Dense hydrated Mg-silicates in diamond: Implications for transport of HO into the mantle.

Water in Earth's upper mantle is a minor and yet critically important component that dictates mantle properties such as strength and melting behavior. Minerals with stoichiometric water, such as those of the humite group, are important yet poorly characterized potential reservoirs for volatiles in the upper mantle. Here, we report observation of hydroxyl members of the humite group as inclusions in mantle-derived diamond.

Significant Variability in the Photocatalytic Activity of Natural Titanium-Containing Minerals: Implications for Understanding and Predicting Atmospheric Mineral Dust Photochemistry.

The billions of tons of mineral dust released into the atmosphere each year provide an important surface for reaction with gas-phase pollutants. These reactions, which are often enhanced in the presence of light, can change both the gas-phase composition of the atmosphere and the composition and properties of the dust itself. Because dust contains titanium-rich grains, studies of dust photochemistry have largely employed commercial titanium dioxide as a proxy for its photochemically active fraction; to date, however, the validity of this model system has not been empirically determined.

An unprecedented uranyl phosphate framework in the structure of [(UO2)3(PO4)O(OH)(H2O)2](H2O).

The new uranyl phosphate [(UO2)3(PO4)O(OH)(H2O)2](H2O) (1) with an unprecedented framework structure has been synthesized at 150 and 185 degrees C. The structure (tetragonal, P4(2)/mbc, a = 14.015(1) A, c = 13.