Calcium sulfate hemihydrate (Bassanite) crystals in the wood of the tamarix tree

Steve Weiner*, Iddo Pinkas, Anna Kossoy, Yishai Feldman

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

5 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The most abundant mineral produced in the wood and leaves of trees is calcium oxalate monohydrate (whewellite), and after burning the wood the ash obtained is calcite. In the case of the Tamarix sp. tree, the freshly prepared ash is calcium sulfate (anhydrite). The aim of this study is to determine the calcium sulfate mineral phase in the fresh wood of Tamarix aphylla prior to burning. SEM images of the crystals show that they express smooth faces, are about 5–15 microns in their longest dimensions and are located in the ray cells. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and Raman microspectroscopy of the crystals in the wood and after extraction, both showed that the crystals are composed of calcium sulfate hemihydrate (bassanite). As elemental analyses of the crystals showed that in addition to calcium and sulfur, around 20 atom percent of the cations are sodium and potassium, we also obtained an X-ray powder diffraction pattern. This pattern excluded the possibility that the crystals are composed of another related mineral, and confirmed that, indeed, the crystals in the T. aphylla wood are composed of calcium sulfate hemihydrate (bassanite).

Original languageEnglish
Article number289
Number of pages8
JournalMinerals
Volume11
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Mar 2021

Funding

We thank Valentina Caracuta for identifying the species of Tamarix that we are analyzing and that the crystals are in the ray cells. I.P. is the incumbent of the Sharon Zuckerman research fellow chair. Author contributions - I.P. was responsible for the Raman spectroscopy, Y.F. for the X-ray diffraction and A.K. and S.W. for the SEM and EDS analyses. All the authors participated in the analysis of the results and the writing of the paper. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Geotechnical Engineering and Engineering Geology
  • Geology

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