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NOTES AND NEWS NOTESON SOMECALIFORNIA MINERALS NUEVITE: SAMARSKITE; TRONA AND HANKSITE;GAYLUSSITE Josrrn Munloctt, LIn'hersily of Californi'a at Los Angeles. I{ uer'ite: S ancarskite In 1946the writer reported a samarskite-like mineral from the South- ern Pacific Silica Quarry near Nuevo, Riverside County, California, as a new species,giving it the name "nuevite" (1). This determination was made on the basisof a spectroscopicanalysis showing no uranium and a small amount of tantaium, and rough crystals which gave an apparent axial ratio difiering from samarskite. The general physical and optical propertiesput the mineral in the samarskitegroup but the apparent ab- senceof U and Ta seemedto warrant a new speciesname. However, after considerabledelay, it was possibleto have a chemical analysis made, which at once showed the material to be samarskite, a finding confirmed by Dr. Herman Yagoda (private communication),who kindly made a polishedsurface and showeduranium comparableto a U-rich variety of samarskite.Accordingly, the name nuevite should be consideredas in- validated, and the occurrencerecorded as samarskite. The roughly formed crystals,in revisedorientation, showedmeasurements in reason- able agreementwith samarskite. As is usually the case,it is metamict, and recently the writer had an opportunity to take aL n-ray powder photograph of the ignited material, which showed a typical samarskitepattern, according to Dr. Clifford Frondel (private communication).It has seemedworthwhile to recordthe chemicalanalysis, and the information given by this powder photograph, since none has apparently been published up to the present time. The r-ray powder data represent figures corrected for camera radius and film shrinkage, in A units. AcrNowr,eoGMENTS I wish to expressmy thanks to the following for assistanceand advice during this determination: Miss Jewel J. Glass,U. S. GeologicalSurvey; ProfessorClifford Frondel, Harvard University; Dr. Herman Yagoda' U. S. Public Health Service; Professor George Tunell, University of California at Los Angeles.The chemicalanalysis was made possibleby a grant from the researchfunds of the University of California.
Trona and,Hanksi'te Recently a fragment of crystalline salines was collected from a dried pool on the east side of Mono Lake, California, and given to the writer NOTES AND NEWS 359
T.q.nrn1. X-nav Pownen Sp.ncrncDArl ron Seuensrrrn, Nunvo, Car-rlonNra Copptt RaoratroN. Nrcxlr- Frr,rrn. SpacrNcsrN A UNrrs I d/" d/n z t0.97 I I .65 I J-Ol. 1 1.59 3 3.68 2 1.537 3,53 I 1.519 3.40 4 r.502 3 -25 t.436 3-13 1.390 10 3.07 1.355 10 2.92 1.301 n 2.80 r.279 1 t 2.7r 1.229 + 2.59 1,218 ,) 2.47 1.193 2 2.44 t.t77 1 E 2.23 r.127 1 2.t7 l.tt7 I 2 2.12 1.091 L 2.O8 1.081 J 1.90 t.047 4 1.84 1.008 1 r. /o ,9823 I r.75 .8995 1 t.73 .8633 1 I.7I .8202 1 r.67
T.q.sln 2. Anerysrs ol SAMARsKrrE, Nurvo, C,llmonxrA SiOc .28 Ta:Oo 22.O8 Cbzoe 32.46 Tio2 t 7< Y:Or 11.98 CerOa tr. UOz 13.66 UOB 3.51 FeO 11.09 MnO .J/ ZtOz n Pbo 1i Loss on ignition in N r.o7
99.61 Analysis by W. H. Herdsman 360 NOTESAND NEWS by his colleague,Professor W. C. Putnam. The specimenis roughly strati- fied, with one layer massive or spongy halite, and the other a faintly pinkish aggregate of flattened and elongated crystals, in part covered with a white finely crystalline and sometimes spherulitic coating. The larger crystals, ranging in length up to one centimeter, were found to be trona, which has not been previously reported from Mono Lake. The finely crystalline coating turned out to be hanksite, hitherto found only at SearlesLake. The sequenceof deposition is halite, then trona, then hanksite. The trona, even in perfectly fresh clear crystals, showed a strong po- tassium flame when the sodium flame was cut out with a Merwin screen. The crystals are elongated parallel to the b axis and usually somewhat irregularly flattened parallel to the base. They are invariably terminated by a singleform, { 111}, but show a great variety of facesin the ortho- dome zone.Of this series,{100} is usually of good quality and fair size. The other faces are present often as narrow or line faces in a zone,or as curved surfaces,but sometimes well developed. A list of forms observed in good position and ol reasonableq-uality is as follows: {111}, {100}, {001}, {701}, {1,02},{103}, {104}, {501}, {302}, {401}.Other possible forms, as line faces only, or a little off position include {105}, {106}, {10s},{109}, {1.0.10}, {1.0.12}, {1.0.15}. The hanksite in the specimen is not in recognizablecrystals, but was identified by its uniaxial negative character, index of refraction,
There are, however; small but consistent vaiiations from his values, and since the present figures represent the average of a number of good read- ings as compared with a single set it was consideredworth while to re- calculate the crystallographic elements, and present a hew angle table. The SearlesLake crystals show the characteristic habit for this occur- rence,with {001} and {112} dominant,{110}, {001},and {101} smaller, and [010] appearingas a poor face on only one crystal, The averagesof best readingsfor eachface are listed in Table 1, with Phillips'values for comparison. Calculated values are given in the revised angle table (Table 2).
Tesrr l. Mnesunno Axcr-rs lon Gevrussrrn Quality Quality of signal of signal {001} ITo1] 4p 0p B 89"42' 12009' c -90'00' 37058', B 9007 1214 B -90 09 38 14 B 8939 rr52 B -89 59 37 48 c 90 35. 1148 av. new 38 00 av. new 12 00|. old 38 08 old 11 33
{110} lI12l ap 4p It 34018' 90"00, c -2t"29', 37"56', B 34 20 90 00 B -2t 30 3756 tt 34 23 90 00 c -2t 35 J750 B 34 43 90 00 D -2r 30 3750 B 34 35 90 00 c -21 08 3751 B 34 34 90 00 D -21 04 37 5l
av.new 34 29 av. new -21 22+ 3752 old 34 25 old -21 55 J/ JJ
[011] a p B 8"r1', 55"45/ ' c 825 55 38 c 8r2 55 32 c 825 55 19 c 8r7 55 30 c 832 55 34 c 8rl 5531
av. new 8 19 55 33 old 8 03 J.) .14 362 NOTES AND NEV/S
T.lsln 2. ANcrr Tl,alr ron Gevrussrru Monoclinic aibic:1.4878:l:1.M53 p :102"00+' Poqo:| :O.97 413:1. 4137:l p : 77"59tr', 7';p':l:O .70737 :0 .687 16:l fo' :0.99316, qo':1.M53 xo':0 '21725
Form 4 PQzPz:BCA c {001} 90"00' t2"00+' 77"59t', 90000' 0'00' 77"59+' D [010] 0 00 9000 000 9000 9000 a {100} 90 00 9000 000 9000 7759+ ooo m lrl0l 34 30 9000 000 3430 8314 5530 e [011] I 22i ss 36+ 77 s9+ 35 16+ s4 43+ 8406 s {101} -90 00 3801+ 12801+ 90 0o 5002 r28ot+ r llr2l -2r s0 37 50 10s53+ 55 12 43 28+ r02 59e
Rnl.rnnxcns l. MuR-DocH, J., Nuevite, a new rare-earth mineral from California (Abstr): Geol. Soc- Am., Bull'. 57, lzl9 (1946). Purr.r.trs, W., Observations on the crystalline form, etc., of the ga1'lussite: Philosophieal Mogazine,l (N. S.), 263-266 (1827). Pnarr, J. H., On northupite; pirssonite, a new mineral; gaylussite and hanksite from Borax Lake, San Bernardino County, California: Aru, Jour. Sci., (4),2r 123-135 (1896)'
ON THE MINERALOGY OF ANTARCTICA
DuNc.qN SrnwAnt, Jr.., Corleton College,Northf'eld, Minnesota Since 1895ninety-six papers have been published relating to Antarctic mineralogy and petrography, Dr. Johannes Petersen (1895: 275-278) was the first to publish on Antarctic petrography. He described the basalt of Mount Christen Christensen(Christensen-Vulkan) of Robert' son Island, West Antarctica. The following is a list of the 167 mineral species'subspecies, and va- rieties, as well as those of questionable occurrence, that have been re- ported from Antarctica. A number of these have been determined only microscopically, and in the caseof gold its presencehas been determined only by chemical analysis.
Acmite Andalusite Aphrosiderite Beryl Actinolite Andesine Apophyllite Biotite Adularia Andradite Arfvedsonite Bornite Aegirine-augite Anomite Arsenopyrite Bronzite Allanite Anorthite Atacamite Brookite Almandite Anorthoclase Augite Brucite Analbite? Anthophyllite Azurite Brushite? Analcite Antigorite Barkevikite Bytownite Anatase Apatite Basaltichornblende Calcite