Earth’s most abundant mineral finally has a name

An ancient meteorite and high-energy X-rays have helped scientists conclude a half century of effort to find, identify and characterize a mineral that makes up 38 percent of the Earth. Earth’s most abundant mineral a high-density form of magnesium iron silicate, is now called Bridgmanite. The mineral was named after 1964 Nobel laureate and pioneer of high-pressure research Percy Bridgman. So the team decided to try a new tactic: non-destructive micro-focused X-rays for diffraction analysis and novel fast-readout area-detector techniques.The X-rays’ high energy, which gives the ability to penetrate the meteorite and their intense brilliance, which leaves little of the radiation behind to cause damage. Bridgmanite grains are rare in the Tenhma meteorite, and they are smaller than 1 micrometer in diameter.This first natural specimen of Bridgmanite came with some surprises: It contains an unexpectedly high amount of ferric iron, beyond that of synthetic samples. Natural Bridgmanite also contains much more sodium than most synthetic samples. Thus the crystal chemistry of natural Bridgmanite provides novel crystal chemical insights.