Where it forms, where it's found
- Geological setting
Mahogany Zone oil shale; found in six stratigraphical zones ( M9, M7, M2, L6, L0, and K1); its genesis is connected with unique geochemical conditions of Lake Uinta; likely formed due to chlorophyll diagenesis; abelsonite's relatively insoluble precursor was likely transported by an aqueous solution towards sediments of favorable lithology.
Small aggregates, to 1 cm, of thin laths or plates. Of secondary origin on fracture surfaces in oil shale.
- Type locality
- WOSCO Well
- Uintah County
- Utah
- USA
1recorded occurrences
Physical
Optical
- Optical type
- Biaxial
Crystallography
- Cell parameters
- a = 8.4416(5) Å · b = 10.8919(70) Å · c = 7.2749(40) Å
- Cell angles
- α = 90.465(2) ° · β = 113.158(2) ° · γ = 78.080(2) °
- Ratio a:b:c
- 1 : 1.290 : 0.862
- Z
- 1
- Type-locality form
Aggregates of platy crystals; as patches, sometimes over 2 mm in diameter.
- Comment
Data at 100 K (Hummer et al., 2017).
Crystal structure
Chemical composition
Synonyms
- IMA1975-013
In other languages
- French
- Abelsonite
- German
- Abelsonit · IMA 1975-013 · Nickelporphyrin
- Spanish
- Abelsonita
- Italian
- abelsonite
- Portuguese
- abelsonita · Abelsonite
- Japanese
- アーベルソン石 · アベルソナイト
- Chinese
- 卟啉鎳石 · 紫四环镍矿
- Russian
- абелсонит · абельсонит · никелевый порфирин
- Arabic
- أبيلسونيت
Classification
Strunz
10th ed.10.CA.20
- 10Organic CompoundsClass
- 10.CMiscellaneous Organic MineralsDivision
- 10.CAMiscellaneous Organic MineralsGroup
- 10.CA.20AbelsoniteSpecies
Dana
8th ed.50.04.09.01
- 50Organic CompoundsClass
- 50.04MiscellaneousType
- 50.04.09— unnamed intermediate level —Group
- 50.04.09.01AbelsoniteSpecies
CIM
—32.15
- 32Hydrocarbons, Resins and other Organic CompoundsClass
- 32.15— unnamed intermediate level —Group
- 32.15AbelsoniteSpecies
Group, growth & confusion
Literature, links & citation
Citations
- 1978Milton, Charles, Dwornik, Edward J., Estep-Barnes, Patricia A., Finkelman, Robert B., Pabst, Adolf, Palmer, Susan (1978) Abelsonite, nickel porphyrin, a new mineral from the Green River Formation, Utah. American Mineralogist, 63 (9-10) 930-937
- 1984Storm, C.B., Krane, J., Skjetne, T., Telnaes, N., Branthaver, J.F., Baker, E.W. (1984) The structure of abelsonite. Science: 223: 1075-1076.
- 1984Miller, SA; Hambley, TW; Taylor, JC (1984) Crystal and molecular structure of a natural vanadyl porphyrin. Australian Journal of Chemistry, 37 (4). 761-766 doi:10.1071/ch9840761DOI: 10.1071/ch9840761
- 1989Mason, G.M., Trudell, L.G., Branthaver, J.F. (1989) Review of the stratigraphic distribution and diagenetic history of abelsonite. Organic Geochemistry, 14 (6). 585-594 doi:10.1016/0146-6380(89)90038-7DOI: 10.1016/0146-6380(89)90038-7
- 2005(2005) Abelsonite. Handbook of Mineralogy. Mineralogical Society of America
Cite this entry
@misc{mineral2026,
author = {Mineral Index editorial board},
title = {Abelsonite — Mineral Index},
year = {2026},
url = {https://mineralindex.org/minerals/abelsonite-1},
note = {Accessed 2026-05-11}
}