A rare mineral called tranquillityita, which had only been found in rock samples from the Moon for over 40 years , was discovered in Australia, confirmed scientific sources.
"It's amazing that all this time there tranquillityita in rocks from Earth and about 40 years have passed since it was found on the moon to be detected," said Birger Rasmussen, who led the team of the Curtin University that made the discovery.
The tranquillityita named Sea of Tranquility , a surface of the moon where the rare mineral was first found near the pyroxferroite armalcolita and during the expedition of the Apollo XI in 1969.
The latter two minerals are found on Earth in the years after that trip to the moon, and two years ago was detected in samples of rock taken tranquillityita in Western Australia. After lengthy and exhaustive analysis confirmed that equals the mineral found on the moon, said Rasmussen.
Find by chance
According to the geologist, the development of science since 1969, which now allow the stones to grind very fine powder to be subjected to isotopic analysis or to determine its age, was very useful to detect the presence of tranquillityita on Earth.
The discovery of this rare mineral happen by chance , when the group of scientists was "carefully examining slices of rock with an electron microscope to detect," said Rasmussen.
This mineral, reddish brown, shaped like tiny needles thinner than the diameter of human hair, and its composition contains mainly silica, zirconium, titanium and iron.
The tranquillityita, which until now has been detected in six locations in Western Australia, is present in igneous rocks such as dolerite , which is popularly known as "black granite" and is one of the last minerals to crystallize from magma. "In fact, we suspect that the 'tranquillityita' will soon be recognized as the dolerite rocks similar worldwide," said the scientist who with colleagues published this discovery in the journal Geology.
The tranquillityita, which appears in trace amounts and has no economic value, could be useful in determining the age of the rocks in which this mineral has been found.
