First insights into the trace element composition of the rare, high-pressure mineral reidite from X-ray fluorescence tomography

This project aims to assess of the trace element composition of the mineral reidite, a rare high-pressure polymorph of the mineral zircon (ZrSiO4) that forms during hypervelocity impacts of asteroids with the Earth and other planetary bodies. Zircon is the most widely used chronometer in the geosciences but little is known about the chemical composition of reidite, and thus whether it might be useful in the direct absolute dating of the impact events in which it forms. X-ray fluorescence tomography (XRF-CT) has previously been applied to non-impact-related zircon on the ID16B beamline and we will follow this established protocol to gain the first insights into the chemical composition of reidite.

本项目旨在评估陨锆石（reidite）的微量元素组成——陨锆石是锆石（ZrSiO₄）的一种稀有高压多形矿物，形成于小行星与地球及其他行星天体的超高速撞击事件中。锆石是地球科学领域应用最为广泛的测年矿物，但目前学界对陨锆石的化学组成仍知之甚少，因此尚不明确其是否可用于其所形成的撞击事件的直接绝对定年。此前已有研究在ID16B光束线上将X射线荧光层析成像（XRF-CT）应用于非撞击成因的锆石样品，本研究将沿用该成熟实验方案，首次获取陨锆石化学组成的相关数据。