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Richard C. Erd

Publications and source records attributed to Richard C. Erd.

10 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS2013

Hanawaltite, Hg1+6Hg2+[Cl,(OH)]2O3 - A new mineral from the Clear Creek claim, San Benito County, California: Description and crystal structure

Hanawaltite, ideally Hg 1+ 6 Hg 2+ O 3 Cl 2 , is orthorhombic, Pbma (57), with unit-cell parameters refined from powder data: a =11.790(3), b =13.881(4), c =6.450(2) Å, V =1055.7(6) Å 3 , a : b : c =0.8494:1:0.4647, Z =4. The strongest six lines of the X-ray powder-diffraction pattern [ d in Å ( I )( hkl )] are: 5.25 (80)(111), 3.164 (60)(231), 3.053 (100)(041), 2.954 (70)(141), 2.681 (50)(401), and 2.411 (50)(232,341). The mineral is an extremely rare constituent in a small prospect pit near the long-abandoned Clear Creek mercury mine, New Idria district, San Benito County, California. It was found on a single-fracture surface where it is intimately associated with calomel, native mercury, cinnabar, montroydite, and quartz. Individual crystals are subhedral to anhedral, platy to somewhat bladed, and average about 50 μm in longest dimension. The largest known crystal is approximately 0.3×0.3 mm in size and is striated parallel [001]. Hanawaltite is opaque to translucent (on very thin edges), black to very dark brown–black in color, with a black to dark red–brown streak. Other physical properties include: metallic luster; cleavage {001} good; uneven fracture; brittle; nonfluorescent; H <5; calculated density (for the empirical formula) 9.51 g/cm 3 . In polished section, hanawaltite is moderately to strongly bireflectant and is pleochroic white ( R I ) to blue–white ( R 2 ). In reflected plane-polarized light, it is white with orange–red internal reflections in very thin grains and at grain margins. The anisotropy is strong with bright metallic blue rotation tints. Measured reflectance values, in air and in oil, are tabulated. Electron-microprobe analysis yielded Hg 2 O 82.46, HgO 14.27, Cl 3.33, H 2 O [0.34], sum [100.40], less O=Cl 0.75, total [99.65] wt. %, corresponding to Hg 1+ 6.00 Hg 2+ 1.00 [Cl 1.43 (OH) 0.57 ] Σ2.00 O 3.00 , based on O+Cl=5. After the crystal structure was determined, the original microprobe value for Hg 2 O, 96.2, was partitioned in a ratio of 6Hg 2 O:HgO and (OH) was calculated, such that Cl+(OH)=2. The hanawaltite structure consists of undulatory [Hg–Hg] 2+ ribbons which roughly parallel (100). The diatomic [Hg–Hg] 2+ groups have anion tails which, in turn, serve as cross linkages between dimer ribbons through [Hg 2+ O 2 Cl 2 ] planar rhombs. The structure is compared to that of other mercury oxychlorides and each is found to have its own unique structural features. This structural diversity is attributed to the inherent ability of mercury to adopt either metallic or ionic types of bonds. The mineral name honors the late Dr. J. D. (Don) Hanawalt (1903–1987), who was a pioneer in the field of X-ray powder diffraction.

California↗
USGS1993

Edoylerite, Hg32+Cr6+O4S2 a new mineral from the Clear Creek claim, San Benito County, California

Edoylerite is a rare constituent of a small prospect near the long-abandoned Clear Creek mercury mine, New Idria district, San Benito County, California. It is most closely associated with cinnabar, from which it is a primary alteration product, in a host rock composed predominantly of quartz, chalcedony and ferroan magnesite. Edoylerite typically occurs as acicular to stellate crystal groups on and around corroded masses of cinnabar. The mineral is canary yellow to orangish yellow, and possesses a yellow streak and an adamantine luster. The crystallographic, physical and optical properties of edoylerite are described. -after Authors

Mineralogical Record↗
USGS1984

Santaclaraite, a new calcium-manganese silicate hydrate from California.

Santaclaraite, ideally CaMn4(Si5O14(OH))(OH).H2O, occurs as pink and tan veins and masses in Franciscan chert in the Diablo Range, Santa Clara and Stanislaus counties, California. It is associated with four unidentified Mn silicates, Mn-howieite, quartz, braunite, calcite, rhodochrosite, kutnahorite, baryte, harmotome, chalcopyrite and native copper. Santaclaraite is triclinic, space group B1, a 15.633(1), b 7.603(1) , c 12.003(1) A, alpha 109.71(1)o, beta 88.61(1)o, gamma 99.95(1) o, V 1322.0(3) A3; Z = 4. The strongest lines of the X-ray pattern are 7.04(100), 3.003(84), 3.152(80), 7.69(63), 3.847(57) A. Crystals are lamellar to prismatic (flattened on (100)), with good cleavage on (100) and (010); H. 61/2 Dcalc. 3.398 g/cm3, Dmeas. 3.31 (+ or -0.01); optically biaxial negative, alpha 1.681, beta 1.696, gamma 1.708 (all + or - 0.002), 2Valpha 83 (+ or -1)o. Although chemically a hydrated rhodonite, santaclaraite dehydrates to Mn-bustamite at approx 550oC (in air) . Santaclaraite is a five-tetrahedral-repeat single-chain silicate and has structural affinities with rhodonite, nambulite, marsturite, babingtonite and inesite.-J.A.Z.

American Mineralogist↗
USGS1978

Ferroaxinites from the Feather River area, northern California, and from the McGrath and Russian Mission quadrangles, Alaska

In the Feather River area, California, and in the McGrath quadrangle, Alaska, axinite-bearing veins occur as fracture fillings along or near the fault zones, suggesting that boron was introduced along the fractures. An unusual occurrence of axinite as a possible primary constituent of a plutonic rock is in the Russian Mission quadrangle, Alaska. The four analyzed axinites from these widely different localities and from different host rocks are surprisingly similar in chemistry and optics. All are ferroaxinites, having high iron and low manganese and magnesium contents. The number of calcium ions is very close to two, which is in agreement with the idealized formula Ca 2 (Fe,Mn,Mg)Al 2 BSi 4 O 15 (OH). The indices of refraction increase slightly with increasing FeO:MgO ratio over the small range studied.

California, Alaska↗
USGS1968

Hypogene veins of gibbsite, pyrolusite, and lithiophorite in Nye County, Nevada

Gibbsite, lithiophorite, pyrolusite, and goethite, plus discrete mixtures of gibbsite and lithiophorite and of gibbsite and iron oxide, occur as replacement veins in limestone. Minor accessories are barite, alunite, opal. Minerals of wall-rock alteration are garnet, idocrase, K-feldspar, prehnite, sericite, and quartz. These silicates formed at higher temperature than the vein minerals, but the whole sequence is considered to be a product of the same solutions, of deep-seated origin, deposited over a long period of time.

Nevada↗
USGS1960

Core logs from five test holes near Kramer, California

In 1957, five test holes were drilled near Kramer, Calif., in the western Mojave Desert, for the U.S. Geological Survey. The drill sites are in topographic basins where gravimetric and geologic surveys indicated the presence, beneath alluvium, of a thick section of Quaternary and Tertiary sedimentary and volcanic rocks. Two holes, which were deeper tests at sites drilled in 1954, cored only silts, sands, and gravels: Four Corners test hole. 1 was drilled in sec. 20, T. 10 N., R. 6 W., to a depth of 3,500 feet. Four Corners test hole 2, in sec. 5, T. 10 N., R. 8 W., was drilled to 2,328 feet. Three holes which were drilled at new sites north of Kramer Junction, the intersection of U.S. Highways 395 and 466 and locally known as Four Corners, penetrated colemanite-bearing sediments. The location and total depth of these holes, are as follows: Four Corners test hole 3, sec. 18, T. 11 N., R. 6 W., depth 2,568. feet; Four Corners test hole 4, near the north edge of sec. 30, T. 11 N., R. 6 W., 1 depth 3,500 feet; Four Corners test hole 5, near the south edge of sec. 30, depth 1,604 feet. The sections of rocks penetrated in these 3 holes are similar. In each, the colemanite is in fine-grained sediments; these lie below sands and gravels, which are about 600 to 800 feet thick, and are underlain by sandstones and conglomerates. Colemanite is most abundant in the cores from Four Corners test hole 5, particularly in the 76 feet of core recovered between depths of 1,051 and 1,131 feet. Chemical analysis indicates that in this section of core the average content of BaOs is above 14 percent. In addition to colemanite, the cores contain sulfides of arsenic, an unusual iron sulfide, and zeolites. This mineral ,content of the colemanite-bearing sediments north of Kramer Junction (Four Corners), together with the general lithology of the lake beds and the occurrence of the sediments as a tilted section of beds below sands and gravels, supports correlation with the upper or marginal parts of the borate-bearing sediments at the Kramer borate mining district, which have similar features. There is, however, no evidence that any beds are exactly equivalent in age.

Bulletin↗
USGS1958

Core logs from five holes near Kramer, in the Mojave Desert, California

In 1957, five test holes were drilled near Kramer, California, in =he western Mojave Desert. The drill sites are in topographic basins where gravimetric and geologic surveys indicated the presence, beneath alluvium, of a thick section of Quaternary and Tertiary sedimentary and volcanic rocks. Two holes which were deeper tests at sites drilled in 1954 cored only silts, sands and gravels: Four Corners test hole No. 1 was drilled in sec. 20, T. I0 N., R. 6 W., to a depth of 3,500 feet. Four Corners No. 2, in sec. 5, T. I0 N., R. 8 W., was drilled to 2,328 feet. Three holes which were drilled at new sites north of the intersection of U. S. Highways 395 and 466, locally known as Four Corners, encountered colemanite-bearing sediments. The locations and total depths of these holes are as follows: Four Corners No. 3, sec. T. 11 N., R. 6 W., depth 2,568 feet; Four Corners No. 4, near northern edge of sec. 30, T. ll N., R. 6 W., depth 3,500 feet; Four Corners No. 5, near southern edge of sec. 30, depth 1,604 feet. The sections of rocks encountered in these three holes are similar. In each, the colemanite is in fine-grained sediments that lie below sands and gravels, which are about 600 to 800 feet thick, and are underlain by sandstones and conglomerates. Colemanite is most abundant in the cores from Four Corners to hole No. 5, particularly in the 76 feet of core recovered between depths of 1,051 and 1,131 feet. Chemical analysis shows that in this section of core the average content of B203 is above 14 percent. In addition to colemanite, the cores contain sulfides of arsenic, an unusual iron sulfide, and zeolites. This mineralogy of the colemanite-bearing sediments north of Four Corners, together with the general lake bed lithology and the occurrence as a tilted section of beds below sands and gravels, supports correlation with the upper or marginal parts of the borate-bearin8 sediments at the Kramer borate mining district, which have similar features. There is, however, no evidence that any beds are exactly equivalent in age.

Open-File Report↗
USGSDate not supplied

Garnet types from the Cazadero area, California

This is the third in a series of papers on glaucophane schists from the Franciscan Formation near Cazadero, California. Previous papers describe three distinct types of glaucophane-bearing Franciscan metamorphic rocks near Cazadero. The purpose of this study is to investigate the garnets present in metamorphic types III (bedrock schists) and IV (tectonic blocks) as defined by Coleman & Lee (1963). Twenty-four garnet analyses are presented. Sixteen of these are from (aragonite-bearing) type III glaucophane schists, and eight are from type IV glaucophane schists. Type IV rocks include California eclogites. Type III rocks include metabasalt, metachert, metashale, meta-ironstone, and metacarbonate that were formed under high pressure and relatively low temperature. These rocks contain garnets that display a wide range of composition, but the dominant molecules represented are consistently almandine, spessartine, and grossular. Type IV rocks are mainly metabasalts that were probably formed under higher temperatures and pressures than type III rocks. There is a distinct difference between garnets from type III rocks and those from type IV (including eclogites); the lattercontain less spessartine and more pyrope, and the dominant molecules are almandine and grossular. The four analyses of garnets from California eclogites have an average pyrope content of about ten molecular per cent, and they extend the range of composition reported for eclogite garnets. Quantitative spectrographic determinations of minor elements are listed for each of the garnets described. The values determined for some of the minor elements have a wide range and a capricious distribution over a few feet of outcrop area. As a group, both the garnets from type III rocks and those from type IV are pyralspites with large contents (as much as 35 molecular per cent) of ugrandite. This unusual admixture of the pyralspite and ugrandite garnet series may have resulted in part from the conditions (high pressures and relatively low temperatures) under which the enclosing rocks were recrystallized.

California↗