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Magnetite [Fe3O4]
Structure Cubic
Space Group Fd-3m
(No. 227)
a=8.3941 Å
a=90.00
Z=8
Atomic Positional Parameters
Reference
ME Fleet (1981) Acta Crystallographica
B, 37, 917
Mineral Chemistry
Magnetite has the spinel (MgAl2O4) structure, with a cubic close packed oxygen array, and iron in both fourfold and sixfold coordination; magnetite is frequently observed in nature as octahedral crystals exhibiting {111} faces. Magnetite occurs as an accessory mineral in many igneous and metamorphic rocks; magmatic segregation leads to
magnetite forming large ore bodies.
The CHIME figure shows iron atoms as yellow spheres, and oxygens as red spheres.