Edscottite is an iron carbide mineral, with the formula Fe5C2. It was previously known to occur during iron smelting, but in 2019 was identified as occurring in nature, but not naturally occurring on earth, when it was discovered in a meteorite.[1]

The source, the Wedderburn meteorite, was found in 1951 just outside Wedderburn in Australia, and is held in the Museums Victoria collection.[2]

During a re-investigation of a section of the meteorite housed at the University of California, Los Angeles, Chi Ma and Alan Rubin verified the presence of a new mineral. They named it edscottite in honor of Edward (Ed) R. D. Scott of the University of Hawaii, USA, a pioneering cosmochemist.[3]

Further reading

References

  1. ^ Mannix, Liam (2019-08-31). "This meteorite came from the core of another planet. Inside it, a new mineral". The Age. Retrieved 2019-09-01.
  2. ^ "Wedderburn meteorite". Museums Victoria Collections. Retrieved 2019-09-01.
  3. ^ "Edscottite | New Carbon Mineral". mineralchallenge.net. Retrieved 2019-09-01.
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