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Volcanoes are one of the most destructive and surprising phenomena on the planet. But these burning cracks were more than squashed. Do it too.
In a new study, researchers in Russia report the discovery of one such creation, an unusual mineral that has never been documented by scientists: an attractive blue-green crystalline substance that the team named. Petrovit.
The mineral is found in the volcanic landscapes of the Russian Far East. Tolbachik volcano in the Kamchatka Peninsula.
Petrovite cryptocrystalline blue crust. (Filatov et al., Mineralogical Magazine, 2020)
The history of the Tolbachik eruption dates back thousands of years, but two major events have recently occurred: the “Great Tolbachik Eruption” of 1975-1976 and a second smaller sequel that occurred between 2012 and 2013.
The force of the epidemic during the early events tore apart many cinder cones in the volcanic complex opening up the rocky soil which was found to be a rich layer of unknown mineral and fumarole deposits that cannot be seen anywhere else.
In total, Tolbachik volcano claims 130 types of mineral localities that were first identified here. The most recent of which is petrovite, a blue sulfate mineral. Table with aggregates of crystal balls, many of which contain gas inclusions.
The sample examined here was found near a second coal cone associated with the 1975 eruption in 2000 and is being stored for further analysis. It may have been a long time, but this analysis now shows that this pale blue mineral has molecular features rarely seen before.
The copper atom in the crystal structure of petrovite has an unusual and extremely rare coordination of seven oxygen atoms. “To explain the lead researcher and crystallographer Stanislav Filatov of the University of St. Petersburg. Petersburg.
“Such coordination is only characteristic of some compounds, as is the proposed porcelain”.
Single grain petrovite. (Filatov et al., Mineralogical Magazine, 2020)
Saranchinaite, identified several years ago by the St. Another Petersburg was also found in Tolbachik – and like Petrovit it was found that it also strikes on its own.
In the case of Petrovite, the mineral, which is believed to crystallize by direct deposition of volcanic gas, has the form of a blue cryptocrystalline crust enveloping a fine pyroclastic material.
On a chemical level, petrovite represents a new type of crystal structure, although it assumes a certain similarity hypothetically to the proposed chinaite.
Notably, Petrovite’s molecular skeleton – which consists of oxygen, sodium sulfur, and copper atoms – is effectively porous and has interconnected pathways that allow sodium ions to migrate through the structure.
Because of this behavior, and if we can replicate the structure in the laboratory, the team believes it could lead to important applications in materials science and potentially open new avenues for the development of cathodes for use in batteries and electrical devices.
Crystal structure showing the route of sodium migration. (Filatov et al., Mineralogical Magazine, 2020)
“Currently the biggest problem for these applications is the small amounts of transition metal – copper – in the mineral crystal structure.” Filatov said.
“This can be done by synthesizing a compound with the same structure as Petrovit in the laboratory.”
These results are reported in Mineralogi magazine.
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