Demartin, Email: francesco.demartin@unimi.it
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Abstract

The new mineral paradimorphite corresponds to the high temperature polymorph of As4S3, whose existence was supposed by Arcangelo Scacchi in 1850 in the fumaroles at the Solfatara di Pozzuoli, Campi Flegrei, near Napoli, Italy.

Crystals of paradimorphite are orange yellow, transparent or semitransparent, with adamantine lustre. Habit is prismatic and observed forms are {110}, {101}, {111}, {100}, {010} and {001}. Tenacity is brittle, no distinct cleavage is observed and fracture is conchoidal. The mineral does not fluoresce in long- or shortwave ultraviolet light. No twinning is apparent. The streak is saffron yellow. Hardness (Mohs) = 1–2. The observed density is 3.510(3) g/cm3, calculated density is 3.500 g/cm3. The mineral is orthorhombic, space group Pnma, with a = 9.1577(7), b = 8.0332(6), c = 10.2005(8) Å, V = 750.41(10) Å3 and Z = 4. The eight strongest powder X-ray diffraction lines are [dobs Å(I)(hkl)]: 6.299(48)(011), 5.186(100)(111), 4.174(31)(201), 3.133(34)(022), 3.116(58)(212), 2.980(41)(122), 1.846 (27)(413) and 1.808(23)(134). The structure was refined to R = 0.0229 for 979 reflections with I >2σ(I). Crystals of paradimorphite contain As4S3 molecules, of idealised C3v symmetry, with the four arsenic atoms in a triangular pyramidal arrangement, with sulfur atom bridges on the three adjacent apical edges. Molecular dimensions and conformation are identical within standard uncertainties with those of the low-temperature polymorph dimorphite. No substantial differences, neither in the molecular packing nor in the molecular orientation, could be observed; minor differences being related to intermolecular distances only.

Keywords

paradimorphitenew mineralarsenic sulfidedimorphitefumarolesSolfatara di PozzuoliVesuvius volcano
Type
Article
Information
Mineralogical Magazine , Volume 86 , Issue 3 , June 2022 , pp. 500 - 506
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland

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Footnotes

Associate Editor: Daniel Atencio

References

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