Taenite 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. ( ...

found naturally on Earth mostly in

iron meteorite Iron meteorites, also known as siderites, or ferrous meteorites, are a type of meteorite that consist overwhelmingly of an iron–nickel alloy known as meteoric iron that usually consists of two mineral phases: kamacite and taenite. Most iron ...

s. It is an

alloy An alloy is a mixture of chemical elements of which at least one is a metal. Unlike chemical compounds with metallic bases, an alloy will retain all the properties of a metal in the resulting material, such as electrical conductivity, ductility, ...

iron Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in f ...

and

nickel Nickel is a chemical element with symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge. Nickel is a hard and ductile transition metal. Pure nickel is chemically reactive but large pieces are slow to ...

, with a chemical formula of and nickel proportions of 20% up to 65%. The name is derived from the Greek ταινία for "band, ribbon". Taenite is a major constituent of

s. In

octahedrite Octahedrites are the most common structural class of iron meteorites. The structures occur because the meteoric iron has a certain nickel concentration that leads to the exsolution of kamacite out of taenite while cooling. Structure Octahedr ...

s it is found in bands interleaving with

kamacite Kamacite is an alloy of iron and nickel, which is found on Earth only in meteorites. According to the International Mineralogical Association (IMA) it is considered a proper nickel-rich variety of the mineral native iron. The proportion iron:ni ...

forming Widmanstätten patterns, whereas in ataxites it is the dominant constituent. In octahedrites a fine intermixture with kamacite can occur, which is called

plessite Plessite is a meteorite texture consisting of a fine-grained mixture of the minerals kamacite and taenite found in the octahedrite iron meteorites. It occurs in gaps (its name is derived from the Greek "plythos" meaning "filling"according tMinda ...

. Taenite is one of four known Fe-Ni meteorite minerals: The others are kamacite,

tetrataenite Tetrataenite is a native metal alloy composed of chemically-ordered L10-type FeNi, recognized as a mineral in 1980. The mineral is named after its tetragonal crystal structure and its relation to the iron-nickel alloy, taenite. It is one of the m ...

, and antitaenite.

Properties

It is opaque with a metallic grayish to white color. The structure is isometric-hexoctahedral ( cubic). Its density is around 8 g/cm³ and hardness is 5 to 5.5 on the

Mohs scale The Mohs scale of mineral hardness () is a qualitative ordinal scale, from 1 to 10, characterizing scratch resistance of various minerals through the ability of harder material to scratch softer material. The scale was introduced in 1812 by th ...

. Taenite is

magnetic Magnetism is the class of physical attributes that are mediated by a magnetic field, which refers to the capacity to induce attractive and repulsive phenomena in other entities. Electric currents and the magnetic moments of elementary particle ...

, in contrast to antitaenite. The structure is isometric-hexoctahedral ( cubic). The crystal lattice has the c≈a= 3.582±0.002 Å. The

Strunz classification Strunz can refer to: * Claudio Strunz (born 1966), Argentine drummer * Claus Strunz (born 1966), German journalist * Thomas Strunz, (born 1968), German soccer player * Strunz classification in mineralogy * Strunz & Farah, a band {{Disambig ...

is I/A.08-20, while the Dana classification is 1.1.11.2.

Meteorite localities with taenite

Campo del Cielo Campo del Cielo refers to a group of iron meteorites and the area in Argentina where they were found. The site straddles the provinces of Chaco and Santiago del Estero, located north-northwest of Buenos Aires, Argentina and approximately south ...

strewn field The term strewn field indicates the area where meteorites from a single fall are dispersed. It is also often used for the area containing tektites produced by large meteorite impact.''Tektites in the geological record: showers of glass from the s ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. * Henbury Meteorites Conservation Reserve in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. * Canyon Diablo in

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

References

*Mason B., 1962: ''Meteorites''. J. Wiley & Sons, New York {{Meteorites Iron minerals Nickel minerals Meteorite minerals Magnetic minerals Cubic minerals Minerals in space group 225 Native element minerals

Properties

Meteorite localities with taenite

See also

References