Pyrosmalite-(Fe), Fe ₈Si ₆O ₁₅(OH,Cl) ₁₀

Pyrosmalite-(Fe), ideally Fe ^II ₈Si ₆O ₁₅(OH,Cl) ₁₀ [refined composition in this study: Fe ₈Si ₆O ₁₅(OH _0.814Cl _0.186) ₁₀·-0.45H ₂O, octairon(II) hexasilicate deca(chloride/hydroxide) 0.45-hydrate], is a phyllosilicate mineral and a member of the pyrosmalite series (Fe,Mn) ₈Si ₆O ₁₅(OH,Cl) ₁₀, which includes pyrosmalite-(Mn), as well as friedelite and mcgillite, two polytypes of pyrosmalite-(Mn). This study presents the first structure determination of pyrosmalite-(Fe) based on singlecrystal X-ray diffraction data from a natural sample from Burguillos del Cerro, Badajos, Spain. Pyrosmalite-(Fe) is isotypic with pyrosmalite-(Mn) and its structure is characterized by a stacking of brucite-type layers of FeO ₆-octahedra alternating with sheets of SiO ₄ tetrahedra along [001]. These sheets consist of 12-, six-and four-membered rings of tetrahedra in a 1:2:3 ratio. In contrast to previous studies on pyrosmalite-(Mn), which all assumed that Cl and one of the four OH-groups occupy the same site, our data on pyrosmalite-(Fe) revealed a split-site structure model with Cl and OH occupying distinct sites. Furthermore, our study appears to suggest the presence of disordered structural water in pyrosmalite-(Fe), consistent with infrared spectroscopic data measured from the same sample. Weak hydrogen bonding between the ordered OH-groups that are part of the brucitetype layers and the terminal silicate O atoms is present.