Arsenuranospathite (

IMA IMA or Ima may refer to: Education * Indian Military Academy, Dehradun * Instituto Miguel Ángel, a school in Mexico City Galleries and museums * Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indiana, US * Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris, France * Islamic Mus ...

symbol A symbol is a mark, Sign (semiotics), sign, or word that indicates, signifies, or is understood as representing an idea, physical object, object, or wikt:relationship, relationship. Symbols allow people to go beyond what is known or seen by cr ...

: Aush) is a rare

mineral In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid substance with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed. (2011): Mi ...

with the

chemical formula A chemical formula is a way of presenting information about the chemical proportions of atoms that constitute a particular chemical compound or molecule, using chemical element symbols, numbers, and sometimes also other symbols, such as pare ...

Al(UO₂)₂(AsO₄)₂F·20H₂O. The name "arsenuranospathite" as

arsenate The arsenate is an ion with the chemical formula . Bonding in arsenate consists of a central arsenic atom, with oxidation state +5, double bonded to one oxygen atom and single bonded to a further three oxygen atoms. The four oxygen atoms orien ...

analog Analog or analogue may refer to: Computing and electronics * Analog signal, in which information is encoded in a continuous variable ** Analog device, an apparatus that operates on analog signals *** Analog electronics, circuits which use analog ...

of uranospathite was first used by Walenta (1963) with reference to a uranyl-arsenate mineral from

Black Forest The Black Forest ( ) is a large forested mountain range in the States of Germany, state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland. It is th ...

(Schwarzwald) massif,

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. Later it was undoubtedly demonstrated that the name arsenuranospathite was applied, at least, to two different species – proper arsenuranospathite, ideally Al(UO₂)₂(AsO₄)₂F·20H₂O,

orthorhombic In crystallography, the orthorhombic crystal system is one of the 7 crystal systems. Orthorhombic Lattice (group), lattices result from stretching a cubic crystal system, cubic lattice along two of its orthogonal pairs by two different factors, res ...

, and its partially dehydrated analogue, Al(UO₂)₂(AsO₄)₂F·nH₂O (n = 8–10), tetragonal or pseudo-tetragonal.

Properties

Yellow to yellow-greenish, transparent to opaque tabular and prismatic

crystal A crystal or crystalline solid is a solid material whose constituents (such as atoms, molecules, or ions) are arranged in a highly ordered microscopic structure, forming a crystal lattice that extends in all directions. In addition, macros ...

s, with perfect cleavage. Transparent to translucent. Hardness = ~2.

Radioactive Radioactive decay (also known as nuclear decay, radioactivity, radioactive disintegration, or nuclear disintegration) is the process by which an unstable atomic nucleus loses energy by radiation. A material containing unstable nuclei is conside ...

Chemical composition

Contents of Al and U are very stable (1±0.05 and 2±0.07

atom Atoms are the basic particles of the chemical elements. An atom consists of a atomic nucleus, nucleus of protons and generally neutrons, surrounded by an electromagnetically bound swarm of electrons. The chemical elements are distinguished fr ...

s per As+P+U = 4 apfu respectively). Main variations of

chemical composition A chemical composition specifies the identity, arrangement, and ratio of the chemical elements making up a compound by way of chemical and atomic bonds. Chemical formulas can be used to describe the relative amounts of elements present in a com ...

s are connected with the ratio As:P and the content of F.

Occurrences

Sophia Mine, Böckelsbach valley,

Wittichen Wittichen is a village that belongs to Kaltbrunn in the municipality of Schenkenzell in the district of Rottweil in the southwest German state of Baden-Württemberg. History In 1291, Luitgard, later the founder of the convent of Wittichen Ab ...

Schenkenzell Schenkenzell is a village in the district of Rottweil, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and ...

, Black Forest,

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million i ...

, Germany

References

{{Reflist Uranium(VI) minerals Uranyl compounds Arsenate minerals Fluorine minerals Aluminium minerals