Yellow brown single crystals of the extremely rare mineral majorite from a meteorite fall in Canada, named Peace river meteorite. Ex Vandenbroucke Museum collection from Waregem, Belgium. — Photo: David Hospital · CC BY-SA 4.0
Majorite
A mantle garnet in which silicon sits in octahedral coordination — a high-pressure mineral found in meteorites and mantle rocks.
Intro adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).
Majorite is an IMA-recognized mineral species in the silicate class, with the chemical formula Mg₃(MgSi)(SiO₄)₃.
It crystallizes in the tetragonal crystal system (space group I4_1/a). It is a member of the Garnet structural group.
Key properties: Mohs hardness 7–7.5; specific gravity 4; refractive index 1.895; optically isotropic.
IMA symbol Maj, IMA status: approved, named in 1969.
Formed from low-calcium, high-aluminum pyroxene, olivine, and shock-induced glass, by high-pressure impact metamorphism in bolides.
It is found associated with Pyroxene, ringwoodite, olivine, kamacite, goethite, troilite.
The name refers to Alan Ma jor, who assisted A.E. Ringwood in the high-pressure synthesis of garnet from pyroxene.