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Science 27 August 1965:
Vol. 149. no. 3687, pp. 972 - 974
DOI: 10.1126/science.149.3687.972
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Articles

Merrihueite, A New Alkali-Ferromagnesian Silicate from the Mezö-Madaras Chondrite

Robert T. Dodd Jr. 1, W. Randall van Schmus 1, and Ursula B. Marvin 2

1 Lunar-Planetary Research Branch, Air Force Cambridge Research Laboratories, Laurence G. Hanscom Field, Bedford, Massachusetts
2 Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge, Massachusetts

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.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
OFTEDALITE, (Sc,Ca,Mn2+)2 K (Be,Al)3 Si12 O30, A NEW MEMBER OF THE MILARITE GROUP FROM THE HEFTETJERN PEGMATITE, TORDAL, NORWAY: DESCRIPTION AND CRYSTAL STRUCTURE.
M. A. Cooper, F. C. Hawthorne, N. A. Ball, P. Cerny, and R. Kristiansen (2006)
Can Mineral 44, 943-949
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Djerfisherite, Alkali Copper-Iron Sulfide: A New Mineral from Enstatite Chondrites.
L. H. Fuchs and L. H. Fuchs (1966)
Science 153, 166-167
   Abstract »    PDF »


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