Wüstite (FOV: ~4x3 mm) Locality: Sikhote-Alin meteorite, Paseka village, Sikhote-Alin Mts, Primorskiy Kray, Far-Eastern Region, Russia Original description: Black crust of wustite on surface of meteorite particle, formed during its moving through atmosphere. FOV is ~4x3 mm. Pavel M. Kartashov collection and photo. — Photo: Pavel M. Kartashov · CC BY-SA 3.0
Wüstite
Iron(II) oxide — a gray, iron-deficient mineral of meteorites and reducing environments.
Intro adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).
Wüstite is an IMA-recognized mineral species in the oxides & hydroxide class, with the chemical formula FeO.
It crystallizes in the cubic crystal system (space group Fm3m). It is a member of the Rocksalt structural group.
Key properties: Mohs hardness 5; specific gravity 5.88; Metallic luster.
IMA symbol Wüs, grandfathered status — known before the IMA’s founding, named in 1927.
Formed as an alteration product of other iron-bearing minerals at high temperatures in a highly reducing environment; in highly-reduced iron-bearing basalts; as inclusions in diamonds in kimberlites.
It is found associated with Iron, hematite, magnetite, goethite, akaganéite, lepidocrocite, ilmenite, maghemite, troilite, pyrrhotite, pyrite.
The artificial compound was named for Friedrich Wüst (1860–1938), German metallurgist and Director for Iron Research of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute, Düsseldorf, Germany.