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A variety of dense polymorphs of elements, oxides and silicates have been found by laboratory high-pressure experiments. In nature, shocked meteorites are the most important sources of high-pressure minerals in addition to impact crater rocks, inclusions in diamond, mantle xenoliths, and ultrahigh-pressure metamorphic (UHP) rocks.
It is not easy to fully characterize such high-pressure minerals because of their very small grain size and low abundance. However, state-of-the-art techniques such as electron microscopy, synchrotron X-ray diffractometry, and micro-Raman spectroscopy enable the identification of such small crystalline grains. As a result, many of the natural high-pressure phases of silicates and oxides have been discovered since 1990s.
Textural, crystallographic and chemical characteristics of meteoritic high-pressure minerals provide us not only the clues to understand the impact events of meteorite parent bodies, but also insights on the structure and dynamics of the deep Earth. This website provides a database of the high-pressure minerals in meteorites and also those in terrestrial rocks.
General references — Shocked meteorites 7 papers
- Gillet P. and El Goresy A. 2013. Shock events in the solar system: the message from minerals in terrestrial planets and asteroids. Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences 41:257–285.
- Rubin A. E. and Ma C. 2017. Meteoritic minerals and their origins. Chemie der Erde - Geochemistry 77:325–385.
- Tomioka N. and Miyahara M. 2017. High-pressure minerals in shocked meteorites. Meteoritics & Planetary Science 52:2017–2039.
- Tschauner, O. 2019. High-pressure minerals. American Mineralogist 104:1701–1731.
- Miyahara M., Yamaguchi A., Saitoh M., Fukimoto K., Sakai T., Ohfuji H., Tomioka N., Kodama Y., and Ohtani E. 2021. Systematic investigations of high-pressure polymorphs in shocked ordinary chondrites. Meteoritics & Planetary Science 55:2619–2651.
- Morrison S. M., and Hazen R. M. 2021. An evolutionary system of mineralogy, Part IV: Planetesimal differentiation and impact mineralization (4566 to 4560 Ma). American Mineralogist 106:730–761.
- Miyahara M., Tomioka N., and Bindi L. (2021) Natural and experimental high-pressure, shock-produced terrestrial and extraterrestrial materials. Progress in Earth and Planetary Science 8, 59.
General references — Impact craters 1 book
General references — Inclusions in diamond 1 paper
General references — Ultrahigh-pressure metamorphic rocks 2 papers
- Liou J. G., Ernst W. G., Zhang R. Y., Tsujimori T., and Jahn B. M. 2009. Ultrahigh-pressure minerals and metamorphic terranes–the view from China. Journal of Asian Earth Sciences 35:199–231.
- Liou J. G., Tsujimori T., Yang J., Zhang R. Y., and Ernst, W. G. 2014. Recycling of crustal materials through study of ultrahigh-pressure minerals in collisional orogens, ophiolites, and mantle xenoliths: A review. Journal of Asian Earth Sciences 96:386-420.
Natural high-pressure minerals
Including potential high-pressure minerals.
Silicate minerals
Under the microscope
Nanometre-scale high-pressure phases in a shocked meteorite (TEM image).
High-pressure minerals approved by IMA
The complete list of high-pressure minerals officially approved by the International Mineralogical Association.
Go to mineral list →Host rocks of high-pressure minerals
Phase diagrams in high-pressure mineralogy
Pressure–temperature phase relations for the key chemical systems of the deep Earth and shocked meteorites.
Synthetic high-pressure minerals
Single crystals of mantle minerals synthesized in high-pressure laboratory experiments.
Single crystal photo gallery →Links
Acknowledgements
This database was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Numbers 15H03750, 23540558 and contributions from the following people:
- Makoto Kimura, National Institute of Polar Research, Japan
- Chi Ma, California Institute of Technology, USA
- Andrew Putnis, University of Münster, Germany
- Zhidong Xie, Nanjing University, China
- Luca Bindi, Università di Firenze, Italy
- Miho Sasaoka, Kochi University, Japan
- Masaki Akaogi, Gakushuin University, Japan
- Richard Wirth, GeoForschungsZentrum Potsdam, Germany
- Narangoo Purevjav, University of Bayreuth, Germany