ringwoodite

Also known as IMA1968-036

thumb|Scanning electron microscope|SEM image of Ringwoodite (RGW) discovered in the Suizhou L6 [[chondrite meteorite. See image for details. ]]

Key facts

Mineral.name: Ringwoodite
Mineral.image: BlueRingwoodite.jpg
Mineral.caption: Crystal (~150 micrometers across) of Fo90 composition blue ringwoodite synthesized at 20 GPa and 1200 °C.
Mineral.category: Nesosilicates Spinel group
Mineral.formula: Magnesium silicate (Mg2SiO4)
Mineral.IMAsymbol: Rgd
Mineral.strunz: 9.AC.15
Mineral.system: Cubic
Mineral.class: Hexoctahedral (mm) H-M symbol: (4/m 2/m)
Mineral.symmetry: Fdm
Mineral.unit cell: a = 8.113 Å; Z = 8
Mineral.colour: Deep blue, also red, violet, or colourless (pure Mg2SiO4)
Mineral.habit: Microcrystalline aggregates
Mineral.diaphaneity: Semitransparent
Mineral.gravity: 3.90 (Mg2SiO4); 4.13 ((Mg0.91,Fe0.09)2SiO4); 4.85 (Fe2SiO4)
Mineral.opticalprop: Isotropic
Mineral.refractive: n = 1.8
Mineral.birefringence: none

via Wikipedia infobox

~7 min read

Encyclopedic overview

8 sections

Contents

Characteristics
Geological occurrences
Synthetic
Crystal structure
Chemical composition
Physical properties
References
External links

thumb|Scanning electron microscope|SEM image of Ringwoodite (RGW) discovered in the Suizhou L6 [[chondrite meteorite. See image for details. ]]

Ringwoodite is a high-pressure phase of Mg2SiO4 (magnesium silicate) formed at high temperatures and pressures of the Earth's mantle between depth. It may also contain iron and hydrogen. It is polymorphous with the olivine phase forsterite (a magnesium iron silicate).

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “ringwoodite” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.