Meteorite Hunter Discovers New Mineral

Meteorite Hunter Discovers New Mineral

By Adam MannEmail Author June 27, 2012
Hidden within a rock from space is a mineral previously unknown to science: panguite.


The new mineral was found embedded in the Allende meteorite, which fell to Earth in 1969. Since 2007, geologist Chi Ma of Caltech has been probing the meteorite with a scanning electron microscope, discovering nine new materials, including panguite.

Ma and his team have determined that panguite was one of the first solid materials to coalesce in our solar system, roughly 4.567 billion years ago. The mineral’s name is a reference to Pan Gu, a primitive, hairy giant from Chinese mythology who separated yin and yang with a swing of his enormous axe, thereby creating the Earth and sky.

Panguite’s primordial nature means that it was actually around before the Earth and other planets formed, meaning it can help scientists learn more about the conditions in the cloud of gas and dust that gave rise to our solar system.

Geology geeks can note that the mineral’s chemical name is (Ti4+,Sc,Al,Mg,Zr,Ca)1.8O3, meaning that it contains some familiar elements like oxygen, magnesium, and aluminum, but also some more exotic ones like zirconium and scandium. Zirconium in particular is a key element that can help scientists decipher the environment before and during the solar system’s formation.

The International Mineralogical Association’s Commission on New Minerals, Nomenclature, and Classification has approved the new mineral and its name and a paper describing its properties was published online June 26 in American Mineralogist.

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