The volcano ranks among the most destructive and awe-inspiring events on earth. But this fiery outburst does much more than just destroy. They also make.
In a new study, Russian researchers have reported the discovery of such a composition – an unusual mineral documented by scientists: an attractive, vibratically blue and green crystalline substance that the team calls petrovite.
The mineral was found in the volcanic landscape of Russia’s Far East, on top of the Tolbachik volcano in the Kamchatka Peninsula.
Petrovite’s blue cryptocrystalline crusts. (Filatov et al., Minarra Logical Magazine, 2020)
Tolbachik’s explosive history spans thousands of years, but in recent times, two significant events have occurred: the ‘Great Tolbachian Fisher Outbreak’ of 1975–1976, and the second, the less follow-up that took place between 2012–2013.
The eruption of the eruption during the first incident tore down numerous cinder cones in the volcanic complex, then opened up rocky terrain which has since been found to be rich in veins of fumarol deposits and unknown minerals never seen anywhere else.
In total, the Tolbachik volcano is claimed to have 130 types of local minerals, the most recent being the petrovite, a sulfate mineral that takes the shape of a blue globular aggregate of tabular crystals, including many aerated ones.
The specimen studied here was found in 2000, close to the second cinder cone associated with the 1975 rupture, and was stored for subsequent analysis. It may have been a long time coming, but that analysis now reveals that this blue-blue mineral exhibits a strange molecular hallmark that has only been seen before.
Stanislav Filatov, lead researcher and crystallographer at the University of St. Petersburg, explains that the copper atom in the crystal structure of Petrovite has an unusual and very rare combination of seven oxygen atoms.
“Such integration is characteristic of only a few compounds, as well as saranchinite.”
Individual grain of petrovite. (Filatov et al., Minarra Logical Magazine, 2020)
Sarantinite, created by a St. Petersburg team a few years ago, was also found on Tolbachik – and, like Petrovite, is colored in its own part.
In the case of petrochemicals, the mineral, which is believed to be crystallized by direct precipitation from volcanic gases, encapsulates fine pyroclastic material as blue cryptocrystalline crusts.
At the chemical level, petrowite represents a new type of crystal structure, although it has similarities to the ranch composites from which it can be derived, fictionally speaking.
Notably, the molecular structure of petrovite – consisting of oxygen molecules, sodium sulfur and copper – is effectively porous in nature, showing interconnected pathways that can enable sodium ions to migrate into the structure.
Because of that behavior – and if we can mimic the structure in the lab – the team thinks this could lead to important applications in physics, possibly enabling new ways to develop cathodes for use in bat batteries and electrical devices.
Crystal formation showing ways of sodium migration. (Filatov et al., Minarra Logical Magazine, 2020)
“Currently the biggest problem with this use is that there is a small amount of copper-transition metal in the crystal formation of the mineral,” says Filatov.
“It can be solved by synthesizing a compound with the same composition as Petrovite in the laboratory.”
These findings are reported Mineral Log Jikal Magazine.
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