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Surface microtopography of rectorite (allevardite) from Allevard, France
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 09 July 2018
Abstract
By means of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and the gold decoration technique, the surface microtopography of rectorite (allevardite) crystals collected from Allevard, France was investigated. On the crystal surfaces, gold decoration successfully revealed growth steps of ∼20 Å in height. Only closed polygonal steps 20 Å high occur on the 001 surface of a thick platy crystal, although spiral growth patterns were not observed. Thick platy particles were easily split into thinner plates 20 Å thick in distilled water by means of ultrasonic vibration. No step patterns were observed on the surfaces of these thin plates which correspond to the cleavage plane. The growth of this rectorite, therefore, seems to be controlled by a layer nucleation mechanism.
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- Copyright © The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 1997
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