The situation of Xieite in the aerolite
Mineralogists from the CAS Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry (GIG) recently discovered Xieite, a chromium-iron oxide in its natural state. It has been authorized as a new mineral by Commission on New Minerals Nomenclature and Classification under the International Mineralogical Association (CNMNC-IMA).
In addition to diamond, according to experts, it is the 10th ultra-high pressure (UHP) mineral recognized in the world so far. The other nine UHP minerals include oesite, stishovite, seifertite, ringwoodite, wadsleyite, majorite, akimotoite, lingunite and tuite.
The diamond-like super-crystalline mineral was first recovered from an aerolite fallen in Suizhou city of central China's Hubei Province. Although it is from the space, explain researchers, this new discovery is of significance for understanding the deep underground of the Earth, especially the composition and structure of the mantle material 500 kilometers below the Earth surface.
The new finding is named after XIE Xiande, a GIG mineralogist of world renown who has made major contribution to the field of mineral shock effects, says CHEN Ming, one of the discoverers of the new mineral and director of the GIG Laboratory of Extreme Condition Geology and Geochemistry. Prof. Xie was elected as the IMA chairman and a foreign academician in Russian Academy of Sciences in 1990 and1994, respectively.
