Pyrite is a sulfide mineral and is widely distributed in nature. Pyrite may transform into pyrrhotite when heated at high temperatures. In order to support processing engineering techniques and industrial applications of pyrite and pyrrhotite, it is necessary to investigate synthetic pyrrhotite, which is formed by heating pyrite in air, based on existing research. In this work, the mineralogical characteristics and stability conditions of synthetic pyrrhotite formed by heating pyrite at elevated temperatures were studied. The possible formation pathway was verified using a solid-phase reaction. X-ray-diffraction results revealed that synthetic pyrrhotite differs from natural pyrrhotite in the paragenetic association of minerals. Natural pyrrhotite and magnetite coexist in the natural pyrrhotite sample. Synthetic pyrrhotite formed by heating pyrite at 700℃ for 1 h has the paragenetic association with hematite and a small amount of pyrite and magnetite. All pyrrhotite samples were monoclinic pyrrhotite-4C (Fe7S8) and exhibit minimal differences in terms of lattice parameters. Synthetic pyrrhotite-4C was stable under 0.5–2 h of heating at 700℃ in air. It had the highest relative content by heating for 1 h. It was eventually transformed into hematite with heating periods exceeding 3 h, as was the case for pyrite and magnetite. In air, synthetic pyrrhotite-4C is mainly formed via two pathways: (1) pyrite → pyrrhotite-4C and (2) pyrite → magnetite → pyrrhotite-4C. Pathway (1) is more favorable than pathway (2). This transformation cannot be achieved by the reaction between hematite and sulfur.

Palaeomagnetic−petrographic−structural analyses of Proterozoic–Lower Palaeozoic metamorphosed carbonates from 12 locations within Oscar II Land (Western Spitsbergen) have been carried out to determine their usefulness in palaeogeographic reconstructions for Caledonian time. Structural analyses confirm that metacarbonates record several stages of deformation: D1, D2 ductile phases related to Caledonian metamorphism and a D3 brittle phase related to Late Cretaceous–Paleogene evolution of the West Spitsbergen Fold Belt. The latter is represented by thrust faults, localized folds with strain slip cleavages and late extensional collapse. Petrographic investigations reveal that Caledonian greenschist facies metamorphism was characterized by the high activity of H 2 O−CO 2 −rich fluids which promoted extensive recrystallization and within−rock spatial reorganization of sampled meta carbonates. Microscopic, SEM and microprobe analyses exclude the existence of any primary pre−metamorphic ferromagnetic minerals (primary−related to sedimentation and or early diagenesis) and point to metamorphic 4C superstructure (Fe 7 S 8 ) pyrrhotite as the main ferromagnetic carrier in investigated rocks. This is confirmed by the three−component isothermal remanent magnetization (IRM) procedures and the results of thermal demagnetizations. In 12 sites a total number of 72 independently oriented palaeomagnetic samples were collected from which 181 specimens were drilled and thermally demagnetized. Sampled metacarbonates are weakly magnetized (NRM <0.2mA/m). The statistically significant palaeomagnetic results were achieved only from 1 of 12 investigated sites. In one site situated in the Western overturned limb of the Holmesletfjellet Syncline intermediate unblocking temperatures – “pyrrhotite related” component WTSJ5M superimposed on the S1 Caledonian schistosity was recognized (D = 100.7 ° , I = −21.4 °a 95% = 5.5 ° , k = 58.23). Coincidence of WTSJ5M with Silurian–Devonian sector of the Baltica reference path after unfolding of the syncline by the angle of 130 ° suggests synfolding origin of this direction. Further, this suggests that Holmesletfjellet Syncline originated as an open fold and has been transformed into an overturned syncline during the Late Caledonian shortening or in the Late Cretaceous–Palaeogene time.