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Formula: FeCr2O4
Chromate, marokite supergroup,
orthorhombic paramorph of isometric
chromite and orthorhombic xieite
Crystal System: Orthorhombic
Specific gravity: 5.27 calculated
Environments
Chenmingite is a relatively new mineral, approved in 2017.
Localities
At the type locality, the Tissint Martian meteorite, Tata Cercle, Tata Province, Souss-Massa Region, Morocco,
chenmingite is a high-pressure mineral, occurring as micrometer- to submicrometer-sized lamellae within precursor
chromite grains along with xieite and
Fe,Cr-rich ulvöspinel next to shock-induced melt pockets. Both
chenmingite and xieite formed by solid-state transformation of precursor
chromite under high pressure and high temperature during the Tissint impact event
on Mars.
The xieite regions are always in contact with melt pockets, whereas
chenmingite lamellae occur only within chromite, a few micrometers away
from the melt pockets. This arrangement suggests that chenmingite formed under similar pressures as
xieite but at lower temperatures.
(AM 104.1521-1525).
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