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On the origin of 'iron-cross' twins of pyrite from Mt. Katarina, Slovenia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Aleksander Rečnik ,
Janez Zavašnik ,
Lei Jin ,
Andrea Čobić  and
Nina Daneu
Aleksander Rečnik*
Affiliation:
Department for Nanostructured Materials, Jožef Stefan Institute, Jamova cesta 39, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
Janez Zavašnik
Affiliation:
Department for Nanostructured Materials, Jožef Stefan Institute, Jamova cesta 39, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
Lei Jin
Affiliation:
Peter Grünberg Institute and Ernst Ruska-Centre (ER-C) for Microscopy and Spectroscopy with Electrons, Research Centre Jülich, D-52425 Jülich, Germany
Andrea Čobić
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb, Horvatovac 95, CR-10000 Zagreb, Croatia
Nina Daneu
Affiliation:
Department for Nanostructured Materials, Jožef Stefan Institute, Jamova cesta 39, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
*
*E-mail: aleksander.recnik@ijs.si
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Abstract

Iron-cross twins of pyrite are well known among mineralogists, however it is quite surprising that the conditions of their formation remain unexplored. To address this question we studied pyrite twins from the Upper Permian silts of Mt. Katarina near Ljubljana (Slovenia), which represent one of the most typical geological environments for twinned pyrite. Mineralization of pyrite starts with a reduction of the primary red-coloured hematite-rich sediment by sulfide-rich fluids that penetrated the strata. A short period of magnetite crystallization is observed prior to pyrite crystallization, which indicates a gradual reduction process. Sulfur isotope analysis of pyrite shows an enrichment in δ34S, suggesting its origin from the neighbouring red-bed deposit. Other sulfides, such as chalcopyrite and galena, formed at the end of pyrite crystallization. Remnants of mineralizing fluids trapped at the interfaces between the inclusions and host pyrite show trace amounts of Pb and Cu, indicating their presence in the solutions throughout the period of pyrite crystallization. An electron microscopy and spectroscopy study of twin boundaries showed that interpenetration twinning is accomplished through a complex 3D intergrowth of primary {110} Cu-rich twin boundaries, and secondary {100} boundaries that are pure. We show that approximately one monolayer of Cu atoms is necessary to stabilize the {110} twin structure. When the source of Cu is interrupted, the two crystal domains continue to form {100} interfaces, that are more favourable for pure pyrite.

Keywords

red-bedshematitemagnetitepyriteFeS2iron-cross twinsstacking faultstwin boundariestransmission electron microscopycrystal growth
Type
Research Article
Information
Mineralogical Magazine , Volume 80 , Issue 6 , October 2016 , pp. 937 - 948
Copyright
Copyright © The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 2016

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