Enabling Data Discovery with the Astrobiology Resource Metadata Standard.

As scientific investigations increasingly adopt Open Science practices, reuse of data becomes paramount. However, despite decades of progress in internet search tools, finding relevant astrobiology datasets for an envisioned investigation remains challenging due to the precise and atypical needs of the astrobiology researcher. In response, we have developed the Astrobiology Resource Metadata Standard (ARMS), a metadata standard designed to uniformly describe astrobiology "resources," that is, virtually any product of astrobiology research. Those resources include datasets, physical samples, software (modeling codes and scripts), publications, websites, images, videos, presentations, and so on. ARMS has been formulated to describe astrobiology resources generated by individual scientists or smaller scientific teams, rather than larger mission teams who may be required to use more complex archival metadata schemes. In the following, we discuss the participatory development process, give an overview of the metadata standard, describe its current use in practice, and close with a discussion of additional possible uses and extensions.

Redetermination of brackebuschite, Pb2Mn(3+)(VO4)2(OH).

The crystal structure of brackebuschite, ideally Pb2Mn(3+)(VO4)2(OH) [dilead(II) manganese(III) vanadate(V) hydroxide], was redetermined based on single-crystal X-ray diffraction data of a natural sample from the type locality Sierra de Cordoba, Argentina. Improving on previous results, anisotropic displacement parameters for all non-H atoms were refined and the H atom located, obtaining a significant improvement of accuracy and an unambiguous hydrogen-bonding scheme. Brackebuschite belongs to the brackebuschite group of minerals with general formula A 2 M(T1O4)(T2O4)(OH, H2O), with A = Pb(2+), Ba, Ca, Sr; M = Cu(2+), Zn, Fe(2+), Fe(3+), Mn(3+), Al; T1 = As(5+), P, V(5+); and T2 = As(5+), P, V(5+), S(6+). The crystal structure of brackebuschite is based on a cubic closest-packed array of O and Pb atoms with infinite chains of edge-sharing [Mn(3+)O6] octa-hedra located about inversion centres and decorated by two unique VO4 tetra-hedra (each located on a special position 2e, site symmetry m). One type of VO4 tetra-hedra is linked with the (1) ∞[MnO4/2O2/1] chain by one common vertex, alternating with H atoms along the chain, while the other type of VO4 tetra-hedra link two adjacent octa-hedra by sharing two vertices with them and thereby participating in the formation of a three-membered Mn2V ring between the central atoms. The (1) ∞[Mn(3+)(VO4)2OH] chains run parallel to [010] and are held together by two types of irregular [PbO x ] polyhedra (x = 8, 11), both located on special position 2e (site symmetry m). The magnitude of the libration component of the O atoms of the (1) ∞[Mn(3+)(VO4)2OH] chain increases linearly with the distance from the centerline of the chain, indicating a significant twisting to and fro of the chain along [010]. The hy-droxy group bridges one Pb(2+) cation with two Mn(3+) cations and forms an almost linear hydrogen bond with a vanadate group of a neighbouring chain. The O⋯O distance of this inter-action determined from the structure refinement agrees well with Raman spectroscopic data.

Crystal structure of tetra-wickmanite, Mn(2+)Sn(4+)(OH)6.

The crystal structure of tetra-wickmanite, ideally Mn(2+)Sn(4+)(OH)6 [mangan-ese(II) tin(IV) hexa-hydroxide], has been determined based on single-crystal X-ray diffraction data collected from a natural sample from Långban, Sweden. Tetra-wickmanite belongs to the octa-hedral-framework group of hydroxide-perovskite minerals, described by the general formula BB'(OH)6 with a perovskite derivative structure. The structure differs from that of an ABO3 perovskite in that the A site is empty while each O atom is bonded to an H atom. The perovskite B-type cations split into ordered B and B' sites, which are occupied by Mn(2+) and Sn(4+), respectively. Tetra-wickmanite exhibits tetra-gonal symmetry and is topologically similar to its cubic polymorph, wickmanite. The tetra-wickmanite structure is characterized by a framework of alternating corner-linked [Mn(2+)(OH)6] and [Sn(4+)(OH)6] octa-hedra, both with point-group symmetry -1. Four of the five distinct H atoms in the structure are statistically disordered. The vacant A site is in a cavity in the centre of a distorted cube formed by eight octa-hedra at the corners. However, the hydrogen-atom positions and their hydrogen bonds are not equivalent in every cavity, resulting in two distinct environments. One of the cavities contains a ring of four hydrogen bonds, similar to that found in wickmanite, while the other cavity is more distorted and forms crankshaft-type chains of hydrogen bonds, as previously proposed for tetra-gonal stottite, Fe(2+)Ge(4+)(OH)6.

Calcioferrite with composition (Ca3.94Sr0.06)Mg1.01(Fe2.93Al1.07)(PO4)6(OH)4·12H2O.

Calcioferrite, ideally Ca4MgFe(3+) 4(PO4)6(OH)4·12H2O (tetra-calcium magnesium tetrairon(III) hexakis-phosphate tetra-hydroxide dodeca-hydrate), is a member of the calcioferrite group of hydrated calcium phosphate minerals with the general formula Ca4 AB 4(PO4)6(OH)4·12H2O, where A = Mg, Fe(2+), Mn(2+) and B = Al, Fe(3+). Calcioferrite and the other three known members of the group, montgomeryite (A = Mg, B = Al), kingsmountite (A = Fe(2+), B = Al), and zodacite (A = Mn(2+), B = Fe(3+)), usually occur as very small crystals, making their structure refinements by conventional single-crystal X-ray diffraction challenging. This study presents the first structure determination of calcioferrite with composition (Ca3.94Sr0.06)Mg1.01(Fe2.93Al1.07)(PO4)6(OH)4·12H2O based on single-crystal X-ray diffraction data collected from a natural sample from the Moculta quarry in Angaston, Australia. Calcioferrite is isostructural with montgomeryite, the only member of the group with a reported structure. The calcioferrite structure is characterized by (Fe/Al)O6 octa-hedra (site symmetries 2 and -1) sharing corners (OH) to form chains running parallel to [101]. These chains are linked together by PO4 tetra-hedra (site symmetries 2 and 1), forming [(Fe/Al)3(PO4)3(OH)2] layers stacking along [010], which are connected by (Ca/Sr)(2+) cations (site symmetry 2) and Mg(2+) cations (site symmetry 2; half-occupation). Hydrogen-bonding inter-actions involving the water mol-ecules (one of which is equally disordered over two positions) and OH function are also present between these layers. The relatively weaker bonds between the layers account for the cleavage of the mineral parallel to (010).