Elkinstantonite is a
mineral
In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid chemical compound with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed. ( ...
with formula that was first generated in a laboratory in the 1980s and first identified from natural origins in 2022, when the official mineral designation was also given. It is
monoclinic
In crystallography, the monoclinic crystal system is one of the seven crystal systems. A crystal system is described by three vectors. In the monoclinic system, the crystal is described by vectors of unequal lengths, as in the orthorhombic s ...
, with
space group
In mathematics, physics and chemistry, a space group is the symmetry group of an object in space, usually in three dimensions. The elements of a space group (its symmetry operations) are the rigid transformations of an object that leave it unchan ...
P2
1''/c'' (space group 14).
History
Elkinstantonite was first identified in nature by scientists from the
University of Alberta
The University of Alberta, also known as U of A or UAlberta, is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford,"A Gentleman of Strathcona โ Alexander Cameron Rutherfor ...
who were given a 70-gram piece of an ancient 15-ton
El Ali meteorite
The El Ali meteorite (also known as Nightfall) is a 15.2 ton (16,800 kg) meteorite that was known to the local population in Somalia for generations, but first scientifically identified in 2020.
Discovery and identification
El Ali was found in ...
that landed in
Somalia
Somalia, , Osmanya script: ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐; ar, ุงูุตูู
ุงู, aแนฃ-แนขลซmฤl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...
and was first noticed by the international scientific community in 2020.
Elkinstantonite was named after
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research.
NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...
scientist
Lindy Elkins-Tanton
Lindy Elkins-Tanton is a planetary scientist and professor; her research concerns terrestrial planetary evolution. She is the Principal Investigator of NASA's ''Psyche'' mission to explore the metallic asteroid 16 Psyche, Arizona State University ...
.
The mineral was identified by Andrew Locock who is employed by the university as the head of its
electron microprobe
An electron microprobe (EMP), also known as an electron probe microanalyzer (EPMA) or electron micro probe analyzer (EMPA), is an analytical tool used to non-destructively determine the chemical composition of small volumes of solid materials. It ...
laboratory,
and classified by geologist Chris Herd. Locock also identified the first natural specimen of
elaliite in the same sample.
Synthetic versions of elkinstantonite were produced in a French laboratory in the 1980s, but could not be categorised as a ''mineral'' until they were found in nature.
References
{{Authority control
Meteorite minerals
Iron(II) minerals
Minerals in space group 13