The crystal structure of the mineral tveitite-(Y) (Y
0.883Na
0.106) (Ca
0.841
LREE
0.159)(Ca
0.716Na
0.204
HREE
0.080)(Ca
0.092Na
0.074)F
6.952 from amazonite pegmatites of Rov-Gora Mountain (Keivy, Kola Peninsula) is determined using X-ray diffraction (Stoe IPDS diffractometer,
λMo
K
α, graphite monochromator, 2θ
max = 63.5°,
R = 0.051 for 1542 reflections). The main crystal data are as follows:
a = 17.020(2) Å,
c = 9.679(2) Å,
V = 2428.2(4) Å
3, space group
R[`3]R\bar 3
,
Z = 18, and ρ
calcd = 4.00 g/cm
3. The idealized structural formula of the mineral is represented as (Y,Na)
6(Ca,
LREE)
6(Ca,Na,
HREE)
6(Ca,Na)F
42 (
Z = 3). The defect structure of the mineral manifests itself in a mixed occupation of all four independent cation positions
and in a randomly disordered distribution of fluorine atoms over the majority of anion positions. It is shown that the crystal
structure of tveitite-(Y) fulfills the function of an “Eratosthenes sieve” for yttrium cations and two groups of lanthanide
cations, so that these cations are distributed over three different positions.
PACS numbers 61.66.Fn - 61.72.-yIi
Original Russian Text © O.V. Yakubovich, W. Massa, I.V. Pekov, P.G. Gavrilenko, 2007, published in Kristallografiya, 2007,
Vol. 52, No. 1, pp. 73–81.
Dedicated to the 50th Anniversary of the Journal