Stishovite is an extremely hard, dense
tetragonal
In crystallography, the tetragonal crystal system is one of the 7 crystal systems. Tetragonal crystal lattices result from stretching a cubic lattice along one of its lattice vectors, so that the cube becomes a rectangular prism with a square ...
form (
polymorph) of
silicon dioxide
Silicon dioxide, also known as silica, is an oxide of silicon with the chemical formula , most commonly found in nature as quartz and in various living organisms. In many parts of the world, silica is the major constituent of sand. Silica is one ...
. It is very rare on the Earth's surface; however, it may be a predominant form of silicon dioxide in the Earth, especially in the
lower mantle
The lower mantle, historically also known as the mesosphere, represents approximately 56% of Earth's total volume, and is the region from 660 to 2900 km below Earth's surface; between the transition zone and the outer core. The preliminar ...
.
Stishovite was named after
Sergey M. Stishov Sergey may refer to:
* Sergey (name), a Russian given name (including a list of people with the name)
* Sergey, Switzerland
Sergey is a municipality in the district of Jura-Nord Vaudois in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland.
History
Sergey is ...
, a Russian high-pressure physicist who first synthesized the mineral in 1961. It was discovered in
Meteor Crater
Meteor Crater, or Barringer Crater, is a meteorite impact crater about east of Flagstaff and west of Winslow in the desert of northern Arizona, United States. The site had several earlier names, and fragments of the meteorite are official ...
in 1962 by
Edward C. T. Chao
Edward Ching-Te Chao (; November 30, 1919 – February 3, 2008) was one of the founders of the field of impact metamorphism, the study of the effects of meteorite impacts on the Earth's crust.
Born in Suzhou, China, he was best known for ...
.
Unlike other silica polymorphs, the crystal structure of stishovite resembles that of
rutile
Rutile is an oxide mineral composed of titanium dioxide (TiO2), the most common natural form of TiO2. Rarer Polymorphism (materials science), polymorphs of TiO2 are known, including anatase, akaogiite, and brookite.
Rutile has one of the highest ...
(TiO
2). The silicon in stishovite adopts an octahedral coordination geometry, being bound to six oxides. Similarly, the oxides are three-connected, unlike low-pressure forms of SiO
2. In most silicates, silicon is tetrahedral, being bound to four oxides.
It was long considered the hardest known oxide (~30 GPa Vickers
[); however, ]boron suboxide
Boron suboxide (chemical formula B6O) is a solid compound with a structure built of eight icosahedra at the apexes of the rhombohedral unit cell. Each icosahedron is composed of twelve boron atoms. Two oxygen atoms are located in the interstices al ...
has been discovered in 2002 to be much harder. At normal temperature and pressure, stishovite is metastable.
Stishovite can be separated from quartz by applying hydrogen fluoride
Hydrogen fluoride (fluorane) is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . This colorless gas or liquid is the principal industrial source of fluorine, often as an aqueous solution called hydrofluoric acid. It is an important feedstock i ...
(HF); unlike quartz, stishovite will not react.
Appearance
Large natural crystals of stishovite are extremely rare and are usually found as clasts of 1 to 2 mm in length. When found, they can be difficult to distinguish from regular quartz without laboratory analysis. It has a vitreous luster, is transparent (or translucent), and is extremely hard. Stishovite usually sits as small rounded gravels in a matrix of other minerals.
Synthesis
Until recently, the only known occurrences of stishovite in nature formed at the very high shock pressures (>100 kbar, or 10 GPa) and temperatures (> 1200 °C) present during hypervelocity
Hypervelocity is very high velocity, approximately over 3,000 meters per second (6,700 mph, 11,000 km/h, 10,000 ft/s, or Mach 8.8). In particular, hypervelocity is velocity so high that the strength of materials upon impact is v ...
meteorite
A meteorite is a solid piece of debris from an object, such as a comet, asteroid, or meteoroid, that originates in outer space and survives its passage through the atmosphere to reach the surface of a planet or Natural satellite, moon. When the ...
impact
Impact may refer to:
* Impact (mechanics), a high force or shock (mechanics) over a short time period
* Impact, Texas, a town in Taylor County, Texas, US
Science and technology
* Impact crater, a meteor crater caused by an impact event
* Impact ...
into quartz
Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon-oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall chemical form ...
-bearing rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
. Minute amounts of stishovite have been found within diamonds, and post-stishovite phases were identified within ultra-high-pressure mantle rocks. Stishovite may also be synthesized by duplicating these conditions in the laboratory, either isostatically or through shock (see shocked quartz
Shocked quartz is a form of quartz that has a microscopic structure that is different from normal quartz. Under intense pressure (but limited temperature), the crystalline structure of quartz is deformed along planes inside the crystal. These pla ...
).
At 4.287 g/cm3, it is the second densest polymorph of silica, after seifertite
Seifertite is a silicate mineral with the formula SiO2 and is one of the densest polymorphs of silica. It has only been found in Martian and lunar meteorites, where it is presumably formed from either tridymite or cristobalite – other polymorph ...
. It has tetragonal
In crystallography, the tetragonal crystal system is one of the 7 crystal systems. Tetragonal crystal lattices result from stretching a cubic lattice along one of its lattice vectors, so that the cube becomes a rectangular prism with a square ...
crystal symmetry, P42/mnm, No. 136, Pearson symbol
The Pearson symbol, or Pearson notation, is used in crystallography as a means of describing a crystal structure, and was originated by W. B. Pearson. The symbol is made up of two letters followed by a number. For example:
* Diamond structure ...
tP6.
See also
* Coesite
Coesite is a form ( polymorph) of silicon dioxide Si O2 that is formed when very high pressure (2–3 gigapascals), and moderately high temperature (), are applied to quartz. Coesite was first synthesized by Loring Coes Jr., a chemist at the N ...
, a related mineral
* Thaumasite
Thaumasite is a calcium silicate mineral, containing Si atoms in unusual octahedral configuration, with chemical formula Ca3 Si(O H)6( C O3)( SO4)·12 H2O, also sometimes more simply written as CaSiO3·CaCO3·CaSO4·15H2O.
It occurs as colorless ...
, another rare mineral with hexacoordinated octahedral silica
References
External links
Properties of stishovite
{{Impact cratering on Earth
Superhard materials
Impact event minerals
Tetragonal minerals
Minerals in space group 136
Silica polymorphs
Soviet inventions