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Ontogeny of baryte crystals grown in a porous medium

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 July 2018

Manuel Prieto
Affiliation:
Departamcnto de Geologia, Universidad de Oviedo, 33005-Oviedo, Spain
Andrew Putnis
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EQ, England
Jose Arribas
Affiliation:
Departamento de Cristalografia y Mineralogia, Universidad Complutense, 28040-Madrid, Spain
Lurdes Fernandez-Diaz
Affiliation:
Departamento de Cristalografia y Mineralogia, Universidad Complutense, 28040-Madrid, Spain

Abstract

The development of the morphology of baryte crystals grown in a silica gel medium is related to the changes in supersaturation. Nucleation occurs when the supersaturation in the system exceeds a threshold value which depends on the supersaturation rate, i.e. the rate at which the supersaturation is changing at the nucleation site. During growth the supersaturation decreases, although a high level of supersaturation is maintained throughout. These experimental results compare well with the morphological development predicted from theoretical models based on the periodic bond chain theory. The ontogeny of natural harytes corresponds, in considerable detail, to the experimental observations made here and strongly suggests that similarly high supersaturations have prevailed in nature. This correspondence indicates that the technique of crystal growth in a porous silica gel medium provides a good experimental model of studying natural growth processes.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 1992

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