coesite

In 1960, a natural occurrence of coesite was reported by Edward C. T. Chao,{{cite journal|doi=10.1126/science.132.3421.220|title=First Natural Occurrence of Coesite|year=1960|last1=Chao|first1=E. C. T.|last2=Shoemaker|first2=E. M.|last3=Madsen|first3=B. M.|journal=Science|volume=132|pages=220–2|pmid=17748937|issue=3421|bibcode=1960Sci...132..220C|s2cid=45197811}} in collaboration with Eugene Shoemaker, from Barringer Crater, in Arizona, US, which was evidence that the crater must have been formed by an impact. After this report, the presence of coesite in unmetamorphosed rocks was taken as evidence of a meteorite impact event or of an atomic bomb explosion. It was not expected that coesite would survive in high pressure metamorphic rocks.

File:P-T Diagram for SiO2.svg

In metamorphic rocks, coesite was initially described in eclogite xenoliths from the mantle of the Earth that were carried up by ascending magmas; kimberlite is the most common host of such xenoliths.{{cite journal|doi=10.1016/0012-821X(77)90012-7|bibcode=1977E&PSL..34..284S|title=A coesite-sanidine grospydite from the Roberts Victor kimberlite|year=1977|last1=Smyth|first1=Joseph R.|last2=Hatton|first2=C.J.|journal=Earth and Planetary Science Letters|volume=34|issue=2|pages=284}} In metamorphic rocks, coesite is now recognized as one of the best mineral indicators of metamorphism at very high pressures (UHP, or ultrahigh-pressure metamorphism).{{cite journal|doi=10.1007/BF00381838|title=Coesite and pure pyrope in high-grade blueschists of the Western Alps: a first record and some consequences|year=1984|last1=Chopin|first1=Christian|journal=Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology|volume=86|pages=107–118|bibcode=1984CoMP...86..107C|issue=2|s2cid=128818052}} Such UHP metamorphic rocks record subduction or continental collisions in which crustal rocks are carried to depths of {{convert|70|km|abbr=on}} or more. Coesite is formed at pressures above about 2.5 GPa (25 kbar) and temperature above about 700 °C. This corresponds to a depth of about 70 km in the Earth. It can be preserved as mineral inclusions in other phases because as it partially reverts to quartz, the quartz rim exerts pressure on the core of the grain, preserving the metastable grain as tectonic forces uplift and expose these rock at the surface. As a result, the grains have a characteristic texture of a polycrystalline quartz rim (see infobox figure).

Coesite has been identified in UHP metamorphic rocks around the world, including the western Alps of Italy at Dora Maira, the Ore Mountains of Germany,{{cite journal| author= Massonne, H.-J. |year=2001|title= First find of coesite in the ultrahigh-pressure metamorphic area of the central Erzgebirge, Germany|journal= European Journal of Mineralogy|volume= 13|pages= 565–570| doi= 10.1127/0935-1221/2001/0013-0565| issue= 3|bibcode= 2001EJMin..13..565M}} the Lanterman Range of Antarctica,{{cite journal|author1=Ghiribelli, B. |author2=Frezzotti, M.L. |author3=Palmeri, R. |name-list-style=amp |year=2002|title= Coesite in eclogites of the Lanterman Range (Antarctica): Evidence from textural and Raman studies|journal= European Journal of Mineralogy|volume= 14|pages=355–360| doi=10.1127/0935-1221/2002/0014-0355| issue=2|bibcode=2002EJMin..14..355G}} in the Kokchetav Massif of Kazakhstan,{{cite journal|author1=Korsakov, A.V. |author2=Shatskiy, V. S.|author3=Sobolev N.V. |name-list-style=amp |year=1998|title= Первая находка коэсита в эклогитах Кокчетавского массива (First occurrence of coesite in eclogites from the Kokchetav Massif)|journal= Doklady Earth Sciences |volume=359|pages= 77–81}} in the Western Gneiss region of Norway,{{cite journal| author=Smith, D.C. |year=1984|title= Coesite in clinopyroxene in the Caledonides and its implications for geodynamics|journal= Nature |volume=310|pages= 641–644| doi=10.1038/310641a0| issue=5979|bibcode = 1984Natur.310..641S |s2cid=4330257}} the Dabie-Shan Range in Eastern China,{{cite journal|author1=Schertl, H.-P.|author2=Okay, A.I. |year=1994|title= A coesite inclusion in dolomite in Dabie Shan, China: petrological and rheological significance|url=http://eurjmin.geoscienceworld.org/content/6/6/995.short|journal= Eur. J. Mineral.|volume= 6|pages= 995–1000|issue=6|doi=10.1127/ejm/6/6/0995|bibcode=1994EJMin...6..995S|url-access=subscription}}{{Cite journal|last1=Wang|first1=Xiaomin|last2=Liou|first2=J. G.|last3=Mao|first3=H. K.|date=1989-12-01|title=Coesite-bearing eclogite from the Dabie Mountains in central China|url=https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(1989)0172.3.CO;2|journal=Geology|volume=17|issue=12|pages=1085–1088|doi=10.1130/0091-7613(1989)017<1085:CBEFTD>2.3.CO;2|bibcode=1989Geo....17.1085W|issn=0091-7613|url-access=subscription}} the Himalayas of Eastern Pakistan,{{cite journal| author1=O'Brien, P.J.|author2=N. Zotov|author3=R. Law|author4=M.A. Khan|author5=M.Q. Jan |year=2001|title= Coesite in Himalayan eclogite and implications for models of India-Asia collision|journal= Geology |volume=29|pages= 435–438| doi=10.1130/0091-7613(2001)029<0435:CIHEAI>2.0.CO;2| issue=5|bibcode = 2001Geo....29..435O }} and in the Appalachian Mountains of Vermont.{{cite journal|author=Joseph Gonzalez|author2=Suzanne Baldwin|author2-link=Suzanne Baldwin|author3=Jay B Thomas|author4=William O Nachlas|author5=Paul G Fitzgerald |year=2019|title=First Discovery of Coesite in the Appalachians: Characterization of Prograde Metamorphism in a Taconic Metapelite|journal=AGU Fall Meeting |volume=2019|pages=V51B–03|bibcode=2019AGUFM.V51B..03G|url=https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm19/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/552005}}{{cite journal|author=Joseph Gonzalez|author2=Suzanne Baldwin|author2-link=Suzanne Baldwin|author3=Jay B Thomas|author4=William O Nachlas|author5=Paul G Fitzgerald |year=2020|title=Evidence for ultrahigh-pressure metamorphism discovered in the Appalachian orogen|journal=Geology|volume=48|issue=10|pages=947–951|doi=10.1130/G47507.1|bibcode=2020Geo....48..947G|s2cid=224854495}}

File:coesite.png

Coesite is a tectosilicate with each silicon atom surrounded by four oxygen atoms in a tetrahedron. Each oxygen atom is then bonded to two Si atoms to form a framework. There are two crystallographically distinct Si atoms and five different oxygen positions in the unit cell. Although the unit cell is close to being hexagonal in shape ("a" and "c" are nearly equal and β nearly 120°), it is inherently monoclinic and cannot be hexagonal. The crystal structure of coesite is similar to that of feldspar and consists of four silicon dioxide tetrahedra arranged in Si₄O₈ and Si₈O₁₆ rings. The rings are further arranged into chains. This structure is metastable within the stability field of quartz: coesite will eventually decay back into quartz with a consequent volume increase, although the metamorphic reaction is very slow at the low temperatures of the Earth's surface. The crystal symmetry is monoclinic C2/c, No.15, Pearson symbol mS48.{{cite journal|journal=American Mineralogist|year=1981|volume=66|pages=324–333|title=High-pressure crystal structure and compressibility of coesite|url=http://www.minsocam.org/ammin/AM66/AM66_324.pdf|author1=Levien L.|author2=Prewitt C.T.|access-date=2009-12-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160604062422/http://www.minsocam.org/ammin/AM66/AM66_324.pdf|archive-date=2016-06-04|url-status=dead}}

• Seifertite, forming at higher pressure than stishovite
• Stishovite, a higher-pressure polymorph

{{reflist}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20040305170121/http://mineral.galleries.com/minerals/Silicate/COESITE/COESITE.htm Coesite page]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20120718045423/http://barringercrater.com/education/ Barringer Meteor Crater science education page]

{{Portal|Science|Chemistry

}}{{Impact cratering on Earth}}

{{Silica minerals}}

Category:Impact event minerals

Category:Silica polymorphs

Category:Monoclinic minerals

Category:Minerals in space group 15

Category:Silicon dioxide