MOLAR VOLUME AND THERMAL EXPANSION OF GLAUCOPHANE

Abstract

The molar volume of glaucophane [Na2Mg3Al2Si8O22(OH)2] has been determined in this study by correcting synthetic glaucophane-rich amphiboles made in the system Na2O–MgO–Al2O3–SiO2–H2O for very small deviations from ideal glaucophane composition using recent volume data on key amphibole components. The derived unit-cell volume for end-member glaucophane is 862.7±1.6 Å3, which gives a molar volume of 259.8±0.5 cm3/mol and a calculated density of 3.016±0.006 g/cm3. This value has been corroborated through an essentially independent method by correcting the volumes of natural sodic amphiboles reported in the literature for non-glaucophane components, particularly including calcium-rich components, to yield a value of 861.2±1.9 Å3. The unit-cell volume derived from the synthetic amphiboles, which is considered here to be more reliable, is somewhat smaller than that reported previously in the literature. A thermal expansion (αV) at 298 K of 1.88±0.06×10−5/K was derived from unit-cell volumes measured in the range of 25–500°C for a synthetic glaucophane sample, which is noticeably smaller than previously reported.