Moraskoite

moraskoite

graphite

troilite

taenite

Images

Formula: Na2Mg(PO4)F
Anhydrous phosphate
Crystal system: Orthorhombic
Specific gravity: 2.925 calculated for the empirical formula
Hardness: 4 to 5
Streak: White
Colour: Colourless
Luminescence: Weak blue fluorescence under UV (254 and 360 nm)
Environments

Meteorites

Moraskoite was approved in 2013 and to date (August 2026) it has been reported only from the type locality.

Localities

At the type locality, the Morasko meteorite, Poznań, Greater Poland Voivodeship, Poland, moraskoite has been found in the iron meteorite in a graphite-troilite inclusion enclosed in a kamacite-taenite matrix. Associated minerals in the inclusions are chlorapatite, buchwaldite, brianite, merrillite, a new phosphate phase of composition Na4MgCa3(PO4)4 (czochralskiite?), chromite, bronzite, kosmochlor, kosmochloraugite, olivine, albite, orthoclase, quartz, cohenite, schreibersite, nickelphosphide, altaite, pyrrhotite, sphalerite, daubreelite, djerfisherite, whitlockite and native copper. The inclusions are rimmed by a schreibersite-cohenite halo. Moraskoite forms aggregates up to 1.5 mm in size, with individual grains 20 to 300 μm across. It is colourless and transparent, with a white streak and vitreous lustre; fluorescence is weak blue in ultraviolet radiation (254 and 360 nm); hardness is 4–5; it has irregular, conchoidal fracture and cleavage is rarely observed. Moraskoite is interpreted as being a primary phosphate, which crystallised together with graphite, troilite and other accessories inside the nodule (MM 79.2.387-398).

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