Mineral discovery points to ancient meteorite impacts
Posted: Wed Sep 02, 2015 7:36 am
From Curtin University news site.
The abstract is here.
A team of Curtin University geoscientists has discovered the earliest known occurrence of reidite, one of Earth’s rarest minerals. At 1.2 billion years, the finding is more than double the age of the previous oldest known occurrence at 450 million years.
Working with the University of St Andrews, the team, led by Professor Steven Reddy from the Institute for Geoscience Research (TIGeR) at Curtin’s Western Australian School of Mines, discovered the reidite in shocked zircon from impact ejecta at Stac Fada in Scotland. He said reidite is important because it is only known to form in nature during meteorite impact events.
The abstract is here.