Taenite is a
mineral
In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid chemical compound with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed. ...
found naturally on Earth mostly in
iron meteorite
Iron meteorites, also known as siderites, or ferrous meteorites, are a type of meteorite that consist overwhelmingly of an iron–nickel alloy known as meteoric iron that usually consists of two mineral phases: kamacite and taenite. Most iron me ...
s. It is an
alloy
An alloy is a mixture of chemical elements of which at least one is a metal. Unlike chemical compounds with metallic bases, an alloy will retain all the properties of a metal in the resulting material, such as electrical conductivity, ductilit ...
of
iron
Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in fro ...
and
nickel
Nickel is a chemical element with symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge. Nickel is a hard and ductile transition metal. Pure nickel is chemically reactive but large pieces are slow to ...
, with a chemical formula of and nickel proportions of 20% up to 65%.
The name is derived from the Greek ταινία for "band, ribbon". Taenite is a major constituent of
iron meteorite
Iron meteorites, also known as siderites, or ferrous meteorites, are a type of meteorite that consist overwhelmingly of an iron–nickel alloy known as meteoric iron that usually consists of two mineral phases: kamacite and taenite. Most iron me ...
s. In
octahedrite
Octahedrites are the most common structural class of iron meteorites. The structures occur because the meteoric iron has a certain nickel concentration that leads to the exsolution of kamacite out of taenite while cooling.
Structure
Octahedr ...
s it is found in bands interleaving with
kamacite
Kamacite is an alloy of iron and nickel, which is found on Earth only in meteorites. According to the International Mineralogical Association (IMA) it is considered a proper nickel-rich variety of the mineral native iron. The proportion iron:nic ...
forming
Widmanstätten patterns, whereas in
ataxites it is the dominant constituent. In octahedrites a fine intermixture with kamacite can occur, which is called
plessite.
Taenite is one of four known Fe-Ni meteorite minerals: The others are kamacite,
tetrataenite, and
antitaenite.
Properties
It is opaque with a metallic grayish to white color. The structure is isometric-hexoctahedral (
cubic
Cubic may refer to:
Science and mathematics
* Cube (algebra), "cubic" measurement
* Cube, a three-dimensional solid object bounded by six square faces, facets or sides, with three meeting at each vertex
** Cubic crystal system, a crystal system w ...
). Its density is around 8 g/cm
3 and hardness is 5 to 5.5 on the
Mohs scale
The Mohs scale of mineral hardness () is a qualitative ordinal scale, from 1 to 10, characterizing scratch resistance of various minerals through the ability of harder material to scratch softer material.
The scale was introduced in 1812 by th ...
. Taenite is
magnetic
Magnetism is the class of physical attributes that are mediated by a magnetic field, which refers to the capacity to induce attractive and repulsive phenomena in other entities. Electric currents and the magnetic moments of elementary particles ...
, in contrast to antitaenite. The structure is isometric-hexoctahedral (
cubic
Cubic may refer to:
Science and mathematics
* Cube (algebra), "cubic" measurement
* Cube, a three-dimensional solid object bounded by six square faces, facets or sides, with three meeting at each vertex
** Cubic crystal system, a crystal system w ...
). The crystal lattice has the c≈a= 3.582±0.002
Å.
The
Strunz classification Strunz can refer to:
* Claudio Strunz (born 1966), Argentine drummer
* Claus Strunz (born 1966), German journalist
* Thomas Strunz
Thomas Strunz (born 25 April 1968) is a German former professional footballer who played mostly as a defensive ...
is I/A.08-20, while the
Dana classification is 1.1.11.2.
Meteorite localities with taenite
*
Campo del Cielo
Campo del Cielo refers to a group of iron meteorites and the area in Argentina where they were found. The site straddles the provinces of Chaco and Santiago del Estero, located north-northwest of Buenos Aires, Argentina and approximately south ...
strewn field
The term strewn field indicates the area where meteorites from a single fall are dispersed.
It is also often used for the area containing tektites produced by large meteorite impact.''Tektites in the geological record: showers of glass from the s ...
in
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
.
*
Henbury Meteorites Conservation Reserve in
Australia.
*
Canyon Diablo in
Arizona
Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fo ...
.
See also
*
Glossary of meteoritics
This is a glossary of terms used in meteoritics, the science of meteorites.
#
* 2 Pallas – an asteroid from the asteroid belt and one of the likely parent bodies of the CR meteorites.
* 4 Vesta – second-largest asteroid in the asteroid be ...
*
List of minerals
This is a list of minerals for which there are articles on Wikipedia.
Minerals are distinguished by various chemical and physical properties. Differences in chemical composition and crystal structure distinguish the various ''species''. Within a ...
References
*Mason B., 1962: ''Meteorites''. J. Wiley & Sons, New York
{{Meteorites
Iron minerals
Nickel minerals
Meteorite minerals
Magnetic minerals
Cubic minerals
Minerals in space group 225
Native element minerals