MECHANISM OF AU INCORPORATION INTO Cd SULFIDE: EVIDENCE FROM Au PARTITION BETWEEN CdS AND Ag2S

Abstract

In our earlier publications, we attracted attention to endocrypty as a phenomenon of the incorporation of atoms of an admixed element into the real structure of the host crystal, with this phenomenon possibly responsible for the significant enrichment of mineral phases in trace elements. Compared to the role of classic isomorphism, that of endocrypty remains, however, obscure. This issue should be discussed with regard for the following facts. First, defects that make it possible for an admixture to enter the structure of a crystal cause an increase not only in the limiting concentration of this minor element but also in its partition coefficient between the phases.