• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.367-376
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• 2007

Aenigmatite, $Na_4(Fe^{2+},Ti,Fe^{3+}){_{12}}(Fe^{3+},Si){_{12}}O_{40}$, is a common constituent of sodium-rich alkaline igneous rocks and is classified a an open-branched single-chain silicate. $M\ddot{o}ssbauer$ spectroscopy of three natural aenigmatite specimens were done and the detailed crystal chemistry was obtained. Fitting of $M\ddot{o}ssbauer$ spectra led to the resolution of nine peaks. They consist of three doublets of $Fe^{2+}/oct$ and one merged peak at low velocity matching to two small peaks at high velocity which were assigned to $Fe^{3+}/tet\;and\;Fe^{2+}/oct$, respectively. Using the peak area for $Fe^{2+}\;and\;Fe^{3+}$ peaks, analytical data were recalculated. Precise assignment of $Fe^{2+}\;and\;Fe^{3+}$ ions in tetrahderal and octahedral sites revealed detailed crystal chemistry of aenigmatite. The existence of significant amounts of $Fe^{3+}/tet$ indicates that $Fe^{3+}$ has preference over $Al^{3+}$ for the tetrahedral sites. Crystal chemistry of aenigmatite (AEN1) yields the formula of $(Na_{3.97}Ca_{0.03})(Ca_{0.11}Mn_{0.59}Fe^{2+}{_{8.07}}Ti_{2.07}Mg_{0.70}Fe^{3+}{_{0.43}}Al_{0.04})(Fe^{3+}{_{0.56}}Al_{0.18}Si_{11.26})O_{40}$.