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Nixonite (IMA 2018-133), ideally Na2Ti6O13, is a new mineral found within a heavily metasomatized pyroxenite xenolith from the Darby kimberlite field, beneath the west-central Rae Craton, Canada. It occurs as microcrystalline aggregates, 15 to 40 mm in length. Nixonite is isostructural with jeppeite, K2Ti6O13, with a structure consisting of edge- and corner-shared titanium-centered octahedra that enclose alkali-metal ions. The Mohs hardness is estimated to be between 5 and 6 by comparison to jeppeite, and the calculated density is 3.51(1) g/cm3. Electron microprobe wavelength-dispersive spectroscopic analysis (average of 6 points) yielded: Na2O 6.87, K2O 5.67, CaO 0.57, TiO2 84.99, V2O3 0.31, Cr2O3 0.04, MnO 0.01, Fe2O3 0.26, SrO 0.07, total 98.79 wt%. The empirical formula, based on 13 O atoms, is: (Na1.24K0.67Ca0.06)S1.97(Ti5.96V0.023Fe0.018)S6.00O13 with minor amounts of Cr and Mn. Nixonite is monoclinic, space group C2/m, with unit-cell parameters a = 15.3632(26) Å, b = 3.7782(7) Å, c = 9.1266(15) Å, b = 99.35(15)°, and V = 522.72(1) Å3, Z = 2. Based on the average of seven integrated multi-grain diffraction images, the strongest diffraction lines are [dobs in Å (I in %) (hkl)]: 3.02 (100) (310), 3.66 (75) (110), 7.57 (73) (200), 6.31 (68) (201), 2.96 (63) (311), 2.96 (63) (203), and 2.71 (62) (402). The five main Raman peaks of nixonite, in order of decreasing intensity, are at 863, 280, 664, 135, and 113 cm–1. Nixonite is named after Peter H. Nixon, a renowned scientist in the field of kimberlites and mantle xenoliths. Nixonite occurs within a pyroxenite xenolith in a kimberlite, in association with rutile, priderite, perovskite, freudenbergite, and ilmenite. This complex Na-K-Ti-rich metasomatic mineral assemblage may have been produced by a fractionated Na-rich kimberlitic melt that infiltrated a mantle-derived garnet pyroxenite and reacted with rutile during kimberlite crystallization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two hydrated uranyl arsenates, Cs2(UO2)[(UO2)(AsO4)]4(H2O)2 (CsUAs) and Rb2(UO2)[(UO2)(AsO4)]4(H2O)4.5 (RbUAs), were synthesized by hydrothermal methods. Intensity data were collected at room temperature using MoKα radiation and a CCD-based area detector. The crystal structure of RbUAs was solved by direct methods, whereas the structure model of the phosphate Cs2(UO2)[(UO2)(PO4)]4(H2O)2 was used for CsUAs; both were refined by full-matrix least-squares techniques on the basis of F2 to agreement indices (CsUAs, RbUAs) wR2=0.061,0.041, for all data, and R1=0.032,0.021, calculated for 5098, 4991 unique observed reflections (|Fo|>4σF), respectively. The compound CsUAs is orthorhombic, space group Cmc21, Z=4, a=15.157(2), b=14.079(2), c=13.439(2) A˚, V=2867.9(1) A˚3. RbUAs is monoclinic, space group C2/m, Z=4, a=13.4619(4), b=15.8463(5), c=14.0068(4) A˚, β=92.311(1)°, V=2985.52(2) A˚3. The structures consist of sheets of arsenate tetrahedra and uranyl pentagonal bipyramids, with composition [(UO2)(AsO4)]−, that are topologically identical to the uranyl silicate sheets in uranophane-beta. These sheets are connected by a uranyl pentagonal bipyramid in the interlayer that shares corners with two arsenate tetrahedra on each of two adjacent sheets and whose fifth equatorial vertex is an H2O group, resulting in an open framework with alkali metal cations in the larger cavities of the structures. CsUAs is isostructural with its phosphate analogue, and has two Cs atoms and a H2O group in its structural cavities. RbUAs is not isostructural with its phosphate analogue, although it has a homeotypic framework. Its structural cavities are occupied by three Rb atoms and four H2O groups; one Rb position and three of the interstitial H2O groups are half-occupied. The partial occupancies of these positions probably result from the accommodation of the larger As atoms (relative to P) in the framework and resultant larger cavities. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Three homeotypic hydrated alkali metal uranyl phosphates, A2(UO2)[(UO2)(PO4)]4(H2O)2, A=Cs (CsUP), Rb (RbUP), K (KUP), were synthesized by hydrothermal methods. Intensity data were collected at room temperature using MoKα radiation and a CCD-based area detector. Their crystal structures were solved by Patterson (CsUP) and direct (RbUP, KUP) methods and refined by full-matrix least-squares techniques to agreement indices (CsUP, RbUP, KUP) wR2=0.048, 0.230, 0.072 for all data, and R1=0.023, 0.078, 0.038 calculated for 5338, 4738, 4514 unique observed reflections (∣Fo∣≥4σF), respectively. The compound CsUP is orthorhombic, space group Cmc21, Z=4, a=14.854(1), b=13.879(1), c=12.987(1) A˚, V=2677.5(3) A˚3. Both RbUP and KUP are monoclinic, space group Cm, but are presented in the unconventional pseudo-orthorhombic space group Fm11 to facilitate comparison with CsUP and to allow a model for RbUP that includes the effects of pseudo-merohedral twinning. RbUP is monoclinic, space group Fm11, Z=4, a=15.72(2), b=13.84(1), c=13.05(1) A˚, α=90.39°(2), V=2839(5) A˚3; KUP is monoclinic, space group Fm11, Z=4, a=15.257(1), b=13.831(1), c=13.007(1) A˚, α=91.760°(1), V=2743.4(3) A˚3. The structures consist of sheets of phosphate tetrahedra and uranyl pentagonal bipyramids, with composition [(UO2)(PO4)]−, that are topologically identical to the uranyl silicate sheets in uranophane-beta. These sheets are connected by a uranyl pentagonal bipyramid in the interlayer that shares corners with two phosphate tetrahedra on each of two adjacent sheets and whose fifth equatorial vertex is an H2O group, resulting in an open framework with alkali metal cations in the larger cavities of the structures. Where CsUP and RbUP have two alkali metal positions and a H2O group in these cavities, KUP has four K atoms and two H2O groups, all of which are partially occupied, in the interstitial sites. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]