May 12 2014
Arupite is a monoclinic-prismatic mineral. It contains phosphorus, oxygen, nickel, manganese, magnesium, iron, and hydrogen. The mineral was first discovered in 1990 from the Santa Catherina iron meteorite. It was named after Hans Henning Arup, Director of the Danish Corrosion Center in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Properties of Arupite
The following are the key properties of Arupite:
- Cell Data
- Space Group: [12/m] (by analogy to vivianite)
- a = 9.889(15)
- b = 13.225(11)
- c = 4.645(4)
- β = 102.41(11)°
- Z = 2
- Crystal Data
- Monoclinic
- Point Group: 2/m
- Crystals are short prismatic, to 5µm, in granular aggregates
- X-ray Powder Pattern: 6.624 (100), 7.878 (26), 4.818 (24), 3.152 (24), 2.922 (23), 3.805 (21), 2.672 (17)
- Chemical Composition
| Elements |
Content 1 |
Content 2 |
| NiO |
40.18 |
43.92 |
| P2O5 |
27.6 |
27.83 |
| H2O |
27.3 |
28.25 |
| FeO |
4.53 |
- |
| CoO |
0.39 |
- |
| Total |
100 |
100 |
- Optical Properties
- Optical Class: Biaxial
- Pleochroism: X = blue; Z = colorless
- α = 1.632(5) (α')
- β = n.d.
- γ = 1.680(5) (γ')
- 2V(meas.) = n.d
- Estimated Properties
| Electron density |
Bulk density (electron density)=5.55 g/cm3
note: Specific gravity of Arupite =5.51 g/cm3 |
| Photoelectric |
PEArupite = 10.21 barns/electron
U= PEArupite x ρ Electron density= 56.70 barns/cm3 |
| Fermion index |
Fermion index = 0.004
Boson index = 0.99 |
Radioactivity
|
Arupite is not radioactive
|
How to Identify Arupite
Arupite is a translucent blue or turquoise-blue colored mineral, having light blue streak and earthy luster. The mineral has good cleavage and a hardness ranging from 1.5 to 2.
Global Distribution
Arupite is widely distributed in the Santa Catherina iron meteorite.
Occurrence of Arupite and Useful Mineral Association
Arupite occurs as a weathering product of a nickel-rich iron meteorite. It is closely associated with magnetite, goethite, hematite, akaganeite, honessite, and reevesite.
References