Żabińskiite, ideally Ca(Al_(0.5)Ta_(0.5))(SiO_4)O, a new mineral of the titanite group from the Piława Górna pegmatite, the Góry Sowie Block, southwestern Poland

Abstract

Żabińskiite, ideally Ca(Al_(0.5)Ta_(0.5))(SiO_4)O, was found in a Variscan granitic pegmatite at Piława Górna, Lower Silesia, SW Poland. The mineral occurs along with (Al,Ta,Nb)- and (Al,F)-bearing titanites, a pyrochlore-supergroup mineral and a K-mica in compositionally inhomogeneous aggregates, ∼120 μm × 70 μm in size, in a fractured crystal of zircon intergrown with polycrase-(Y) and euxenite-(Y). Żabińskiite is transparent, brittle, brownish, with a white streak, vitreous lustre and a Mohs hardness of ∼5. The calculated density for the refined crystal is equal to 3.897 g cm^(–3), but depends strongly on composition. The mineral is non-pleochroic, biaxial (–), with mean refractive indices ≥1.89. The (Al,Ta,Nb)-richest żabińskiite crystal, (Ca_(0.980)Na_(0.015))Σ=0.995(Al_(0.340) Fe^(3+)_(0.029) Ti_(0.298)V_(0.001)Zr_(0.001)Sn_(0.005)Ta_(0.251)Nb_(0.081))Σ=1.005[(Si_(0.988)Al_0.012)O_(4.946)F_(0.047)(OH)_(0.007))Σ=5.000]; 60.7 mol.% Ca[Al_(0.5)(Ta,Nb)_(0.5)](SiO_4)O; is close in composition to previously described synthetic material. Żabińskiite is triclinic (space group symmetry Ai and has unit-cell parameters a = 7.031(2) Å, b = 8.692(2) Å, c = 6.561(2) Å, α = 89.712(11)°, β = 113.830(13)°, γ = 90.352(12)° and V = 366.77 (11) Å3. It is isostructural with triclinic titanite and bond-topologically identical with titanite and other minerals of the titanite group. Żabińskiite crystallized along with (Al,Ta,Nb)-bearing titanites at increasing Ti and Nb, and decreasing Ta activities, almost coevally with polycrase-(Y) and euxenite-(Y) from Ca-contaminated fluxed melts or early hydrothermal fluids.

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