<?xml version="1.0"?>
<!DOCTYPE article SYSTEM "journalpublishing.dtd">
<article article-type="research-article">
<front>
<journal-meta>
<journal-id journal-id-type="archive">gsminmag</journal-id>
<journal-title>Mineralogical Magazine</journal-title>
<abbrev-journal-title abbrev-type="full">Mineralogical Magazine</abbrev-journal-title>
<issn pub-type="ppub">0026-461X</issn>
<publisher>
<publisher-name>Mineralogical Society</publisher-name>
</publisher>
</journal-meta>
<article-meta>
<article-id pub-id-type="doi">10.1180/minmag.1994.058.391.10</article-id>
<article-categories>
<subj-group subj-group-type="heading">
<subject>Mineralogy</subject>
</subj-group>
</article-categories>
<title-group>
<article-title>Nifontovite and Olshanskyite from Fuka, Okayama Prefecture, Japan</article-title>
</title-group>
<contrib-group>
<contrib contrib-type="author">
<name>
<surname>Kusachi</surname>
<given-names>Isao</given-names>
</name>
<aff>Department of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Education, Okayama University, Okayama 700, Japan</aff></contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author">
<name>
<surname>Henmi</surname>
<given-names>Chiyoko</given-names>
</name>
<aff>Department of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Science, Okayama University, Okayama 700, Japan</aff></contrib></contrib-group>
<pub-date pub-type="ppub">
<month>6</month>
<year>1994</year>
</pub-date>
<volume>58</volume>
<issue>391</issue>
<fpage>279</fpage>
<lpage>284</lpage>
<history>
<date date-type="received">
<day>10</day>
<month>8</month>
<year>1993</year>
</date>
<date date-type="rev-recd">
<day>4</day>
<month>10</month>
<year>1993</year>
</date></history>
<copyright-statement>Copyright &#x00A9; 1994, The Mineralogical Society</copyright-statement>
<copyright-year>1994</copyright-year>
<abstract>
<title>Abstract</title>
<p>Nifontovite and olshanskyite, two rare hydrous calcium borate minerals, have been found in crystalline limestone near gehlenite-spurrite skarns at Fuka, Okayama Prefecture. Nifontovite occurs as aggregates of tabular crystals up to 5 cm long and 1.5 cm wide, and rarely as euhedral crystals up to 1 mm long. Olshanskyite occurs as anhedral masses, or as micro-twinned platy crystals up to 1 cm long. Wet chemical analyses give the empirical formulae Ca<sub>3.052</sub>B<sub>5.991</sub>O<sub>6.038</sub>(OH)<sub>12</sub>&#x00B7;1.96H<sub>2</sub>O and Ca<sub>2.888</sub>B<sub>3.997</sub>(OH)<sub>18</sub> on the basis of O = 20 for nifontovite and OH=18 for olshanskyite, respectively. The formulae are consistent with those from type localities.</p>
<p>The X-ray powder data for these minerals were determined with accuracy. The unit cell parameters of nifontovite agree closely with those published previously. X-ray studies show that olshanskyite is triclinic with the possible space group <inline-formula><mml:math><mml:mrow><mml:mi>P</mml:mi><mml:mover><mml:mn>1</mml:mn><mml:mo>&#x00AF;</mml:mo></mml:mover></mml:mrow></mml:math></inline-formula> or <italic>P</italic>1 and <italic>a</italic> = 9.991(5), <italic>b</italic> = 14.740(11), <italic>c</italic> = 7.975(3) &#x00C5;, &#x03B1; = 94.53(4), &#x03B2; = 69.08(3), &#x03B3; = 112.44(5)&#x00B0; and Z = 3. The density 2.19 g cm<sup>&#x2212;3</sup> (meas.) obtained for olshanskyite agrees with the estimated ideal value 2.31 g cm<sup>&#x2212;3</sup> (calc.). Nifontovite was formed by hydrothermal alteration of an anhydrous borate, and olshanskyite was formed by hydrothermal alteration of nifontovite and the anhydrous borate.</p></abstract>
<kwd-group>
<title>Keywords</title>
<kwd>nifontovite</kwd>
<kwd>olshanskyite</kwd>
<kwd>borate</kwd>
<kwd>skarn</kwd>
<kwd>crystalline-limestone</kwd>
<kwd>Fuka</kwd>
<kwd>Japan</kwd>
</kwd-group>
</article-meta>
</front>
</article>
