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X-ray powder diffraction data for the identification of boracite-group minerals

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 January 2013

Peter C. Burns
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EQ, England

Abstract

An X-ray powder-diffraction pattern for boracite, Mg3B7O13Cl, is reported. Boracite is orthorhombic, space group Pca21, and the refined unit-cell parameters are a=8.557(6), b=8.553(8), c= 12.09(1) Å. X-ray powder-diffraction patterns have been calculated for the boracite-group minerals boracite, ericaite, trembathite and congolite. The calculated pattern for boracite is in good agreement with the observed pattern reported here, but the PDF entry (5-710) for boracite is missing several intense peaks. The calculated pattern for ericaite is in poor agreement with the PDF entry (29-697) for ericaite, and PDF 29-697 is for congolite, not ericaite. The calculated powder patterns presented here for these four minerals will facilitate their identification via X-ray powder diffraction. © 1995 International Centre for Diffraction Data.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995

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