Margaritasite: an exclusive Chihuahuan mineral
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.54167/tch.v19i1.1675Keywords:
Margaritasite, Chihuahua, synchrotron, EXAFS.Abstract
Margaritasite [Cs2(UO2)2(VO4)2-nH2O] is, to date, a uranovanadate exclusive of the Sierra Peña Blanca, Chihuahua. In this work we share the results obtained by the characterization of margaritasite, employing the techniques of high-resolution X-ray diffraction (HRXRD) and fine structure X-ray absorption (EXAFS) using synchrotron light. The characterization was performed at the Diamond Light Source Synchrotron station B18 (United Kingdom) and at the high precision diffractometer of Elettra in Triestre (Italy).
The margaritasite, with micrometric tabular habit (1 - 3 μm), presents the phases pure margarite and carnotite in disordered solid solution K-Cs in 1:1 ratio, accompanied by quartz, montmorillonite, potassium feldspar and calcite. X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) and EXAFS were used to determine the association of vanadium and cesium with uranium in the margaritasite phase. The study characterized the structure of the uranyl pentagonal prism by determining the U-O bond distances, characteristic of uranovanadates.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.54167/tch.v19i1.1675
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