Yoshiokaite
A shocked-glass calcium aluminosilicate discovered in Apollo 14 lunar regolith — the first new mineral from the lunar highlands.
Intro adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).
Yoshiokaite is an IMA-recognized mineral species in the silicate class, with the chemical formula Ca₁₋ₓ(Al,Si)₂O₄.
It crystallizes in the hexagonal crystal system (space group P-3). It is a member of the Tridymite-Nepheline structural group.
Key properties: optically uniaxial.
IMA symbol Yos, IMA status: approved, named in 1989.
A metastable phase, as shocked crystal fragments and in devitrified glasses in a regolith breccia. The glass may have resulted from shock melting of alkali anorthite on the ancient lunar highlands.
It is found associated with Glass.
The name refers to T. Yoshioka (1935–1983), who studied the synthetic phase.