Evolution of symmetry index in minerals

Scientific paper - Original scientific paper

• Author: Marko Bermanec
• Author: Noa Vidović
• Author: Liubomyr Gavryliv
• Author: Shaunna M. Morrison
• Author: Robert M. Hazen
• Author's institution: University of Zagreb; Faculty of Science; (Department of Physics)
• Scientific / art field, discipline and subdiscipline: NATURAL SCIENCES; Physics

Abstract (english)

Abstract Crystal structures of minerals are defined by a specific atomic arrangement within the unit‐cell, which follows the laws of symmetry specific to each crystal system. The causes for a mineral to crystallize in a given crystal system have been the subject of many studies showing their dependency on different formation conditions, such as the presence of aqueous fluids, biotic activity and many others. Different attempts have been made to quantify and interpret the information that we can gather from studying crystal symmetry and its distribution in the mineral kingdom. However, these methods are mostly outdated or at least not compatible for use on large datasets available today. Therefore, a revision of symmetry index calculation has been made in accordance with the growing understanding of mineral species and their characteristics. In the gathered data, we observe a gradual but significant decrease in crystal symmetry through the stages of mineral evolution, from the formation of the solar system to modern day. However, this decrease is neither uniform nor linear, which provides further implications for mineral evolution from the viewpoint of crystal symmetry. The temporal distribution of minerals based on the number of essential elements in their chemical formulae and their symmetry index has been calculated and compared to explore their behaviour. Minerals with four to eight essential elements have the lowest average symmetry index, while being the most abundant throughout all stages of mineral evolution. There are many open questions, including those pertaining to whether or not biological activity on Earth has influenced the observed decrease in mineral symmetry through time and whether or not the trajectory of planetary evolution of a geologically active body is one of decreasing mineral symmetry/increasing complexity.

• Keywords (english): symmetry index; minerals
• Language: english
• Publication type: Scientific paper - Original scientific paper
• Publication status: Published
• Peer review: Peer review - international
• Publication version: Published version
• Journal title: Geoscience Data Journal
• Numbering: vol. 11, pp. 69-85
• p-ISSN: 2049-6060
• e-ISSN: 2049-6060
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/gdj3.177
• URN:NBN: urn:nbn:hr:217:790846
• Publication: 2023-01-14
• Document URL: https://rmets.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/gdj3.177
• Type of resource: Text
• Access conditions: Open access
• Public note: © 2022 The Authors. Geoscience Data Journal published by Royal Meteorological Society and John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Received: 3 May 2022; Revised: 1 August 2022; Accepted: 2 August 2022; First published: 14 January 2023.
• Created on: 2023-08-22 11:51:28