Structural defects and twinning

No crystal has 100% flawless structure

Crystal defects
Defects can affect Strength Conductivity Deformation style Color

Crystal Defects
Steel spheres:
a) Regular packed array with 3 point defects b) Point and line defects c) Mosaic (or domains) separated by defect boundaries

Fig 3.50 of Klein and Hurlbut, Manual of Mineralogy, John Wiley and Sons

Point defects
Higher density of defects at higher T Defects represent disorder - disorder favored at higher T Point defects
Vacant sites Atoms out of correct position Extraneous atoms Substituted atoms

Crystal Defects
1. Point Defects
a) Schottky (vacancy) - seen with
steel balls in last frame
a) Need to maintain charge balance!

b) Impurity Foreign ion replaces normal one (solid solution) Not considered a defect Foreign ion is added (interstitial) Both combined

a. Schottky defect

b. Interstitial (impurity) defect

Crystal Defects
1. Point Defects
c) Frenkel (cation hops from lattice site to interstitial) = a + b combination

b. Frenkel defect

Line defects
Crystal deformation controlled by crystal structure Planes/locations are favored for deformation based on bond strength Bond breakage doesnt happen throughout entire structure simultaneously
Lump in carpet

Crystal Defects
2. Line Defects
d) Edge dislocation Migration aids ductile deformation

Fig 10-4 of Bloss, Crystallography and Crystal Chemistry. MSA

Crystal Defects
2. Line Defects
e) Screw dislocation (aids mineral growth)

Fig 10-5 of Bloss, Crystallography and Crystal Chemistry. MSA

Planar defects
Mismatch of the crystal structure across a surface Officially grain boundaries count as planar defect

Crystal Defects
3. Plane Defects
f) Domain structure (antiphase domains) Has short-range but not long-range order

Fig 10-2 of Bloss, Crystallography and Crystal Chemistry. MSA

Crystal Defects
3. Plane Defects
g) Stacking faults
Common in clays and low-T disequilibrium A - B - C layers may be various clay types (illite, smectite, etc.) ABCABCABCABABCABC AAAAAABAAAAAAA ABABABABABCABABAB

Twinning
Rational symmetrically-related intergrowth Lattices of each orientation have definite crystallographic relation to each other A variety of planar structural defect

Twinning
Aragonite twin
Note zone at twin plane which is common to each part
Although aragonite is orthorhombic, the twin looks hexagonal due to the 120o O-C-O angle in the CO3 group

Redrawn from Fig 2-69 of Berry, Mason and Dietrich, Mineralogy, Freeman & Co.

Twinning
Twin Operation is the symmetry operation which relates the two (or more) parts (twin mirror, rot. axis)

1) Reflection (twin plane) Examples: gypsum fish-tail 2) Rotation (usually 180o) about an axis common to both (twin axis): normal and parallel twins. Examples: carlsbad twin

3) Inversion (twin center)

Contact & Penetration twins Both are simple twins only two parts

Multiple twins (> 2 segments repeated by same law) Cyclic twins - successive planes not parallel

Polysynthetic twins Albite Law in plagioclase

Twinning
Mechanisms:
1) Growth Growth increment cluster adds w/ twin orientation Epitaxial more stable than random
Not all epitaxis twins

Usually simple & penetration synneusis a special case

Twinning
Mechanisms:
1) Growth Feldspars: Plagioclase: Triclinic Albite-law-striations
a-c a-c

Twinning
Mechanisms:
1) Growth Feldspars: Plagioclase: Triclinic Albite-law-striations

Twinning
Mechanisms:
2) Transformation (secondary) SiO2: High T is higher symmetry

cyclic twinning in inverted low quartz

High Quartz P6222

Low Quartz P3221

Twinning
Mechanisms:
2) Transformation (secondary twins) Feldspars: Orthoclase (monoclinic) microcline (triclinic)
Triclinic (low-T) b a-c

Monoclinic a-c (high-T) b

Twinning
Mechanisms:
2) Transformation (secondary) Feldspars: K-feldspar: large K lower T of transformation tartan twins

Twinning
Mechanisms:
3) Deformation (secondary) Results from shear stress greater stress gliding, and finally rupture Also in feldspars. Looks like transformation, but the difference in interpretation is tremendous

Mechanisms:
3) Deformation (secondary) Results from shear stress. Plagioclase

Mechanisms:
3) Deformation (secondary) Results from shear stress. Calcite

Isostructural minerals
2 minerals with identical structure
NaCl, PbS

Different chemical and physical properties, identical symmetry, cleavage, habit

Isostructural group
Group of isostructural minerals realted by common anion or anionic group
Calcite group: calcite, magnesite, rhodochrosite, siderite

polymorphism
Ability of a chemical compound to crystallize with more than 1 structure
SiO2, Al2SiO5, KAlSi3O8

polymorphism
Ability of a chemical compound to crystallize with more than 1 structure
SiO2, Al2SiO5, KAlSi3O8
Stishovite
10

Pressure (GPa)

Coesite

- quartz - quartz
Cristobalite Tridymite
600 1000 1400 1800
o

Liquid

2200

2600

Temperature C

Polymorphism
1. Displacive polymorphism
Pressure (GPa)

quartz at 573oC at atmospheric pressure

Coesite

Low-Quartz

High-Quartz

500

Temperature

Polymorphism
1. Displacive polymorphism
Note: higher T higher symmetry due to more thermal energy (may twin as lower T) Transition involves small adjustments and no breaking of bonds Easily reversed and nonquenchable (low E barrier)
Low High

P6222

P3221

Polymorphism
2. Reconstructive polymorphs
More common: other quartz polymorphs, graphitediamond, calcite-aragonite, sillimanite-kyaniteandalusite Transition involves extensive adjustments, including breaking and reformation of bonds High E barrier, so quenchable and not easily reversed (still find Precambrian tridymite) Stable Unstable Metastable

Pseudorphism
May be confused with polymorphs
A completely different thing
Complete replacement of one mineral by one or more other minerals such that the new minerals retain the external shape of the original one
Limonite after pyrite Chlorite after garnet Brucite after periclase Forsterite after tremolite

Can use the shape to infer the original mineral

Very useful in petrogenetic interpretations