- journal_title：American Mineralogist
- Contributor：Joel D. Grice ; Allan Pring
- Publisher：Mineralogical Society of America
- Date：2012-
- Format：text/html
- Language：en
- Identifier：10.2138/am.2012.3889
- journal_abbrev：American Mineralogist
- issn：0003-004X
- volume：97
- issue：4
- firstpage：489
- section：Articles
Crystal structures of the three polytypes of veatchite, Sr2B11O16(OH)5·H2O, are determined by X-ray, single-crystal studies. The polytypes are: veatchite-1A, triclinic space group P1̄, with a = 6.6378(6), b = 6.7387(6), c = 20.982(2) Å, α = 87.860(1), β = 82.696(12), γ = 60.476(1)°, V = 809.7(2) Å3; veatchite-1M, monoclinic space group P21, with a = 6.7127(4), b = 20.704(1), c = 6.6272(4) Å, β = 119.209(1)°, V = 805.4(2) Å3; and veatchite-2M, monoclinic space group Cc with a = 6.6070(3), b = 11.7125(5), c = 20.6848(9) Å, β = 91.998(1)°, V = 1599.7(2) Å3. The crystal structures have two layer types with similar fundamental building blocks: A layer FBB = 3Δ2□:<Δ2□>-<2Δ □> and B layer FBB = 3Δ2□,1Δ:<Δ2□>-<2Δ □>,Δ (Grice et al. 1999). Unique in this FBB is the lone polyhedron with triangular coordination, which consists of a neutrally charged [B(OH)3] group. Layering has a directional component and depending on layer sequence the symmetry may be centrosymmetric or non-centrosymmetric. Related layered borate structures, biringuccite, nasinite, gowerite, and volkovskite, are compared. Observations indicate that veatchite-1A is the low-temperature and low-pressure polytype, veatchite-1M the high-temperature polytype, and veatchite-2M the moderate temperature and higher pressure polytype.