Chanabayaite is the first recognized triazolate mineral, having the formula .
Minor
iron
Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's o ...
admixture is also present.
[ It is also one of a few currently known minerals containing ammine groups, including also ammineite, joanneumite and shilovite. All the minerals are rare and were found in a single guano deposit in Chile, called Pabellón de Pica.][Zubkova, N.V., Chukanov, N.V., Pekov, I., and Pushcharovsky, D., 2016. The crystal structure of the natural 1,2,4-triazolate compound . Zeitschrift für Kristallographie - Crystalline Materials 231(1), 47–53.]
Crystal structure
The main features of the crystal structure of chanabayaite are:[
* copper forms octahedra, part of which share corners
* 1,2,4-triazolate anions link the octahedra
]
Association
Chanabayaite coexists with halite
Halite ( ), commonly known as rock salt, is a type of salt, the mineral (natural) form of sodium chloride ( Na Cl). Halite forms isometric crystals. The mineral is typically colorless or white, but may also be light blue, dark blue, purple, pi ...
, joanneumite, nitratine
Nitratine or nitratite, also known as cubic niter (UK: nitre), soda niter or Chile saltpeter (UK: Chile saltpetre), is a mineral, the naturally occurring form of sodium nitrate, NaNO3. Chemically it is the sodium analogue of saltpeter. Nitratine ...
, salammoniac
Salammoniac, also sal ammoniac or salmiac, is a rare naturally occurring mineral composed of ammonium chloride, NH4Cl. It forms colorless, white, or yellow-brown crystals in the isometric-hexoctahedral class. It has very poor cleavage and is br ...
and paragenetically-unrelated chalcopyrite
Chalcopyrite ( ) is a copper iron sulfide mineral and the most abundant copper ore mineral. It has the chemical formula CuFeS2 and crystallizes in the tetragonal system. It has a brassy to golden yellow color and a Mohs scale, hardness of 3.5 to 4 ...
. Chalcopyrite is present in an amphibole
Amphibole ( ) is a group of inosilicate minerals, forming prism or needlelike crystals, composed of double chain tetrahedra, linked at the vertices and generally containing ions of iron and/or magnesium in their structures. Its IMA symbol is ...
- and plagioclase
Plagioclase ( ) is a series of Silicate minerals#Tectosilicates, tectosilicate (framework silicate) minerals within the feldspar group. Rather than referring to a particular mineral with a specific chemical composition, plagioclase is a continu ...
-bearing gabbro, that contacts the guano deposit.[
]
Formation
Three suggested processes account for the formation of chanabayaite:[
* leaching of sodium from the precursor phase
* leaching of chlorine from the precursor phase
* partial dehydratation of the precursor phase
]
References
{{reflist
Copper minerals
Organic minerals
Orthorhombic minerals
Minerals in space group 74
Chloride minerals