A rare mineral was found on the Tolbachik volcano

He was named after the famous Russian crystallographer

The International Mineralogical Association has registered a new, rare mineral found in high-temperature deposits of the Tolbachik volcano in Kamchatka. It was named after the outstanding scientist, famous mineralogist, crystallographer Vladimir Bakakin, who works at the Institute of Inorganic Chemistry named after. A.V. Nikolaev Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The scientist made significant contributions to the field of structural mineralogy.

The Commission on New Minerals, Nomenclature and Classification of the International Mineralogical Association assigned the symbol Bkkn to the new mineral bakakinite (Ca2V2O7).

Bakakinite, according to a paper by the scientific team that discovered it in one of the hottest zones of the volcano, could have formed as a result of the interaction of gas and basalt slag. It is a transparent, colorless or pale yellow mineral with a strong glassy luster.

It is noteworthy that a synthetic analogue of bakakinite was created long before it was found in nature.

According to the discoverer of bakakinite in nature and the lead author of the article, chief researcher at the Department of Mineralogy of the Faculty of Geology of Moscow State University named after M.V. Lomonosov, corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Igor Pekov, this mineral is interesting and valuable primarily as a source of fundamental scientific information in the field of crystal chemistry.

“Many synthetic compounds of this type, such as bakakinite, have useful properties, primarily optical and electrical,” says Pekov. – We must also add that the study of bakakinite and other accompanying minerals of high-temperature volcanic fumaroles (holes located in craters, on slopes and at the foot of volcanoes – Auto.) is also valuable for inorganic chemistry in general. Here minerals crystallize from volcanic gas at temperatures above 300-500 (and sometimes up to a thousand) degrees Celsius. For example, we took samples with bakakinite from a hot, active fumarole in a zone with a temperature of about 450 degrees, and it was formed at an even higher temperature (according to our rough estimate, in the range of 550-700 degrees). There is no such wealth and variety of minerals as in Tolbachik anywhere else in the world. We view these volcanic fumaroles as a kind of “nature’s kitchen”, which gives us an exceptional opportunity to see and understand many things that, for one reason or another, cannot be done in laboratories.

Vladimir Vasilyevich Bakakin, after whom the mineral is named, turned 90 years old this year, and he continues to work actively and fruitfully in science. He is called one of the classics of crystallography and crystal chemistry, including mineralogical.

The only sample of bakakinite found was placed for storage in the systematic collection of the Mineralogical Museum. A.E. Fersman RAS in Moscow.