Strange lunar mineral found on Earth

A strange lunar  mineral was found on Earth.

The tranquillityite was detected in seas of Australia, near where the astronauts on the Apollo 11 mission in July 1.969 fell.

The amount is mineral, but scientists analyzed to determine their age, reported the journal Science.

After returning the mission of the U.S. space agency scientists analyzed the lunar samples and identified three minerals, two of them and piroxferrote armalcolita on Earth, where they met 10 years later.

But after 40 years, had not seen the third.

The interest of geologists is that the lunar samples suggest that accurately measure the proportions of radioactive isotopes in the ore could be used to determine the age of the rocks, and therefore of the Moon.

Now a team led by Birger Rasmussen of Curtin University in Bentley, Australia, reported in the latest edition of the journal Geology that they found tranquillityite finally on our planet.

The researchers found in igneous rocks of Western Australia, especially those who showed no signs of having undergone great metamorphic changes in the depths of the Earth.

That is because when the tranquillityite is exposed to excessive heat and pressure transformed easily into other minerals.

The team confirmed the presence of minerals by firing high speed electrons through small rock samples.

They noted that the spots indicated tranquillityite electrons in a distinctive pattern for that produced by the lunar samples from the ore.

"The tranquillityite not unique in their chemical composition in general, what is strange is that he had not encountered before in Earth rocks," said Rasmussen.

Although, as the moon has not changed much since its origin, it is likely that such minerals are chemically transformed by hot fluids rich in dissolved minerals flowing through them, or physically, by geological processes such as plate tectonics, which can lead to the rocks far below the surface and which are subject to hellish temperatures and pressures.

Moreover, according to Rasmussen on tranquillityite can easily be confused with rutile, a mineral similar color, red brown, which are commonly found in igneous rocks.

Only certain types of analysis, such as electron diffraction analysis, as did his team, you can discern if tranquillityite.

The reddish mineral composed mainly of iron, silicon, zirconium and titanium, but also includes small amounts of rare elements such as yttrium.