ALBERT

Description: This thematic issue of The Canadian Mineralogist is a tribute to Emil Makovicky, Professor of Mineralogy and Crystallography at the University of Copenhagen, in recognition of the seminal role that he has played over the last four decades in the area of mineralogy and crystallography, and in particular in the realm of sulfides and sulfosalts.

Description: The alkali feldspars in members of the epizonal Kwandonkaya complex, one of the Younger Granite anorogenic plutons in north-central Nigeria, became frozen in a state of arrested reaction as the complex cooled. High sanidine solid-solution, the liquidus phase expected in porphyritic rocks in early ring-dykes and in cone sheets, has given way to exsolution-induced assemblages involving more ordered species, owing to interaction with an aqueous fluid as a necessary catalyst. The rocks now contain grains of orthoclase perthite, possibly zoned structurally, and structurally intermediate microcline; well-ordered microcline is rather sparse. The three intrusive centers, Buri, Jubga-Ziem and Panshanu, show a progression in terms of the time available for equilibration and the activity of H2O in the melt. The feldspars of this metaluminous complex define a transition from a hypersolvus to a subsolvus texture. We document clear signs of magma degassing in miarolitic pockets in an apical region at the Jubga-Ziem intrusive center. The peraluminous compositions that result, leading to unusual clay-mineral structures surrounding the insoluble accessory phases, are an expression of loss of alkalis due to degassing, and not an attribute of the felsic magma in this association. The prevalence of orthoclase and intermediate microcline in perthite at Kwandonkaya, either separately or coexisting, is considered representative of other centers of Mesozoic A-type granite and syenite emplacement in Nigeria.

Description: 〈div data-abstract-type="normal"〉〈p〉Ferri-fluoro-katophorite is the second species characterised involving the rootname katophorite in the sodium–calcium subgroup of the amphibole supergroup. The mineral and its name were approved by the International Mineralogical Association Commission on New Minerals, Nomenclature and Classification, IMA2015-096. It was found in the Bear Lake diggings, Bancroft area, Ontario, Canada, where coarse euhedral crystals of amphibole, phlogopite, sanidine solid-solution (now coarsely exsolved to microcline perthite), titanite, augite, zircon and fluorapatite crystallised from a low-viscosity silicocarbonatitic magma of crustal origin. Greenish grey prismatic crystals of ferri-fluoro-katophorite generally protrude from the walls into a body of coarsely crystalline calcite, but they also occur away from the walls, completely enclosed by calcite. The empirical formula derived from electron microprobe analysis and single-crystal structure refinement is: 〈span〉A〈/span〉(Na〈span〉0.55〈/span〉K〈span〉0.32〈/span〉)〈span〉Σ0.87〈/span〉〈span〉B〈/span〉(Na〈span〉0.79〈/span〉Ca〈span〉1.18〈/span〉Mn〈span〉2+〈/span〉〈span〉0.03〈/span〉)〈span〉Σ2.00〈/span〉〈span〉C〈/span〉(Mg〈span〉3.29〈/span〉Mn〈span〉2+〈/span〉〈span〉0.02〈/span〉Fe〈span〉2+〈/span〉〈span〉1.19〈/span〉Fe〈span〉3+〈/span〉〈span〉0.31〈/span〉Al〈span〉0.09〈/span〉Ti〈span〉4+〈/span〉〈span〉0.08〈/span〉Li〈span〉0.02〈/span〉)〈span〉Σ5.00〈/span〉〈span〉T〈/span〉(Si〈span〉7.39〈/span〉Al〈span〉0.61〈/span〉)〈span〉Σ8.00〈/span〉O〈span〉22〈/span〉〈span〉W〈/span〉[F〈span〉1.23〈/span〉 (OH)〈span〉0.77〈/span〉]〈span〉Σ2.00〈/span〉. Ferri-fluoro-katophorite is biaxial (–), with α = 1.640(2), β = 1.652(2), γ = 1.658(2), 2V〈span〉meas.〈/span〉 = 68.9(2)° and 2V〈span〉calc.〈/span〉. = 70.1°. The unit-cell parameters are 〈span〉a〈/span〉 = 9.887(3), 〈span〉b〈/span〉 = 18.023(9), 〈span〉c〈/span〉 = 5.292(2) Å, β = 104.66(3)°, 〈span〉V〈/span〉 = 912.3(6) Å〈span〉3〈/span〉, 〈span〉Z〈/span〉 = 2 and space group 〈span〉C〈/span〉2/〈span〉m〈/span〉. The strongest ten lines in the powder X-ray pattern [〈span〉d〈/span〉 values (in Å) 〈span〉I〈/span〉 (〈span〉hkl〈/span〉)] are: 2.708, 100, (151); 2.388, 74, (131); 3.139, 72, (310); 8.449, 69, (110); 2.540, 65, (〈span〉〈span〉〈img data-mimesubtype="gif" data-type="simple" src="http://static.cambridge.org/resource/id/urn:cambridge.org:id:binary:20190709073523038-0660:S0026461X18001305:S0026461X18001305_inline1.gif"〉 〈span data-mathjax-type="texmath"〉 〈/span〉 〈/span〉〈/span〉02); 2.591, 53, (061); 2.739, 47, (〈span〉〈span〉〈img data-mimesubtype="gif" data-type="simple" src="http://static.cambridge.org/resource/id/urn:cambridge.org:id:binary:20190709073523038-0660:S0026461X18001305:S0026461X18001305_inline2.gif"〉 〈span data-mathjax-type="texmath"〉 〈/span〉 〈/span〉〈/span〉31); 2.165, 45, (261); 3.279, 44, (〈span〉〈span〉〈img data-mimesubtype="gif" data-type="simple" src="http://static.cambridge.org/resource/id/urn:cambridge.org:id:binary:20190709073523038-0660:S0026461X18001305:S0026461X18001305_inline3.gif"〉 〈span data-mathjax-type="texmath"〉 〈/span〉 〈/span〉〈/span〉40); 2.341, 43, (〈span〉〈span〉〈img data-mimesubtype="gif" data-type="simple" src="http://static.cambridge.org/resource/id/urn:cambridge.org:id:binary:20190709073523038-0660:S0026461X18001305:S0026461X18001305_inline4.gif"〉 〈span data-mathjax-type="texmath"〉 〈/span〉 〈/span〉〈/span〉51).〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: Agriculture, Vol. 8, Pages 103: Relay Intercropping with Cover Crops Improved Autumn Forage Potential of Sweet Maize Stover Agriculture doi: 10.3390/agriculture8070103 Authors: Leonard M. Lauriault Steven J. Guldan Fernanda G. Popiel-Powers Robert L. Steiner Charles A. Martin Robert F. Heyduck Constance L. Falk Mark K. Petersen Tammy May Maize (Zea mays L.) stover is used globally as winter feed for livestock but the nutritive value is low, requiring supplementation. A 2-year randomized complete block study with three replicates at New Mexico State University’s Alcalde Sustainable Agriculture Science Center compared sweet maize (Zea mays var. rugosa; maize-alone) with sweet maize relay intercropped with oat (Avena sativa L.; maize-oat) or turnip (Brassica rapa L.; maize-turnip). Relay intercropping had no effect (p > 0.05) on sweet maize stover dry matter (DM) yield and there was no difference in aboveground biomass DM yield of the intercropped species. Turnip aboveground biomass had greater crude protein concentration and 48-h in vitro dry matter disappearance (IVDMD) than oat aboveground biomass. Relay intercropping with turnip improved sweet maize stover IVDMD (443, 439, and 515 g IVDMD kg−1 for maize-alone, maize-oat, and maize-turnip, respectively, p < 0.0001). Intercropping increased animal gains compared to maize-alone (0.36, 0.52, and 0.59 kg/day for maize-alone, maize-oat, and maize-turnip, respectively, p < 0.02), likely due to provision of additional crude protein. Relay intercropping oat or turnip into sweet maize is viable for improving sweet maize stover for fall forage. In addition turnip, specifically, had a positive effect on stover nutritive value.