Caltech Scientists Find New Primitive Mineral in Meteorite
Posted on June 26, 2012
California Institute of Technology (Caltech) scientists have found a new primitive meteorite in the Allende meteorite, which exploded in the atmosphere and distributed pieces over Chihuahua, Mexico in 1969. The scientists believe the mineral, dubbed panguite, is one of the oldest minerals formed in the solar system. Panguite embedded in a piece of the Allende meteorite is pictured in the image above.
The new titanium oxide is named after Pan Gu, the giant from ancient Chinese mythology who established the world by separating yin from yang to create the earth and the sky.
The mineral and the mineral name have been approved by the International Mineralogical Association's Commission on New Minerals, Nomenclature and Classification. A paper outlining the discovery and the properties of this new mineral can be found here in the July issue of the journal American Mineralogist.
Chi Ma, a senior scientist and director of the Geological and Planetary Sciences division's Analytical Facility at Caltech and corresponding author on the paper, says, "Panguite is an especially exciting discovery since it is not only a new mineral, but also a material previously unknown to science."
Photo: Chi Ma / Caltech
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