Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dk4vv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-24T00:21:32.258Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

MnO exsolution in periclase from Långban, Sweden: an evaluation of the activity-composition relations in the system MgO–MnO

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 July 2018

J. P. R. de Villiers
Affiliation:
Mineralogy and Process Chemistry Division, Mintek, Randburg, 2125, South Africa
P. R. Buseck
Affiliation:
Departments of Geology and Chemistry, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA
H. S. Steyn
Affiliation:
Department of Information Technology, Potchefstroom University, South Africa

Abstract

The occurrence of MnO exsolution in periclase host crystals from Långban, Sweden, is described. The composition of the periclase is Mg0.942 Mn0.046Zn0.012O, and it coexists with exsolved manganosite crystals with a composition of Mn0.909Mg0.082Zn0.008O. Crystals of hausmannite are also present, indicating fO2 conditions approaching the MnO–Mn3O4 equilibrium.

Activity-composition data for the system MgO–MnO is critically reviewed. The data obtained from solid electrolyte measurements are rejected because of the unrealistic calculated equilibration temperatures and the large deviations from the gas equilibration Mn-Pt activity measurements. The large errors associated with the gas equilibration measurements, especially at large XMnO, also introduces uncertainties associated with the asymmetric interaction parameters. The non-parametric ‘jack-knife’ method was used to determine the asymmetric interaction parameters and their standard deviations from the data of Wood et al. (1994) and Tsai and Muan (1992). These were calculated as WMnO = 21.2 kJ/mol, σWMnO = 2.5 kJ/mol and WMgO = 8.2 kJ/mol, σWMgO = 3.3 kJ/mol.

Using the asymmetric interaction parameters, WMnO = 19.9 kJ/mol and WMgO = 13.7 kJ/mol for the system MgO–MnO as determined by Wood et al. (1994) and the equations for two-phase equilibrium as formulated by Thompson (1967), equilibration temperatures of 334°C and 466°C were calculated. The difference between the calculated temperatures is ascribed to inaccuracies in the experimentally determined interaction parameters.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 1998

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Frondel, C. (1940) Exsolution growths of zincite in manganosite and of manganosite in periclase. Amer. Mineral., 25, 534–8.Google Scholar
Keller, M. and Dieckmann, R. (1985) Defect structure and transport properties of manganese oxides: (I) The nonstoichiometry of manganosite (Mn1–ΔO). Ber. Bunsenges. Phys. Chem., 89, 883–93.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Muan, A. (1967) Determination of thermodynamic properties of silicates from locations of conjugation lines in ternary systems. Amer. Mineral., 52, 797804.Google Scholar
Raghavan, S., Iyengar, G.N.K. and Abraham, K.P. (1985) Determination of the thermodynamic properties of {xMgO + (1−x)MnO}(s,sln) from a solidelectrolyte galvanic cell in the temperature range 1163 to 1318 K. J. Chem. Thermodynamics, 17, 585–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thompson, J.B. Jr., (1967) Thermodynamic properties of simple solutions. In: Researches in Geochemistry, Vol. II. (Abelson, P.H., ed.) John Wiley and Sons, New York: 349–61.Google Scholar
Tsai, H.-T. and Muan, A. (1992) Activity-composition relations in the systems CaO–MnO and MgO–MnO at 1500°C and 1600°C. J. Amer. Ceram. Soc., 75, 1472–5.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wood, B.J., Hackler, R.T. and Dobson, D.P. (1994) Experimental determination of Mn-Mg mixing properties in garnet, olivine and oxide. Contrib. Mineral. Petrol., 115, 438–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wu, P., Eriksson, G. and Pelton, A.D. (1993) Critical evaluation and optimization of the thermodynamic properties and phase diagrams of the CaO–FeO, CaO–MgO, CaO–MnO, FeO–MnO, and MgO–MnO systems. J. Amer. Ceram. Soc., 76, 2065–75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar