In December 2015, the Deep Carbon Observatory launched the Carbon Mineral Challenge to encourage mineral collectors the world over to look for new carbon minerals. The Challenge was inspired by work led by DCO Executive Director Robert Hazen (Carnegie Institution for Science, USA), which predicted at least 145 carbon-bearing minerals remained undiscovered on Earth.
Science News featured the Carbon Mineral Challenge on the cover of their 16 October issue. Click to read the article
Hazen and his colleagues used a type of analysis called Large Number of Rare Events (LNRE) modeling to formulate this prediction, the results of which were published in American Mineralogist earlier this year.
Since the launch, DCO’s Daniel Hummer (Southern Illinois University, USA) has taken the lead on the Carbon Mineral Challenge. During the first 12 months, 40 scientists and collectors from 6 countries found 8 new minerals that have been approved by the International Mineralogical Association. The new minerals include two of the 145 minerals specifically predicted by Hazen et al (2016), but others have unexpected chemical and structural characteristics.
“We’re really excited about what we’re finding,” said Hummer. “It’s great to validate our statistical methods with these finds, but it’s also fascinating to see what nature is capable of. These new forms of carbon will definitely change how we make further predictions.”
For more information about the Carbon Mineral Challenge, visit mineralchallenge.net
Meet the new minerals
Abellaite |
Date December 2015 Notes Named in honor of Catalan gemologist Joan Abella i Creus (born 13 December 1968, Sabadell, Catalonia, Spain) who found the mineral. Hazen et al (2016) predicted abellaite.
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Tinnunculite Common kestrel (Falco tinnunculus). Credit Andreas Trepte, www.photo-natur.de |
Date December 2015 Notes Named after the European Falcon (Falco tinnunculus) since the mineral formed as a product of hot gases from burning carbon reacting with excrement from Falco tinnunculus. |
Marklite Marklite, credit Mindat.org |
Date January 2016 Notes Named after Prof. Dr. Gregor Markl, mineralogist at the University of Tübingen, Germany, who found the type specimen of marklite, and for his numerous studies and books on crustal petrology, and geochemistry, specifically focused on the hydrothermal ore deposits of the Black Forest area. |
Middlebackite Groups of middlebackite crystals associated with atacamite on quartz. The field of view is 1.1 mm across. Credit Peter Elliott. |
Date April 2016 Notes Named for the Middleback Mountain Range in South Australia, where the mineral was found in a large boulder found by the quarry manager, who was not identified by name in the discovery report. |
Leószilárdite Leószilárdite. Credit Travis Olds. |
Date June 2016 Notes Named in honor of Leó Szilárd, Hungarian-born physicist and inventor (1898–1964). The team ended up with only a single specimen with diffraction worthy crystals from their collecting expedition, since the bulk of the mineral occurs as pearlescent masses in very thin plates. |
Ewingite Ewingite. Credit Travis Olds. |
Date June 2016 Notes Ewingite is named in honor of Dr. Rodney C. Ewing, professor of Geological Sciences, Frank Stanton Professor in Nuclear Security, and Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University. Ewingite is currently the most structurally complex mineral known. |
Braunerite |
Date June 2016 |
Parisite-(La) Parisite-(La). RRUFF Database. |
Date August 2016 Notes Hazen et al. (2016) predicted parisite-[La]. |
