Schreibersite

Schreibersite is generally a rare <a href="/facts/Iron/QK1JYy8E">iron</a> <a href="/facts/Nickel/KwMCHYRP">nickel</a> <a href="/facts/Phosphide/u5J5Apjs">phosphide</a> <a href="/facts/Mineral/LkUFbNmv">mineral</a>, (Fe,Ni)3P, though common in iron-nickel <a href="/facts/Meteorite/NsmHlBlX">meteorites</a>. It has been found on <a href="/facts/Disko_Island/LfSrPn5Q">Disko Island</a> in <a href="/facts/Greenland/aagXRTB7">Greenland</a> and <a href="/facts/Illinois/MuPb1Ctn">Illinois</a>.
Another name used for the mineral is rhabdite. It forms <a href="/facts/Tetragonal/12Aop255">tetragonal</a> <a href="/facts/Crystal/e2R2mk3E">crystals</a> with perfect 001 cleavage. Its color ranges from bronze to brass yellow to silver white. It has a density of 7.5 and a hardness of 6.5 – 7. It is opaque with a metallic luster and a dark gray streak. It was named after the Austrian scientist <a href="/facts/Carl_Franz_Anton_Ritter_von_Schreibers/dIkh1qGb">Carl Franz Anton Ritter von Schreibers</a> (1775–1852), who was one of the first to describe it from <a href="/facts/Iron_meteorite/rjgT7fec">iron meteorites</a>.
Schreibersite is reported from the Magura Meteorite, Arva-(present name – Orava), <a href="/facts/Slovakia/gmJwpwM3">Slovak Republic</a>; the <a href="/facts/Sikhote-Alin_Meteorite/Ps0e6evX">Sikhote-Alin Meteorite</a> in eastern <a href="/facts/Russia/jfkCwyxn">Russia</a>; the <a href="/facts/S%C3%A3o_Juli%C3%A3o_de_Moreira_(meteorite)/samSIPIQ">São Julião de Moreira Meteorite</a>, Viana do Castelo, <a href="/facts/Portugal/lYzwDQ63">Portugal</a>; the Gebel Kamil (meteorite) in <a href="/facts/Egypt/8Ttg0JwB">Egypt</a>; and numerous other locations including the <a href="/facts/Moon/zKHqEMPb">Moon</a>.
In 2007, researchers reported that schreibersite and other meteoric <a href="/facts/Phosphorus/27xCeIqs">phosphorus</a> bearing minerals may be the ultimate source for the phosphorus that is so important for life on Earth. In 2013, researchers reported that they had successfully produced <a href="/facts/Pyrophosphite/D3ao0j17">pyrophosphite</a>, a possible precursor to <a href="/facts/Pyrophosphate/L9FPEkhF">pyrophosphate</a>, the molecule associated with <a href="/facts/Adenosine_triphosphate/nB9bwgcU">ATP</a>, a co-enzyme central to energy metabolism in all life on Earth. Their experiment consisted of subjecting a sample of schreibersite to a warm, acidic environment typically found in association with volcanic activity, activity that was far more common on the primordial Earth. They hypothesized that their experiment might represent what they termed "chemical life", a stage of evolution which may have led to the emergence of fully biological life as exists today.
Lightning strikes may have provided an alternative source of reduced phosphorus species for the synthesis of early biomolecules.

Schreibersite open-in-new

Schreibersite