New Compositional and Structural Constraints on the Smithsonian Microanalytical Reference Materials: Amphiboles from Kakanui and Arenal

Abstract

The amphiboles from Kakanui and Arenal are two natural minerals that have been used worldwide as microanalytical reference materials, but their compositions and crystal structures are still poorly constrained. In this paper, we report new data on H₂O and trace element mass fractions and single-crystal structural refinement of these two amphiboles. H₂O mass fractions of the Kakanui and Arenal amphiboles determined via Karl-Fischer titration are 0.92 ± 0.18 (2s) and 1.56 ± 0.22% m/m (2s), respectively; these values estimated based on crystal-structure refinement are 0.86 and 1.46% m/m, respectively. Trace element mass fractions measured via LA-ICP-MS in two laboratories are in good agreement, and spots from five fragments for both Kakanui and Arenal amphiboles are generally consistent within reproducibility precision (2s). Our measurements indicate a better homogeneity for the amphiboles from Kakanui than that from Arenal. According to the latest scheme for amphibole classification and nomenclature (Hawthorne et al. 2012), the sample from Arenal is a (partially dehydrogenated) pargasite, and that from Kakanui is a kaersutite. The significant amount of oxo-component and that ^CTi⁴⁺ content is strongly ordered at the M(1) site for both amphiboles indicate crystallisation under high fO₂ conditions.