Articles | Volume 38, issue 3
https://doi.org/10.5194/ejm-38-353-2026
https://doi.org/10.5194/ejm-38-353-2026
Research article
 | 
22 Jun 2026
Research article |  | 22 Jun 2026

Dehydration reactions in guano-derived minerals: the taranakite-to-francoanellite transformation

Yuri Galliano, Nicola Campomenosi, Fabio Bellatreccia, Donato Belmonte, Jo De Waele, and Cristina Carbone

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Cited articles

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Short summary
Deposits of bat guano in cave environments host diverse assemblages of secondary minerals, which can go through partial dehydration processes in response to varying environmental conditions. In this article, we investigate the thermodynamics and kinetics which lead guano-derived taranakite to lose part of its structural water and transform into francoanellite. Our results allow us to present evidence-based hypotheses to explain the occurrence of the latter in natural environments.
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