Kuratite
The iron-rich partner of rhönite, found in an angrite.
Key facts
- Formula
- Ca4(Fe2+10Ti2)O4[Si8Al4O36]
- Family
- Silicates
- Crystal system
- Triclinic
- First described
- the D'Orbigny angrite, 2014
Kuratite was approved as a new mineral in 2014 from the D'Orbigny angrite. It is named after Gero Kurat (1938–2009), curator of the meteorite collection of the natural history museum in Vienna. It is known only from meteorites.
What it is
Kuratite has the structure of rhönite, a silicate built of chains and sheets of metal–oxygen and silicon–oxygen groups. In kuratite, iron fills the sites that magnesium fills in rhönite. Its louisfuchsite cousin, also with a rhönite structure, is rich in magnesium.
Where it is found
It occurs with tsangpoite, matyhite, ulvöspinel and iron-rich olivine at grain boundaries in D'Orbigny.
How it is recognised
It is identified by microprobe analysis and electron backscatter diffraction.
Did you know?
The Vienna meteorite collection, which Kurat looked after, is one of the oldest and largest in the world.
Rhönite-family minerals occur in meteorites as different as angrites and carbonaceous chondrites.