Hutcheonite
A titanium-bearing garnet that grew when a CAI in Allende was altered on its parent asteroid.
Key facts
- Formula
- Ca3Ti2(SiAl2)O12
- Family
- Silicates
- Crystal system
- Cubic
- First described
- the Allende CV3 chondrite, 2014
Hutcheonite was described in 2014 from a CAI in the Allende meteorite. It is named after Ian Hutcheon, an isotope scientist who studied the timing of events in the early Solar System.
What it is
Hutcheonite is a garnet: a silicate of separate silicon–oxygen groups with a compact cubic structure. It is rich in titanium and aluminium.
Where it is found
It occurs with grossular and other secondary minerals in the altered parts of a type B CAI in Allende. These minerals did not form in the solar nebula but later, when fluids on the parent asteroid reacted with the inclusion.
How it is recognised
Grains are a few micrometres across and are identified by electron microscope analysis and electron backscatter diffraction.
Did you know?
Minerals such as hutcheonite help separate what happened near the Sun from what happened later inside an asteroid.
Garnets are among the hardest common silicates.