Abstract
A (Ca0.36Na0.56Mg0.08)(Mg0.73Si0.27)Si2O6 clinopyroxene containing both four- and six-coordinated silicon was synthesized at 15 GPa and 1600 °C and its structure determined with single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Unlike the Na(Mg0.5Si0.5)Si2O6 clinopyroxene that exhibits an ordered P2/n structure with octahedrally coordinated Mg2+ and Si4+ occupying two crystallographically distinct M1 sites (Angel et al. 1988), our sample possesses a C2/c symmetry and shows no detectable ordering between Mg2+ and Si4+ in the M1 site. The measured unit-cell parameters are a = 9.5792(13), b = 8.7588(12), c = 5.2610(6) Å, β = 107.199(3)°, and V = 421.7(2) Å3. The crystal structure of the clinopyroxene reported in this study is comparable to that for omphacites formed under high temperatures and pressures.
© 2015 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin/Boston
