O’Reilly to Oreillyite: new mineral honours professor
In 2020, Professor Sue O’Reilly (left) was recently awarded the 2020 NSW Premier’s prize for ‘Excellence in Mathematics, Earth Sciences, Chemistry or Physics’ and had Oreillyite (Cr2N), a rare mineral named in her honour. Pictured: Dr Sue O’Reilly and Vered Toledo during fieldwork in Israel. Image: Bill Griffin
It’s rare to have a mineral named after oneself, but it’s something that distinguished Professor Sue O’Reilly can now add to her extensive accolades after a rare and exotic mineral from the Mt Carmel Ranges in Israel was recognised in an NCRIS and AuScope enabled Macquarie GeoAnalytical (MQGA) facility in Sydney.
Discovering Oreillyite
A group of researchers from Italy, Australia and Israel recently discovered two new minerals, Oreillyite and Kishonite in the pyroclastic ejecta from the Cretaceous Period (146 to 65 million years ago) at Mount Carmel in Northern Israel. Both minerals have been approved by the Commission of New Minerals, Nomenclature and Classification at the International Mineralogical Association.
In their paper published in the journal, Minerals in 2020, the team explain how both minerals journeyed from Earth’s mantle to the surface via explosive volcanic activity. The host xenocrysts (crystals that formed separately to the original magma) formed deep within the mantle as a result of highly reduced fluids and volatile elements mixing. The existence of these fluids and their movement could have major implications for understanding the transport of carbon, hydrogen, and other easily evaporated substances (volatiles) from the deep mantle to the surface.
A micro inclusion
With the scientific and technical assistance of Microscopy Australia (NCRIS) at the Centre for Microscopy, Characterization and Analysis, and the use of AuScope (NCRIS) enabled instruments at MQGA, the team were able to identify Oreillyite within a 1.7 mm crystal of purple red corundum. The tiny crystal of Oreillyite was only 50 microns in size and found as a small inclusion within the corundum specimen.
Oreillyite was found in corundum grain (left) within a sample of volcanic ejecta from Mount Carmel in Northern Israel. Upon inspecting the grain under a scanning electron microscope (SEM), researchers were able to identify the tiny, bright coloured (under SEM) Oreillyite inclusion within the corundum (right). Image: Bindi et al (2020)
MQGA is part of the AuScope Geochemistry Network (AGN), an Australian consortium of Earth Science groups cooperating to develop national geochemistry research infrastructure, namely AusGeochem, a platform for easily visualising, analysing and extracting georeferenced data. Image: Macquarie University
In the final step of defining a new mineral, specimens upon which the description and name of a new species is based must find multiple homes for safe keeping. So-called holotypes of Oreillyite have thus found their way to both the University of Western Australia (catalogue number 1174-CFF) and the Museo di Storia Naturale, Università degli Studi di Firenze in Firenze, Italy.
Honouring Sue
Dr O’Reilly is a Distinguished Professor in geology at Macquarie University, leader of the AuScope Earth Composition and Evolution Program (Macquarie), and director of both the ARC National Key Centre for Geochemical Evolution and Metallogeny of Continents (GEMOC) and the Centre of Excellence for Core to Crust Fluid Systems (CCFS). With significant contributions in geophysics, geochemistry and petrophysics under her belt, O’Reilly reflects on the experience of having a mineral named after her:
“I felt very privileged that two leading crystallographers wanted to acknowledge the extensive work done by the TARDIS team in the Centre of Excellence for Core to Crust Fluid Systems on the intriguing mineral assemblages discovered in pyroclastic volcanics at Mt Carmel in Israel.”
Fancy a mineral named after you?
Strap in for a long and most wonderful journey! Here is a short history of naming minerals for you:
The first mineral to be named after a person was Prehnite. The distinguished individual whose name was immortalized was Colonel Hendrik Von Prehn (1733-1785). The mineral was found and named by Abraham Gottlieb Werner in Germany. Since then there has been much idiosyncrasy demonstrated in the naming of minerals; from quarries (Goosecreekite) to Russian Czar’s (Alexandrite) and sheep stations (Moolooite).
Stepping into this arena in 1958 the International Mineralogical Association set out to standardise the process of naming minerals. Before this confusion and chaos reigned as minerals could end up with multiple names (Sphene vs Titanite). Currently over 5500 minerals are recognised by the organisation with more proposed minerals species waiting to be confirmed. Having passed the rigours of the IMA Oreillyite can be found on the The New IMA List of Minerals 2020. Congratulations, Sue!
STORY IN A NUTSHELL
An international team of researchers have discovered a new mineral, Oreillyite using NCRIS enabled instruments (via AuScope and Microscopy Australia) at Macquarie University to honour AuScope Project Leader, Professor Sue O’Reilly for her great contribution to Australian Earth science.
AUTHORS
Philomena Manifold
and Jo Condon