Merrihueite, A New Alkali-Ferromagnesian Silicate from the Mezö-Madaras Chondrite
- 27 August 1965
- journal article
- Published by American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Science
- Vol. 149 (3687) , 972-974
- https://doi.org/10.1126/science.149.3687.972
Abstract
Merrihueite, a new mineral with the approximate chemical composition (K,Na)2(Fe,Mg)5Si12O30, occurs with iron-rich olivine, iron-poor pyroxene, and nickel-iron in a few chondrules of the Mezö-Madaras chondrite. The refractive index lies between 1.559 and 1.592; the birefringence for each composition is low to moderate. X-ray powder data for merrihueite are nearly identical to those for osumilite, (K,Na,Ca)(Mg,Fe)2(Al,Fe)3(Si,Al)12O30-H2O, and very similar to those for synthetic K2Mg5 Si12 O30. Merrihueite is interpreted as an alkali-ferromagnesian silicate mineral of the osumilite type. It is named in honor of the late Craig M. Merrihue, meteoriticist, of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory.Keywords
This publication has 1 reference indexed in Scilit:
- The system K 2 O-MgO-SiO 2 ; Part 1American Journal of Science, 1951