TY - JOUR
T1 - Moabite, NiFe3+(PO4)O, a new natural oxyphosphate
AU - Britvin, Sergey N.
AU - Murashko, Mikhail N.
AU - Krzhizhanovskaya, Maria G.
AU - Vapnik, Yevgeny
AU - Vlasenko, Natalia S.
AU - Vereshchagin, Oleg S.
AU - Pankin, Dmitrii V.
AU - Vasiliev, Evgeny A.
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2025 Sergey N. Britvin et al.
PY - 2025/6/17
Y1 - 2025/6/17
N2 - Moabite, NiFe3+(PO4)O, is a new natural oxyphosphate discovered in pyrometamorphic rocks of the Daba-Siwaqa complex, a subdivision of the Hatrurim Formation in central Jordan. The mineral is named for the Kingdom of Moab, an ancient state that existed on the territory of the modern Jordan. Moabite is an accessory phase in the phosphide-phosphate assemblages, where it associates with diopside; anorthite; crocobelonite, CaFe3+ 2 (PO4)2O; yakubovichite, CaNi2Fe3+(PO4)3; hematite; negevite, NiP2; murashkoite, FeP; transjordanite, Ni2P; halamishite, Ni5P4; native iron (_-Fe); and an alluaudite-group phosphate whose composition is exactly midway between the two endmembers NaNaCa(Fe3+Mg)(PO4)3 and _NaCa(Fe3+Fe3+)(PO4)3. The mineral forms isometric to short prismatic crystals and euhedral grains up to 30 μm across. Macroscopically, it has a deep-brown colour. In the polished sections in transmitted light, the mineral is translucent red-brown. It has a Mohs hardness rating of 4. Cleavage was not observed. The density, 4.324 g cm3, was calculated based on the empirical formula and unit-cell parameters obtained from single-crystal refinement. The chemical composition was as follows (electron microprobe, wt %): NiO 29.75, CuO 1.73, MgO 0.45, Fe2O3 36.04, Al2O3 0.19, Cr2O3 0.18, V2O5 0.47, P2O5 31.22 The empirical formula calculated on the basis of 5 oxygen atoms per formula unit (apfu) is (Ni0:90Cu0:05Mg0:03)60:98(Fe3C 1:01Al0:01Cr0:01)61:03(P0:99V5C 0:01)61:00O5, corresponding to the ideal NiFe3+(PO4)O. Moabite is orthorhombic; the space group is Pnma (no. 62); and a D 7:2161(16), b D 6:4064(15), c D 7:4706(19) A, V D 345:4(1)A3 and Z D 4. The strongest lines of X-ray powder diffraction pattern are as follows [d in A (I) (hkl)]: 5.20(63)(101), 3,321(37)(102), 3.251(83)(201), 2.7262(100)(121), 2.5946(37)(202), 2.3542(25)(103) and 2.3044(24)(122). The crystal structure has been solved and refined to R1 D 0:033 for 389 unique observed reflections. Moabite is the first mineral that crystallizes in the _-Fe2PO5 (_-Fe2OPO4) structure type. It has a direct synthetic analogue, and it is isotypic to antiferromagnetic transition metal oxyphosphates of the general formula A2CB3COPO4, where A2C DFe, Ni, Co and Cu and B3C DFe, V and In.
AB - Moabite, NiFe3+(PO4)O, is a new natural oxyphosphate discovered in pyrometamorphic rocks of the Daba-Siwaqa complex, a subdivision of the Hatrurim Formation in central Jordan. The mineral is named for the Kingdom of Moab, an ancient state that existed on the territory of the modern Jordan. Moabite is an accessory phase in the phosphide-phosphate assemblages, where it associates with diopside; anorthite; crocobelonite, CaFe3+ 2 (PO4)2O; yakubovichite, CaNi2Fe3+(PO4)3; hematite; negevite, NiP2; murashkoite, FeP; transjordanite, Ni2P; halamishite, Ni5P4; native iron (_-Fe); and an alluaudite-group phosphate whose composition is exactly midway between the two endmembers NaNaCa(Fe3+Mg)(PO4)3 and _NaCa(Fe3+Fe3+)(PO4)3. The mineral forms isometric to short prismatic crystals and euhedral grains up to 30 μm across. Macroscopically, it has a deep-brown colour. In the polished sections in transmitted light, the mineral is translucent red-brown. It has a Mohs hardness rating of 4. Cleavage was not observed. The density, 4.324 g cm3, was calculated based on the empirical formula and unit-cell parameters obtained from single-crystal refinement. The chemical composition was as follows (electron microprobe, wt %): NiO 29.75, CuO 1.73, MgO 0.45, Fe2O3 36.04, Al2O3 0.19, Cr2O3 0.18, V2O5 0.47, P2O5 31.22 The empirical formula calculated on the basis of 5 oxygen atoms per formula unit (apfu) is (Ni0:90Cu0:05Mg0:03)60:98(Fe3C 1:01Al0:01Cr0:01)61:03(P0:99V5C 0:01)61:00O5, corresponding to the ideal NiFe3+(PO4)O. Moabite is orthorhombic; the space group is Pnma (no. 62); and a D 7:2161(16), b D 6:4064(15), c D 7:4706(19) A, V D 345:4(1)A3 and Z D 4. The strongest lines of X-ray powder diffraction pattern are as follows [d in A (I) (hkl)]: 5.20(63)(101), 3,321(37)(102), 3.251(83)(201), 2.7262(100)(121), 2.5946(37)(202), 2.3542(25)(103) and 2.3044(24)(122). The crystal structure has been solved and refined to R1 D 0:033 for 389 unique observed reflections. Moabite is the first mineral that crystallizes in the _-Fe2PO5 (_-Fe2OPO4) structure type. It has a direct synthetic analogue, and it is isotypic to antiferromagnetic transition metal oxyphosphates of the general formula A2CB3COPO4, where A2C DFe, Ni, Co and Cu and B3C DFe, V and In.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=105008732117&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.5194/ejm-37-353-2025
DO - 10.5194/ejm-37-353-2025
M3 - Article
SN - 0935-1221
VL - 37
SP - 353
EP - 363
JO - European Journal of Mineralogy
JF - European Journal of Mineralogy
IS - 3
ER -