Structural interpretation on silicate network of various silicate minerals by LMMS analysis

Silicates have several kinds of silicate tetrahedral network. Thirteen kinds of silicate minerals with 5 kinds of network structures have been analyzed with laser microprobe mass spectrometry (LMMS) and their spectra showed characteristic patterns according to their network structures. The Si-O fragment ions can be expressed as SiO n (n ≤ 4) for nesosilicates, Si m O3m±1 for inosilicates, Si m O5/2m±(m/2+1) for phyllosilicates and Si m O2m±(m+1) for tectosilicates. The Si-O system in the fragment ions in LMMS spectra suggests the pattern of network of tetrahedral SiO4.