Rare Mineral Found in Wisconsin Meteorite Crater

Researchers have identified a rare mineral in a Wisconsin meteorite crater. The mineral reidite was found in the Rock Elm impact structure, making this only the fourth site on Earth where it has been identified.

Reidite is a high-pressure mineral with well-constrained formation conditions, and was first identified in the laboratory in the 1960s. The only other sites where it has been spotted in nature include the Chesapeake Bay Impact Structure on the east shore of Virginia, the Ries Crater in western Bavaria, Germany, and the Xiuyan Crater in northern China.

The initial findings were presented at the 2014 GSA Annual Meeting in Vancouver by Aaron Cavosie of the University of Puerto Rico, and member of the NASA Astrobiology Institute team at the University of Wisconsin.

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