Abstract
In this paper, we discuss the occurrence of liebermannite (IMA
2013-128), KAlSi3O8, a
new, shock-generated, high-pressure tetragonal hollandite-type
structure silicate mineral, in the Zagami basaltic shergottite
meteorite. Liebermannite crystallizes in space group I4/m with Z = 2,
cell dimensions of a = 9.15±0.14 (1 σ) Å, c = 2.74±0.13 Å, and a cell
volume of 229±19 Å3 (for the type material),
as revealed by synchrotron diffraction. In Zagami,
liebermannite likely formed via solid-state transformation of primary
igneous K-feldspar during an impact event that achieved pressures of
~20 GPa or more. The mineral name is in honor of Robert C. Liebermann,
a high-pressure mineral physicist at Stony Brook University, New York,
USA.