Liebermannite, KA lSi 3 O 8 , a new shock‐metamorphic, high‐pressure mineral from the Zagami Martian meteorite

In this paper, we discuss the occurrence of liebermannite ( IMA 2013‐128), KA lSi 3 O 8 , a new, shock‐generated, high‐pressure tetragonal hollandite‐type structure silicate mineral, in the Zagami basaltic shergottite meteorite. Liebermannite crystallizes in space group I 4 /m with Z = 2, cell dimensions of a = 9.15 ± 0.14 (1σ) Å, c = 2.74 ± 0.13 Å, and a cell volume of 229 ± 19 Å 3 (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 .