(Top) SEM-BSE image of carmeltazite (in corundum); scale bar is 200 μm; and (Bottom) phase map of the region highlighted in the top image with a red dashed rectangle (scale bar is 50 μm). — Photo: William L. Griffin, Sarah E. M. Gain, Luca Bindi, Vered Toledo, Fernando Cámara, Martin Saunders and Suzanne Y. O’Reilly · CC BY 4.0
Carmeltazite
A rare zirconium-aluminium-titanium oxide announced in 2019 from Israel's Zebulun Valley.
Intro adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).
Carmeltazite is an IMA-recognized mineral species in the oxides & hydroxide class, with the chemical formula ZrAl₂Ti₄O₁₁.
It crystallizes in the orthorhombic crystal system (space group Pnma).
Key properties: specific gravity 4.122; Reddish brown streak; Metallic luster.
IMA symbol Ctz, IMA status: approved, named in 2018.
Interstitial to, or included in, skeletal corundum xenocrysts in mafic to ultramafic pyroclastic ejecta in volcanic rocks and associated alluvial placers.
It is found associated with Tistarite, corundum, anorthite, osbornite, spinel, Ca-Mg-Al-Si-O glass.
The name is derived from the locality, Mt Carmel, where the first specimens were collected and for the dominant metals in the mineral, titanium, aluminum, and zirconium (“taz”).