The Crystallographic Investigation of a Strontium Labradorite

Abstract

Precession photography was used to determine the lattice parameters, the crystal system, the space group and the structure of an artificial Sr-labradorite of composition: Ab27, SrAn73. C= 7.107Å, Ɣ= 90 degrees, β= 115.834 degrees. The crystal system is monoclinic, space group= C2/ m and structure is albite type, reflections being restricted to the 'a' type. The abundance, lithophile characteristics and appropriate ionic radii of elements in Groups IA and IIA are the factors governing their presence as cations of feldspars in nature. The structures of feldspars are discussed as a function of the relative proportion of cations of a charge of +1 and +2. The crystal symmetry (i.e. monoclinicity or triclinicity) is discussed as a function of the ionic radius of the cation.