Using X-ray analysis, the crystal structure of yegorovite Na
4[Si
4O
8(OH)
4] · 7H
2O, a newly-discovered mineral from the Lovozero alkaline complex (Kola Peninsula, Russia), was determined. The mineral is
monoclinic, of
P2
1/
c, a = 9.8744(4),
b = 12.3981(5),
c = 14.8973(7) Å, β = 104.675(5)°,
V =1764.29(13)Å
3,
Z = 4. Yegorovite is a representative of a new structure type. Its structure is based upon the zigzag chains [Si
4O
8(OH)
4]
∞ extended along [100]. The Na atoms occupy four nonequivalent crystallographic positions and are located in six-fold polyhedra
[NaO(OH)
2(H
2O)
3] and [NaO(OH)(H
2O)
4]. The Na polyhedra are joined with each other by vertices and edges to form corrugated layers parallel to (001). To each
of these layers, the silicon-oxygen chains adjoin from both sides, and the neighboring Na-Si layers are combined with one
another by a system of H-bonds.
Original Russian Text © N.V. Zubkova, I.V. Pekov, D.Yu. Pushcharovskii, S.S. Kazantsev, 2009, published in Doklady Akademii
Nauk, 2009, Vol. 426, No. 6, pp. 797–801.