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Author: Subject: Presence of traces iron oxide minerals in limestone
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[*] posted on 7-9-2013 at 14:24


Can you take any bigger photos or zooms of the texture of the dark stuff?



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[*] posted on 8-9-2013 at 00:13


Yes. I will attach them to this post. I advance that tiny transparent crystals are within this dark massive mineral (iron-impurity vaterite? don't think so, too rare :) ) and those might be the clue to find out what this really is.



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[*] posted on 8-9-2013 at 05:49


Quote: Originally posted by Eddygp  
Yes. I will attach them to this post.
Did you forget?

Anyway, that's a damn interesting specimen. Could you describe the geology of the area or even the formation where you found it?

[edit]I keep forgetting to ask: Is it limestone or dolostone? An acid test with dil. HCl would differentiate the two.

[Edited on 8.9.13 by bfesser]




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[*] posted on 8-9-2013 at 10:57


I did forget, sorry. The rock dissolves even in acetic acid, so I suppose that it will dissolve in HCl too. So well, I've attached the photo here instead. Hope it's useful. Regarding the place, it is a sedimentary rock area near a K-T clay deposit. The soil is mostly clay, in a warm-to-hot, dry area.

EDIT: That photograph is apparently the most interesting part of this rock, as you can see the transparent crystals and the barrier between the coloured and white parts of the specimen.

stone9-2.JPG - 892kB

[Edited on 8-9-2013 by Eddygp]




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[*] posted on 8-9-2013 at 17:59


Don't you have HCl to do tests with? The photo's not as useful as I'd hoped (compression & lighting), but it's still neat. Thanks for uploading it. Forgive my ignorance, but I've never heard of "K-T clay." Are you referring to what used to be called the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cretaceous%E2%80%93Paleogene_boundary" target="_blank">K&ndash;T boundary</a> <img src="../scipics/_wiki.png" />, by chance?

Also, if you don't mind (anonymity), could you provide a specific location for where you collected the specimen? It's difficult to impossible to do amateur arm-chair geology without knowing where exactly virtual specimens are from. Without knowing the geology of the area, it's like playing a game of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twenty_Questions" target="_blank">Twenty Questions</a> <img src="../scipics/_wiki.png" />...




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[*] posted on 9-9-2013 at 06:33


Quote: Originally posted by bfesser  
Don't you have HCl to do tests with? The photo's not as useful as I'd hoped (compression & lighting), but it's still neat. Thanks for uploading it. Forgive my ignorance, but I've never heard of "K-T clay." Are you referring to what used to be called the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cretaceous%E2%80%93Paleogene_boundary" target="_blank">K&ndash;T boundary</a> <img src="../scipics/_wiki.png" />, by chance?

Also, if you don't mind (anonymity), could you provide a specific location for where you collected the specimen? It's difficult to impossible to do amateur arm-chair geology without knowing where exactly virtual specimens are from. Without knowing the geology of the area, it's like playing a game of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twenty_Questions" target="_blank">Twenty Questions</a> <img src="../scipics/_wiki.png" />...


Yes, I was referring to the K-T boundary, a clay deposit from that time (according to some webpages). Sorry for the mix up. I'll send you a PM with the Mindat location.




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[*] posted on 13-9-2013 at 04:07


Mini-bump. Not really a bump, just a mini-bump.



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[*] posted on 13-9-2013 at 04:21


Sorry, I've been busy with other projects. Have you made any progress on the chemical tests or to determine the suspended solid?



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[*] posted on 15-9-2013 at 09:59


When reacting with HCl, it becomes orange in solution (probably Fe ions?) and effervesces totally. Actually, there is a light brown precipitate, so maybe the colour is not just in solution. Nothing unexpected. I will edit this post if there are any new things going on after a while.



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[*] posted on 16-9-2013 at 11:22


Changes:
The precipitate has completely settled down. There is a fine suspension of this precipitate in the solution, but apart from that, the solution's colour is just off-white, not creamy though, just a little coloured. This might be because of a different impurity.
Fe2O3 is highly soluble (reacts) in HCl, so the ppt. is not iron(III) oxide. However, what else might it be, a light brown to orange-ish ppt. which is insoluble in HCl? I do not have any flocculants available so I cannot get the suspension to settle at the bottom. However, the nature of this ppt. is highly intriguing. Any guesses?




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[*] posted on 16-9-2013 at 17:56


What pH are we talking? Fe(OH)3 drops out above 3 or so; it's quite acidic itself. It also dissolves slowly if it's much bigger than colloidial.

Drop in a whole bunch more, give it more calcite to suck on? Then see if anything drops out from the raised pH?

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[*] posted on 17-9-2013 at 07:14


Well I added 21% HCl in this beaker with about 1.2 grams of the mineral, so... well.



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[*] posted on 19-9-2013 at 09:54


Observation after 4 days:
All the impurities have precipitated off solution giving a colourless solution and a powdery orange (not brownish, pure orange) precipitate. I've no idea... what is it? I'll read up a bit on transition metals' oxides and halides to see what it is.




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[*] posted on 20-9-2013 at 14:59


Cu2O and Fe(OH)3 would fit the bill; can't think of any others? (V2O5 maybe, but that obviously would behave differently. And Cu2O itself would at least partly oxidize in solution, giving something green-stained, not orange.)

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[*] posted on 20-9-2013 at 15:10


Cu<sub>2</sub>O is red, not orange. I agree that it's likely an iron oxide, hydroxide, or oxide/hydroxide. Determining exactly which might prove difficult.

<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_hydroxide" target="_blank">Iron oxide</a> <img src="../scipics/_wiki.png" />




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[*] posted on 21-9-2013 at 00:22


Quote: Originally posted by bfesser  
Cu<sub>2</sub>O is red, not orange. I agree that it's likely an iron oxide, hydroxide, or oxide/hydroxide. Determining exactly which might prove difficult.

<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_hydroxide" target="_blank">Iron oxide</a> <img src="../scipics/_wiki.png" />


These would dissolve in the HCl, AFAIK.




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[*] posted on 22-9-2013 at 21:40


Quote: Originally posted by bfesser  
Cu<sub>2</sub>O is red, not orange.


Actually it can be as bright as yellow -- this is seen electrolyzing a copper anode in a concentrated NaCl solution. Initially, nearly colloidial Cu2O precipitates, with a refreshingly yellow to golden color (there's probably some "quantum dot" action at work). So it depends on precipitation method and rate: the classic method with Fehling's solution yields a dull brick red, for example. But I don't think normal precipitation methods (i.e., quenching a Cu(I) solution in base) yield anything brighter than dull orange, so you are right for the most part.

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[*] posted on 29-9-2013 at 02:49


Cu oxides would also dissolve in acid.



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[*] posted on 25-1-2014 at 08:00


Reason for the necroing: I have found iron minerals (not trace impurities, minerals by themselves) from the exact same area.

They are reddish brown with orange tinges and when dissolved in HCl, they form a yellow solution, indicating Fe (unless I have found an awesome mining site, which I don't think so). Their crystal habit is massive. They are (locally) very common.
Here is the problem. I looked at possible iron oxide minerals and saw a possible candidate: maghemite. However, maghemite is strongly ferromagnetic and this mineral... was not. Actually, it probably is diamagnetic.




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[*] posted on 30-1-2014 at 14:06


EDIT: similar massive formations of this mineral have been sighted attached to large sedimentary rocks (calcium carbonate and other calcium rocks). Brownish to dark orangeish, just like rust (couldn't edit, doubleposting, read last post for this to make sense), which led me to think about that mineral. Locally very common.



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[*] posted on 30-1-2014 at 14:35


Quote: Originally posted by Eddygp  
Reason for the necroing: I have found iron minerals (not trace impurities, minerals by themselves) from the exact same area.
Have you collected any specimens? Also, photos of both the specimens and the outcrops where they've been collected from would be great.



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[*] posted on 9-2-2014 at 11:13


Photos 1&2. THIRD attempt to post.
In a RAR.

Attachment: MineralPhotos1.rar (1.8MB)
This file has been downloaded 269 times

[Edited on 9-2-2014 by Eddygp]




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[*] posted on 9-2-2014 at 11:14


Photos 3&4.
In a RAR.

The fifth photo is too large to upload. I'll crop it within the next few hours.
Attachment: MineralPhotos2.rar (1.5MB)
This file has been downloaded 294 times

[Edited on 9-2-2014 by Eddygp]




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[*] posted on 10-2-2014 at 12:23


The photos are available in this science madness FTP server.
http://www.scimad.org/users/Eddygp/Agost%20047.JPG




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[*] posted on 10-2-2014 at 13:18


Quote: Originally posted by Eddygp  
Photos 1&2.
<a href="http://www.scimad.org/users/Eddygp/Agost%20018.JPG" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.scimad.org/users/Eddygp/Agost%20018.JPG" width="250" /></a> <a href="http://www.scimad.org/users/Eddygp/Agost%20021.JPG" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.scimad.org/users/Eddygp/Agost%20021.JPG" width="250" /></a>
Quote: Originally posted by Eddygp  
Photos 3&4. &hellip; The fifth photo&hellip;
<a href="http://www.scimad.org/users/Eddygp/Agost%20028.JPG" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.scimad.org/users/Eddygp/Agost%20028.JPG" width="250" /></a> <a href="http://www.scimad.org/users/Eddygp/Agost%20032.JPG" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.scimad.org/users/Eddygp/Agost%20032.JPG" width="250" /></a> <a href="http://www.scimad.org/users/Eddygp/Agost%20047.JPG" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.scimad.org/users/Eddygp/Agost%20047.JPG" width="250" /></a>



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