Search Our Scientific Publications & Authors

Am Mineral 2018 Nov;103(11):1741-1748

Dipartimento di Scienze Matematiche e Informatiche, Scienze Fisiche e Scienze della Terra, Università di Messina, viale F. Stagno d'Alcontres 31, 98166 Messina S. Agata, Italy.

In this paper, we report the results of the first study focused on the thermal stability and dehydration dynamics of the natural zeolite mineral ferrierite. A sample from Monastir, Sardinia [(NaKMgCaSr) (AlSi)O·17.86HO; = 19. Read More

Am Mineral 2018 1;103(8):1329-1334. Epub 2018 Aug 1.

Hawai'i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, Honolulu, Hawai'i 96822, U.S.A.

Adrianite (IMA 2014-028), Ca(AlMgSi)OCl, is a new Cl-rich silicate mineral and the Si,Mg analog of wadalite. It occurs with monticellite, grossular, wadalite, and hutcheonite in altered areas along some veins between primary melilite, spinel, and Ti,Al-diopside in a Type B1 FUN (Fractionation and Unidentified Nuclear effects) Ca-Al-rich inclusion (CAI), -3, from the Allende CV3 carbonaceous chondrite. The mean chemical composition of type adrianite by electron probe microanalysis is (wt%) CaO 41. Read More

Am Mineral 2015 Apr 1;100(4):824-836. Epub 2015 Apr 1.

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771, U.S.A.

The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover Curiosity has documented a section of fluvio-lacustrine strata at Yellowknife Bay (YKB), an embayment on the floor of Gale crater, approximately 500 m east of the Bradbury landing site. X-ray diffraction (XRD) data and evolved gas analysis (EGA) data from the CheMin and SAM instruments show that two powdered mudstone samples (named John Klein and Cumberland) drilled from the Sheepbed member of this succession contain up to ~20 wt% clay minerals. A trioctahedral smectite, likely a ferrian saponite, is the only clay mineral phase detected in these samples. Read More

Am Mineral 2014 Apr;99(4):645-653

Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, 63130, U.S.A.

Carbonate-substituted hydroxylapatite is the inorganic component in bone. The nanometer size of bone crystallites and their interweaving with subequal volumes of collagen fibrils make the chemical analysis of the bone mineral extremely difficult. The few chemical analyses that are available commonly were made on ashed bone, which, in addition to mineral, also includes chemical residues of collagen. Read More

Am Mineral 2014 Aug;99(8-9):1580-1592

Department of Astronomy, Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, Massachusetts, 01075, U.S.A.

K, Na, Ca, Mg, Fe, Fe, and Al perchlorate salts were studied to provide spectral and thermal data for detecting and characterizing their possible presence on Mars. Spectral and thermal analyses are coordinated with structural analyses to understand how different cations and different hydration levels affect the mineral system. Near-infrared (NIR) spectral features for perchlorates are dominated by HO bands that occur at 0. Read More

Am Mineral 2014 Jan;99(1):8-15

Department of Geosciences, North Dakota State University, Fargo, North Dakota 58108, U.S.A.

The carcinogenic potential of erionite has sparked concern about human exposure in areas where it is present in regional bedrock. The Arikaree Formation in western North Dakota contains altered tuffaceous units with authigenic zeolites. We sampled stratigraphic profiles in the Killdeer Mountains, Dunn County, North Dakota, to determine the distribution and chemical composition of zeolites. Read More