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Minerals
Special Issues
Mineral/Ore Growth: From the Ions to the Macrocrystals
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Mineral/Ore Growth: From the Ions to the Macrocrystals

A special issue of Minerals (ISSN 2075-163X). This special issue belongs to the section "Crystallography and Physical Chemistry of Minerals & Nanominerals".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 June 2022) | Viewed by 8394

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Xing Ding

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Guest Editor
State Key Laboratory of Isotope Geochemistry, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China
Interests: water–rock interaction; element and isotope geochemistry; the hydrolysis behavior of metal complexes
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Junfeng Liu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Earth Science and Resources, Chang’an University, Xi’an 710064, China
Interests: mineralogy and petrology; geochemistry; geochronology; ore deposits
Dr. Haibo Yan

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Guest Editor
State Key Laboratory of Isotope Geochemistry, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China
Interests: experimental geochemistry; element geochemistry; the mobility of metal complexes in the fluids
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

How minerals/ores grow in high-temperature magmas or hydrothermal fluids from ions or compounds to the macrocrystals making up the deep Earth’s materials is one of the most fundamental problems in Earth science. The understanding of mineral/ore nucleation and growth is of great importance for explaining the composition and texture characteristics of the minerals/ores of interest (e.g., elemental or isotopic zoning, specific crystal shapes, and mineral/ore association), thus deciphering the complicated magmatic or hydrothermal processes correctly. Conventional crystal growth is thought to proceed via atom-by-atom addition, which involves two basic growth models (i.e., layer-by-layer growth and spiral growth). Besides the two classical models for crystal growth, some non-classical approaches—including Ostwald ripening, oriented attachment, and Kirkendall effect—have been proposed. These theories of particle aggregation and coarsening widen our field of vision and expand our knowledge of crystal growth, which contributes to the comprehensive and profound understanding of the formation of natural mineral/ore crystals derived by a variety of magmatic or hydrothermal processes.

Recent advances in high-temperature and high-pressure technology and high-precision analysis apparatus, combined with the development of experimental methods and pertinent analysis techniques (e.g., EMPA, SEM, TEM, μ-XRD, μ-XRF, Raman-AFM, LA-ICPMS, SIMS), have considerably helped to improve our ability to study mineral/ore growth. The purpose of this Special Issue is to publish high-quality research papers and review articles that seek to address recent advances in mineral/ore growth and associated magmatism or hydrothermal processes so caused. Particular interest will be given to papers exploring or discussing mineral/ore growth processes, mechanisms, and controlling factors through experimental simulations or natural sample observation. Original, unpublished, high-quality contributions that are not currently under review by any other journals or peer-reviewed conferences are welcome.

Dr. Xing Ding
Dr. Junfeng Liu
Dr. Haibo Yan
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Minerals is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • crystal growth
  • magmatism
  • hydrothermal process
  • compositional zoning
  • crystal shape
  • mineral association
  • particle aggregation
  • coarsening
  • Ostwald ripening
  • oriented attachment
  • layer-by-layer growth
  • spiral growth

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 11279 KiB  
Article
Magmatic Garnet and Magma Evolution in Cuonadong Leucogranites: Constraints from Petrology and Mineral Geochemistry
by Haibo Yan, Deshui Yu, Shoujing Wang and Chi Ma
Minerals 2022, 12(10), 1275; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/min12101275 - 09 Oct 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1588
Abstract
Located at the eastern segment of the Tethyan Himalayan tectonic unit, the Cuonadong leucogranites (muscovite granite and pegmatite) have a mineral assemblage of quartz, plagioclase, and alkali feldspar, as well as muscovite and garnet. Garnets in both muscovite granite and pegmatite belong to [...] Read more.
Located at the eastern segment of the Tethyan Himalayan tectonic unit, the Cuonadong leucogranites (muscovite granite and pegmatite) have a mineral assemblage of quartz, plagioclase, and alkali feldspar, as well as muscovite and garnet. Garnets in both muscovite granite and pegmatite belong to the almandine–spessartine solid solution, with minor andradite, grossular, and pyrope, and show a specific Mn zoning of a relatively rim-ward Mn depletion trend. However, a few garnets in pegmatite show grossular enrichment towards the rim. All the analyzed garnets are characterized by HREE enrichment and LREE depletion with obvious Eu anomalies. The difference is that garnets from the muscovite granite show distinct left-declined or flat HREE patterns, while those from the pegmatite are featured by flat or right-declined HREE patterns. Moreover, garnets from the pegmatite show relatively more distinct HREE- and Y-rich cores compared with those from the muscovite granite. The MnO concentration, spessartine content, and MnO/(MnO + FeO) ratio of the garnets from the Cuonadong dome increase from the muscovite granite to the pegmatite, suggesting that the pegmatite likely formed from a more evolved environment. Elevated grossular and CaO contents of the garnet rim in the pegmatite may reflect an influence of fluids in their composition. The major and trace element compositions and zoning textures of garnets from the Cuonadong leucogranites suggest a magmatic origin and a formation at moderately low temperatures and relatively low-pressure conditions. From the muscovite granite to the pegmatite, the system entered a fluid-rich environment and the garnets from the pegmatite likely crystallized from a lower-temperature fluid. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mineral/Ore Growth: From the Ions to the Macrocrystals)
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14 pages, 3539 KiB  
Article
Crystal Growth of Osmium(IV) Dioxide in Chlorine-Bearing Hydrothermal Fluids
by Haibo Yan, Zhuoyu Liu, Jian Di and Xing Ding
Minerals 2022, 12(9), 1092; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/min12091092 - 29 Aug 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1281
Abstract
A mineral’s morphology is usually related to its growth process and environment. This study reported crystal growth of OsO2 through hydrolysis experiments of K2OsCl6 at 150–550 °C and 100 MPa to investigate the growth mechanism of OsO2 and [...] Read more.
A mineral’s morphology is usually related to its growth process and environment. This study reported crystal growth of OsO2 through hydrolysis experiments of K2OsCl6 at 150–550 °C and 100 MPa to investigate the growth mechanism of OsO2 and the transport and enrichment of Os in chlorine-bearing hydrothermal fluids. Time-series experimental results showed that the OsO2 crystals grow from 40–150 nm irregular nanoparticles to 150–450 nm nanospheres with time. As the temperature and initial solution concentrations increase, OsO2 can form more uniform and larger OsO2 nanosphere crystals, suggesting a positive effect of temperature and initial solution concentration on the crystal growth of OsO2. The results indicate that the nucleation and aggregate growth driven by the hydrolysis of Os–chloride complex controls the early growth of OsO2 crystals for a short duration; however, after the hydrolysis reaches equilibrium, the growth process of OsO2 nanosphere crystals is dominated mostly by the Ostwald ripening, where the diffusion of Os ions along the fluid–nanocrystal boundary facilitates the coarsening. Given that the transport and cycle of Os from the lithosphere to the hydrosphere is controlled mainly by the stability of the Os–chloride complex, OsO2 nanosphere crystals could occur in seafloor hydrothermal vent systems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mineral/Ore Growth: From the Ions to the Macrocrystals)
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18 pages, 4429 KiB  
Article
Growth Story of One Diamond: A Window to the Lithospheric Mantle
by Valentin Afanasiev, Sargylana Ugapeva, Yuri Babich, Valeri Sonin, Alla Logvinova, Alexander Yelisseyev, Sergey Goryainov, Alexey Agashev and Oksana Ivanova
Minerals 2022, 12(8), 1048; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/min12081048 - 20 Aug 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1691
Abstract
A diamond plate cut out of a transparent, colorless octahedral diamond crystal of gem quality, with a small chromite inclusion in the core, sampled from the XXIII CPSU Congress kimberlite (Yakutia, Mirny kimberlite field, vicinities of Mirny city), has been studied by several [...] Read more.
A diamond plate cut out of a transparent, colorless octahedral diamond crystal of gem quality, with a small chromite inclusion in the core, sampled from the XXIII CPSU Congress kimberlite (Yakutia, Mirny kimberlite field, vicinities of Mirny city), has been studied by several combined methods: absorption spectroscopy at different wavelengths (UV-visible, near- and mid-IR); photoluminescence, cathodoluminescence, and Raman spectroscopy (local version) and lattice strain mapping; birefringence in cross-polarized light; and etching. The diamond plate demonstrates a complex growth history consisting of four stages: nucleation and growth to an octahedron → habit change to a cuboid → habit change to octahedron-1 → habit change to octahedron-2. The growth history of the diamond records changes in the crystallization conditions at each stage. The revealed heterogeneity of the crystal structure is associated with the distribution and speciation of nitrogen defects. The results of this study have implications for the information value of different techniques as to the diamond structure defects, as well as for the as yet poorly known evolution of the subcontinental lithospheric mantle in the Siberian craton, recorded in the multistage growth of the diamond crystal. At the time of writing, reconstructing the conditions for each stage is difficult. Meanwhile, finding ways for such reconstruction is indispensable for a better understanding of diamond genesis, and details of the lithosphere history. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mineral/Ore Growth: From the Ions to the Macrocrystals)
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20 pages, 89459 KiB  
Article
The Extraordinary Variety and Complexity of Minerals in a Single Keokuk Geode from the Lower Warsaw Formation, Hamilton, Illinois, USA
by Nova Mahaffey and Robert B. Finkelman
Minerals 2022, 12(7), 914; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/min12070914 - 21 Jul 2022
Viewed by 1969
Abstract
We performed an extensive optical and chemical analysis of a single Keokuk geode using electron microscopy (SEM) with energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy that revealed an extraordinary array of minerals and multiple, complex cycles of mineralization. We identified at least 15 minerals including [...] Read more.
We performed an extensive optical and chemical analysis of a single Keokuk geode using electron microscopy (SEM) with energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy that revealed an extraordinary array of minerals and multiple, complex cycles of mineralization. We identified at least 15 minerals including 5 that, to our knowledge, have not been reported in previous studies of these geodes. Along with bitumen we have described the occurrence of REE’s, and other unidentified phases containing metals such as chromium, nickel, molybdenum, tin, copper, zinc, and lead. Additionally, preliminary thin-section analysis reveals the occurrence of the tentatively identified minerals zircon, rutile, and xenotime as well as grains containing gold and silver within the chalcedony shell. The presence of these potentially economically valuable minerals warrants further investigation into the micro-minerology of Keokuk geodes. Our SEM/EDX analysis reveals an array of complex mineral assemblages, intergrowths, and inclusions that help chronologically link multiple stages of paragenesis occurring in different locations within the geode. Consequently, morphology and intricate microstructures provide a window into the extreme complexity of mineral crystallization. The majority of micro-minerals we have observed correspond with the later stages of geode paragenesis, thus providing a detailed record of the secondary mineralization processes which occurred over thousands to millions of years. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mineral/Ore Growth: From the Ions to the Macrocrystals)
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11 pages, 999 KiB  
Article
The Effect of Different Outer Cations on the Stability of Fluorotitanium Complex
by Junfeng Liu, Xugang Zuo and Haotian Liu
Minerals 2022, 12(6), 735; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/min12060735 - 08 Jun 2022
Viewed by 1207
Abstract
Fluoride-rich fluid is believed to be able to activate and migrate Ti and other high field-strength elements to the greatest extent. The stability of F-rich titanium complexes can ensure their migration in the fluid, but is inseparable from the physical and chemical properties [...] Read more.
Fluoride-rich fluid is believed to be able to activate and migrate Ti and other high field-strength elements to the greatest extent. The stability of F-rich titanium complexes can ensure their migration in the fluid, but is inseparable from the physical and chemical properties of the fluid, such as concentration, temperature and pH value—important factors affecting the stability of the complexes. In this study, the influence of the outer cationic complex fluid on the stability of the fluorine titanium complex was studied. Studies were based on different kinds of fluorine titanium complex (K2TiF6, Na2TiF6, (NH4)2TiF6 and H2TiF6) in 100 MPa pressure. Under the condition of 200~500 °C temperature, we found that as the temperature rises, the hydrolysis of F-rich titanium complexes is violent. We compared the stability of four F-titanium complexes with different outer cations according to the hydrolysis rate and the cumulative hydrolysis equilibrium constant. We compared the F-titanium complexes with alkali metal as the outer cations that are more stable, such as K2TiF6 and Na2TiF6. However, the F-rich titanium complex in an acidic fluid is relatively unstable, which is not conducive to the migration of Ti elements. Due to the water–rock reactions that occur in hydrothermal fluid migration, mixing and alteration, once in the hydrothermal system, the fluid composition, pH value and temperature change. Thus, the F-titanium complex becomes extremely unstable, leading to the precipitation of titanium from the hydrothermal fluid and the growth of Ti-rich minerals. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mineral/Ore Growth: From the Ions to the Macrocrystals)
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