The mineralogy of Gadolinium
| General Properties | |
|---|---|
| Symbol: | Gd |
| Atomic Number: | 64 |
| Standard atomic weight (Ar): | 157.25(3) |
| Electron configuration: | [Xe] 4f7 5d1 6s2 |
| Photos | ||
|---|---|---|
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| < | Ultrapure amorphous gadolinium | > |
| Atomic Properties | |
|---|---|
| Electronegativity (Pauling scale): | 1.2 |
| Atomic Radius: | 233 pm |
| Ionic Radius: | 93.8 pm (+3) |
| 1st Ionization energy: | 593 kJ/mol |
| 1st Electron affinity: | -50 kJ/mol |
| Oxidation States: | 1,2,3 |
| Physical Properties | |
|---|---|
| Standard State: | solid |
| Bonding Type: | metallic |
| Melting Point: | 1586 K |
| Boiling Point: | 3523 K |
| Density: | 7.9 g/cm3 |
| Metal/Non-Metal: | lanthanoid |
| Main isotopes of Gadolinium | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Isotope | % in Nature | Half Life | Decay type | Decay product |
| 152Gd | 0.20% | 1.08×1014y | α | 148Sm |
| 154Gd | 2.18% | - | α ? | 150Sm |
| 155Gd | 14.80% | - | α ? | 151Sm |
| 156Gd | 20.47% | - | Spontaneous fission ? | |
| 157Gd | 15.65% | - | Spontaneous fission ? | |
| 158Gd | 24.84% | - | Spontaneous fission ? | |
| 160Gd | 21.86% | >1.3×1021y | β-β- ? | 160Dy |
| Main ions of Gadolinium | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Ion | Example minerals | ||
| gadolinium(II) | Gd2+ | |||
| gadolinium(III) | Gd3+ | |||
| Other Information | |
|---|---|
| Year Discovered: | 1880 |
| Discovered By: |  Jean Charles Galissard de Marignac |
| Year Isolated: | 1886 |
| Isolated By: |  Lecoq de Boisbaudran |
| Named For: |  Johan Gadolin |
| CPK color coding: | #45FFC7 |
| External Links: | WikipediaWebElementsLos Alamos National LaboratoryTheodore Gray's PeriodicTable.com |
| Simple Compounds | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Nitrides | gadolinium nitride | GdN | +3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Selenides | gadolinium selenide | GdSe | +2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tellurides | digadolinium tritelluride | Gd2Te3 | +3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Fluorides | gadolinium trifluoride | GdF3 | +3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chlorides | gadolinium trichloride | GdCl3 | +3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bromides | gadolinium tribromide | GdBr3 | +3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Iodides | gadolinium diiodide | GdI2 | +2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| gadolinium triodide | GdI3 | +3 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Oxides | digadolinium trioxide | Gd2O3 | +3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mineral Diversity of Gadolinium | |
|---|---|
| 5. Carbonates | 1 valid mineral species |
| 8. Phosphates, Arsenates, Vanadates | 2 valid mineral species |
| Total: | 3 valid species containing essential Gadolinium |
| Geochemistry of Gadolinium | |
|---|---|
| Goldschmidt classification: | Lithophile |
| Gd3+ was one of the ions least depleted from the mantle in the formation of the crust. | |
| Gd3+ is enriched in Ca-Al-rich inclusions in meteorites relative to the composition of the solar system. | |
| Gd3+ is concentrated in residual soils and sediments (less certainty.) | |
| Elemental Abundance for Gadolinium | ||
|---|---|---|
| Crust (CRC Handbook) | 6.2 x 10-6 | mass fraction, kg/kg |
| Crust (Kaye & Laby) | 6.3 x 10-6 | mass fraction, kg/kg |
| Crust (Greenwood) | 6.1 x 10-6 | mass fraction, kg/kg |
| Crust (Ahrens/Taylor) | 3.300 x 10-6 | mass fraction, kg/kg |
| Crust (Ahrens/Wänke) | 8.140 x 10-6 | mass fraction, kg/kg |
| Upper Crust (Ahrens/Taylor) | 3.800 x 10-6 | mass fraction, kg/kg |
| Upper Crust (Ahrens/Shaw) | 2.800 x 10-6 | mass fraction, kg/kg |
| Sea Water (CRC Handbook) | 7 x 10-13 | mass per volume fraction, kg/L |
| Sea Water (Kaye & Laby) | 7.0 x 10-13 | mass per volume fraction, kg/L |
| The Sun (Kaye & Laby) | 3.7 x 10-7 | atom mole fraction relative to Si=1 |
| Solar System (Kaye & Laby) | 3.3 x 10-7 | atom mole fraction relative to Si=1 |
| Solar System (Ahrens) | 3.30 x 10-7 (1.4%) | atom mole fraction relative to Si=1 (% uncertainty) |
| Element association of Gadolinium in the Mineral World | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| This table compares the known valid mineral species listed listed with Gadolinium and the other elements listed based on the official IMA formula. Note that unlike other sections on this page this includes non-essential elements. The first data column contains the total number of minerals listed with Gadolinium and the element listed for that row. The second data column lists this number as a percentage of all minerals listed with Gadolinium. The final data column compares this percentage against the percentage of all minerals that contain the element listed in each row. Click on a heading to sort. |
| Periodic Table | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Europium << Gadolinium >> Terbium | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Most widespread minerals containing Gadolinium | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| This list of minerals containing Gadolinium is built from the mindat.org locality database. This is based on the number of localities entered for mineral species and is therefore slanted towards minerals interesting to collectors with less coverage of common rock-forming-minerals so it does not give an undistorted distribution of Gadolinium mineral species. It is more useful when comparing rare species rather than common species. |
| Name | Formula | Crystal System | Mindat Localities |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monazite-(Gd) | Gd(PO4) | Monoclinic | 2 |
| Lepersonnite-(Gd) | Ca(Gd,Dy)2(UO2)24(SiO4)4(CO3)8(OH)24 · 48H2O | Orthorhombic | 1 |
| Xenotime-(Gd) | Gd(PO4) | Tetragonal | 1 |
| Photos |
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| Localities with greatest number of different Gadolinium mineral species |
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Spotted a mistake/omission? - These pages are a work in progress, so please send all comments/corrections to jolyon@mindat.org. Thank you.
Constants and physical property data from:
David R. Lide (ed.), CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 85th Edition. CRC Press. Boca Raton, Florida (2005).
Kaye and Laby Tables of Physical & Chemical Constants (2005). Section 3.1.3, Abundances of the elements
A. Earnshaw, N. Greenwood, Chemistry of the Elements, 2nd edition, Butterworth-Heinemann, (1997)
Thomas J. Ahrens (ed.), Global Earth Physics : A Handbook of Physical Constants, American Geophysical Union (1995)
L.B. Railsback, An Earth Scientist's Periodic Table of the Elements and Their Ions : Geology 31:9 p737-740 (2003)
Emsley, J. Nature's Building Blocks: An A-Z Guide to the Elements. New York: Oxford University Press (2001)
