Metazeunerite
Encyclopedia
Metazeunerite is an arsenate mineral with a chemical formula of Cu(UO2)2(AsO4)2·8H2O. The origin of this mineral comes from the dehydration
process that metazeunerite must go through, and it’s association with zeunerite
. As dehydration occurs, zeunerite loses an electron and is then metamorphosed into metazeunerite. Its crystal system is tetragonal and its crystal class is 4/m, which is also called the tetragonal-dipyramidal class because it only has a vertical four-fold rotation axis that is perpendicular to the symmetry plane. When looking at a thin section, metzeunerite is anisotropic, meaning that it has pleochroism. When a mineral is anisotropic, one can see whether it is unaixial or biaxial, depending on how fast the rays of light are moving through the mineral. This mineral is uniaxial negative due to the ordinary ray being slower than the extraordinary ray.
Metazeunerite is an uncommon radioactive secondary mineral found in "arsenic bearing hydrothermal uranium deposits" across the world. This widespread mineral occurs specifically in Europe, western North America, Australia, Brazil and Chili, Namibia, and Kazakhstan. It is currently studied through thermal decomposition by calculating the different levels of dehydration, as zeunerite is transformed into metazeunerite.
Dehydration
In physiology and medicine, dehydration is defined as the excessive loss of body fluid. It is literally the removal of water from an object; however, in physiological terms, it entails a deficiency of fluid within an organism...
process that metazeunerite must go through, and it’s association with zeunerite
Zeunerite
Zeunerite is a green copper uranium arsenate mineral with formula Cu22•10-16. It is a member of the autunite group. Metazeunerite is a dehydration product....
. As dehydration occurs, zeunerite loses an electron and is then metamorphosed into metazeunerite. Its crystal system is tetragonal and its crystal class is 4/m, which is also called the tetragonal-dipyramidal class because it only has a vertical four-fold rotation axis that is perpendicular to the symmetry plane. When looking at a thin section, metzeunerite is anisotropic, meaning that it has pleochroism. When a mineral is anisotropic, one can see whether it is unaixial or biaxial, depending on how fast the rays of light are moving through the mineral. This mineral is uniaxial negative due to the ordinary ray being slower than the extraordinary ray.
Metazeunerite is an uncommon radioactive secondary mineral found in "arsenic bearing hydrothermal uranium deposits" across the world. This widespread mineral occurs specifically in Europe, western North America, Australia, Brazil and Chili, Namibia, and Kazakhstan. It is currently studied through thermal decomposition by calculating the different levels of dehydration, as zeunerite is transformed into metazeunerite.