Planar and line defects in the sapphirine polytypes

Transmission electron microscopy of various natural and synthetic sapphirines shows the existence of extensive polytypic variation in some samples. In addition to the previously described 1Tc and 2M polytypes, 3Tc, 4M and 5Tc structures are observed. The structural principles underlying the polytypism and the associated diffraction behaviour are reviewed, and the correlation between the nature of the observed stacking faults and their origin during crystal growth, in deformation or as a result of solid-state transformation is discussed. Pairs of c/2 partial dislocations observed in synthetic material provide a likely solid-state transformation mechanism, although the evidence suggests that most observed stacking variation arises during growth.A new type of non-conservative planar defect has been found in sapphirine from Finero, Italy, suggestive of unit-cell scale intergrowth with a surinamite- or pyroxene-like structure. A polysomatic model of the sapphirine and surinamite structures as stackings of pyroxene P and spinel S modules is proposed.