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- Title
Global Crystallographic Texture of Pyrite in Fossil Wood (Jurassic, Oryol Region, Russia).
- Authors
Pakhnevich, Alexey; Nikolayev, Dmitry; Lychagina, Tatiana
- Abstract
Simple Summary: Fossil wood of the Jurassic period from the Oryol region, Russia was studied using a non-destructive method. The method is based on the high penetrating power of neutrons into matter. The organic matter of the wood was replaced by the mineral pyrite. The distribution of pyrite crystal orientations in the fossil wood and pyrite nodules from the same locality was compared. It was found that mineral crystals replacing fossil wood are more ordered than these mineral crystals in the nodules. This fact confirms the idea that, in the future, using an organic matrix, it is possible to grow crystals in given directions, planning in advance the properties of new materials. It was also concluded that one can assume the origin of the studied objects by analyzing the distribution of their crystal orientations. It may be useful in the search for mineral matter of biogenic origin. Many works are devoted to the study of the crystallographic texture of primary skeletal minerals of animals. But how the directions of mineral crystals that replace the organic matter in the fossil state are oriented is unknown. Here we investigated the crystallographic texture of pyrite grown on an organic matrix and without it. Jurassic pyritized wood (Middle Jurassic, Callovian) was studied by the neutron diffraction method. The global crystallographic texture of pyrite in nodules and fossil wood is compared. It was found that in both cases, the isoline patterns of pole figures and texture sharpness are similar to the same characteristics of abiogenic calcite. But the orientations of pyrite crystals in wood are more ordered, the isolines are closer, and the regions of maximum pole density are wider. That is, the pyrite crystals that replaced the petrified wood are more ordered. This was influenced by the organic matrix on which the crystals grew. Repetition of a fossil mollusk shell shape without using its shell as a matrix for crystal growth does not lead to an increase in the crystallographic texture sharpness. This is illustrated by an example of the inner core calcite shell of the gastropod mollusk Bellerophon sp.
- Subjects
RUSSIA; CRYSTAL texture; FOSSIL trees; MINERALS; PYRITES; CRYSTAL orientation; JURASSIC Period
- Publication
Minerals (2075-163X), 2023, Vol 13, Issue 8, p1050
- ISSN
2075-163X
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.3390/min13081050