Haxonite
A nickel-rich iron carbide found in iron meteorites and some chondrites.
Key facts
- Formula
- (Fe,Ni)23C6
- Family
- Phosphides, carbides, nitrides and silicides
- Crystal system
- Cubic
- First described
- iron meteorites, 1971
Haxonite was described in 1971 from iron meteorites. It is named after Howard Axon, a British metallurgist who studied meteoritic metal.
What it is
Haxonite is a carbide containing more nickel and less carbon than cohenite. It forms in metal with moderate nickel content where carbon is available.
Where it is found
It occurs in some IAB irons and other octahedrites, often in plessite, and in the metal of some primitive carbonaceous and ordinary chondrites, where it may have formed when carbon-rich gases reacted with metal.
How it is recognised
It is identified with a microprobe, often as small grains with high relief in plessite fields.
Did you know?
Howard Axon's name is joined into the mineral name: H. Axon becomes haxonite.
Haxonite in primitive chondrites has been used to study how carbon moved in their parent bodies.