Dmitryivanovite is a natural mineral composed of calcium, aluminum, and oxygen, with the molecular formula CaAl2O4. It was reported in 2009 in a calcium-aluminum-rich inclusion in the carbonaceous chondrite meteorite 470 (NWA470) CH3, which landed in North Africa. The mineral name was chosen to honor Dmitriy A. Ivanov (1962–1986), a geologist, mineralogist, and petrologist who died on a field expedition. It is not radioactive.
It is the high-pressure CaAl2O4 dimorph of krotite. It is the low-pressure dimorph of CaAlO, of which the high-pressure dimorph is named dmitryivanovite.
General Information
- Category: Oxide mineral
- Formula: CaAl2O4
- Crystal system: Monoclinic
- Crystal class: Prismatic (2/m)
- Color: Colorless
Researchers have found that the mineral, which has the same atomic arrangement as a man-made component of some types of concrete, forms under low pressure at a temperature of at least. These conditions of high temperature and low pressure are consistent with a hypothesis that the krotite grains found in the meteorite formed as high-temperature condensates from the solar nebula from which the solar system formed, approximately 4.6 billion years ago. Thus, they are likely to be among the earliest minerals formed in the solar system.
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